Ex-Im Bank Announces Improved Customer Contact Center to Better Serve U.S. Exporters
Washington, D.C. - As part of its ongoing effort to enhance customer experience for current and prospective exporters, the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) is unveiling a new and improved customer contact center that includes an improved 1-800 number experience, along with a new email response system. The contact center is also poised to launch new online chat capabilities early in the new year.
Our focus is on our customers—the thousands of U.S. small businesses seeking to reach customers in global markets and add quality jobs here at home—because we can't fulfill our mission if we're not providing them with a seamless, efficient experience from start to finish, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. Our multi-channel approach will allow us to better serve America's exporters, answering their questions and addressing their unique challenges with the kind of personalized customer service they need.
The contact center will serve as a trusted point of entry for current and potential customers who are either looking to increase their exports or who are relatively new to exporting. Customers can call 1-800-565-EXIM and speak with personal representatives in one of 20 languages, including Spanish, Mandarin, and Hindi. Customers now also have the option of submitting their questions by web form, at exim.gov/about/contact/and can expect to receive responses within two work days.
The new contact center is the latest Ex-Im Bank initiative aimed at bringing our customers government at the speed of business. Past improvements include the introduction of the Express Insurance program for small businesses and more streamlined application processing, which has seen the number of days needed to reach an authorization decision cut in half since 2009.
The customer contact center is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday. Online chat services will become available in early 2015.
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Ninety percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses.
In fiscal year 2014, Ex-Im Bank approved $20.5 billion in total authorizations. These authorizations supported an estimated $27.5 billion in U.S. export sales, as well as approximately 164,000 American jobs in communities across the country.
Small business exporters can learn about how Ex-Im Bank products can empower them to increase foreign sales by clicking here. For more information about Ex-Im, visit www.exim.gov.
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