Customer Story
Awash Bank Becomes Ethiopia's CX Benchmark with First-in-Country Exotel Adoption
After Exotel
Before Exotel
The Partnership
We had a lovely relationship with the Exotel team. Very supportive, very interactive.
Yohannes
Director for Customer Experience and Quality Assurance
Awash Bank
About Awash Bank
Awash Bank is the largest private bank in Ethiopia, serving over 15 million customers and employing 22,000 staff. The bank is a pioneer in the country for establishing a dedicated Customer Experience directorate, driven by a strategic vision to move from conventional to digital, paperless banking. Awash Bank was the first bank in Ethiopia to adopt the Exotel platform, leveraging this partnership to transform its customer service operations and achieve massive scalability.
The Challenge: Scaling Ethiopia's Banking Leader
Despite its market leadership, Awash Bank's customer experience was bottlenecked by legacy operations and manual processes, limiting their ability to serve their vast customer base effectively.
Challenges
Manual Customer Service Model
The bank's previous method relied on manual processes like suggestion boxes and traditional landline calls, lacking essential modern infrastructure.
Low Customer Satisfaction
The inherent friction and long queues resulting from outdated processes caused the Customer Satisfaction Rate (CSAT) to hover between 50–60%.
Scaling and Accessibility Constraints
The existing infrastructure could only handle about 7,000 calls per month in its initial year, meaning the vast customer base could not reliably reach the bank for support.
Systemic Roadblocks
Persistent technical issues with the existing IVR and report synthesizers created a prolonged and confusing IVR route, leading to high rates of customer failure and abandonment.
The Solution
24/7 Omnichannel Deployment
Exotel was implemented to provide continuous, 24/7 support across essential digital channels, including live chat, email, and social media, ensuring constant access and that no cases remained unresolved.
System Optimization for Efficiency
The bank proactively addressed critical system gaps by acquiring new IVR and report synthesizers and simplifying the routing. This created a functional self-service layer that efficiently routed complex queries.
Structural and Operational Focus
The Customer Experience directorate was restructured and trained to effectively handle the surge in contacts, ensuring a seamless experience.
Continuous Agent Development
The bank instituted weekly training and discussion sessions for its agents to continuously improve service quality, address challenges, and manage communication standards.
The Impact: A Core Strategic Asset
The restructuring and Exotel implementation created an immediate and profound impact, turning the contact center into a core strategic asset capable of managing enormous customer volume efficiently.
Key Metrics
28x Growth in Customer Contact
Monthly inquiry volume skyrocketed from ~7,000 to over 200,000 calls per month. This colossal increase validates the success of the new, accessible 24/7 system.
Customer Satisfaction Rate (CSAT)
Improved dramatically from 50–60% to above 90%, demonstrating exceptional service quality improvement.
First-Time Resolution (FTR) Rate
Maintained at an efficient rate above 90%, ensuring quick query closure for remaining complex cases.
Operational Excellence
Average Handling Time (AHT)
Reduced significantly to less than 3 minutes, reflecting increased agent productivity and process efficiency.
Rapid Resolution
95% of all escalated complaints are now resolved within a single day, demonstrating rapid accountability in handling critical issues.
Pioneering and Industry Benchmark
Awash Bank has become a pioneer as the first bank in Ethiopia to adopt the Exotel system, now serving as an industry reference.
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