Branch Automation for Banks, Including Five Reasons Why You, Too, Should Bank on It

There are a variety of technologies and systems that banks can use to automate their branches. One example is e-banking terminals that allow customers to check their account balances, to transfer funds, and to create account statements themselves.

E-banking terminals are equipped with modern functions and can also read payment slips, for example. Customers can transact their banking business conveniently and efficiently, regardless of whether at a teller window or at an e-banking terminal. Moreover, e-banking terminals act as a physical interface to digital channels. They enable customers to transition seamlessly to using online banking services.

Automated kiosk and self-service terminals that even allow customers to open accounts and submit loan applications go even farther. They enable customers to upload documents, to enter data, and to conduct transactions without the assistance of a bank employee.

Thanks to digital signatures and modern document management systems, customers even no longer have to visit a bank branch to sign physical documents. They can sign documents electronically and transmit them to the bank via digital platforms. This greatly accelerates account-opening, loan origination, and other transaction processes.

Additionally banks use video consultations to serve their customers outside branch premises. This allows customers to speak with bank employees and to obtain advice on products, services, and transactions from wherever they are, and it enables banks to utilize their employees’ know-how in a decentralized way. Video consultations are also possible at automated onsite videoconferencing booths at bank branches.

Seamless integration of digital services enables customers to toggle their banking activities between different channels easily and conveniently, for example when initiating a cash outpayment via an e-banking portal: a customer generates a QR code at home or at an e-banking terminal and can then redeem the QR code at an automated teller machine using his or her smartphone.

This “phygital” application (combining “physical” and “digital”) enables banks to customize customer service and strengthens customer retention.

Branch automation will present banks with even more possibilities in the future, always impelled by general technological advancements such as artificial intelligence and biometrics.

Artificial intelligence in the form of voicebots and chatbots will increasingly be deployed in customer support. Customers will be able to ask questions and obtain information and assistance without speaking with a human employee, enabling efficient, customized customer service. If artificial intelligence is loaded into an automated teller machine or kiosk, this solution can be used also at bank branches to handle standard queries.

Biometric technologies like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning will play a vital role in identity verification in the future, improving user-friendliness and increasing the security of bank transactions.

Banks will continue to invest in branch automation in order to improve their services, to lower costs, and to give customers an innovative and effective banking experience. The increasing integration of artificial intelligence and other modern technologies will further transform the banking industry, opening up new possibilities and opportunities. All in all, the seamless conjunction of humans and technology will formatively shape the bank branches of tomorrow.