Using a Digital-First Banking Approach to Keep Customers Engaged

Digital-first, banking, ATMS, ATMaaS, ITMs, GenZ, Millenials

People have embraced digital financial services, with 43% saying they handle their banking needs entirely online or through a mobile app. Alongside this digital shift, ATMs are seeing popularity, with the ATM market growing at a 4.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Banks have found that ATMs and interactive teller machines (ITMs) can help bridge the divide between digital banking and physical branches. While the demand for advanced technologies in ATM interactions is driving up costs, ATM as a Service (ATMaaS) could also help financial institutions (FIs) reduce expenses while maintaining a brand presence.

The Digital-First Banking Tracker, a collaboration between PYMNTS and NCR Corporation, analyzes how banks are bridging the digital divide while providing cross-channel access to personalized services, keeping clients satisfied.

Download the report: Silicon Valley Bank’s Digital-First Approach t​o Keeping Tech Innovators Engaged

While fewer people are turning to bank branches for their everyday financial needs, the ATM market is expected to continue growing through 2028. The advancement of the technology and ITMs offers new possibilities, such as video calls with financial assistants, but they require banks to finance technological advancements.

Consumers are planning to conduct two-thirds of their banking digitally by 2024, with most expecting to use mobile apps or ATMs. Just 9% of surveyed bankers, however, currently rate their companies’ digital user experiences as “excellent,” according to the report.

Most banks want to expand innovation of digital services, especially when it comes to younger consumers. For example, more than half of Generation Z and millennial banking customers have reportedly invested in cryptocurrencies, yet over 75% of banks don’t have cryptocurrency plans on deck.

Digital-first isn’t just a growing trend for younger banking customers. A recent survey showed that 62% of respondents hold mobile banking apps as essential, while 73% said they use mobile apps more than any other banking channel.

The mobile banking trend follows consumers’ increased reliance on digital payment methods, with 93% of respondents indicating they’ve used at least one digital payment option in the past year. Two-thirds of consumers said convenience drove them to digital payments, while 57% cited ease of use and 46% pointed to time savings.