During the worst winter storm in Texas history, First Financial Bank worked hard to provide their customers with peace of mind, and access to banking resources. While bank employees and customers alike were stranded in their homes without power, the bank created a communication campaign with the motto, “when it matters most, we are here to put you first”, and committed to share up-to-date and accurate information with customers across various channels.
To do this, First Financial Bank created a web portal specifically for delivering information to community members. FFIN.com/weather quickly became the destination for customers to get answers without the hassle of waiting in a phone queue. The bank’s severe weather communication portal displayed up-to-the-minute branch availability, a list of online and mobile banking products and even included a live power outage map of Texas. The bank re-shared a link to the portal each morning. Even while their call center was severely understaffed, and working in frigid temperatures, they worked tirelessly to attend to customers’ hard-to-answer or account-specific questions that couldn’t be solved via social media or email.
Once the storm passed, customers began submitting stories and words of thanks to bank employees for their quick responses during the crisis. Now a permanent staple in First Financial Bank’s communication plan, the FFIN.com/weather portal is used to monitor everything from local flash flood warnings to hail storms in the Northeast.
