We’re traveling like it’s 2019.
We’re gathering in restaurants like it’s 2019.
Indeed, across all manner of physical interactions, in concert halls and sporting events, at weddings, it’s back to the pre-pandemic age. But with a digital overlay.
In restaurants, diners wield mobile devices to scan QR codes and order from the menu without handling menus. And of course, there’s mobile order ahead, which brings traffic in and out without necessarily sitting down. The concerts — well, we’re getting the tickets emailed, downloaded and scanned at the venue.
Doug Brown, president of digital banking at NCR, told Karen Webster in an interview that banking in the branch is not what it was — but what it will be will borrow liberally from the great digital shift.
And in revamping in-person banking, he told Webster, smart automation can improve the experience for credit unions’ consumers. Machine learning and artificial intelligence can boost revenues and reduce costs.
About 15% of the population, he said, came into the proverbial fold and embraced digital banking — and they haven’t gone away.
Consumers, he said, understand the benefits and the convenience of digital banking channels and offerings such as mobile check deposits and even the ability to make appointments online to come in and visit the branch.
And it is in that branch where additional connections can be forged between consumers and credit unions.
The Heavy Lean
Brown predicted that we would see a very “heavy lean” toward advisory and counseling, “especially with wealth management and with the business community in particular,” he said.
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He said that high tech has made it possible to run bank branches with a light physical, human touch. In fact, there need not be all that many people on-site at all.
“You can run it today through an interactive teller — and there’s a full set of capabilities in place,” he said.
And therein lies the pivot: The branch used to be the place you went if you needed a person to help you.
But now you can get a person to help you using digital methods.
Said Brown: “There’s also the ‘mayday’ human, who is available to connect and help.” That option is especially useful in cementing the trust between individuals and credit unions.
That confluence of options across the digital and physical contact points gives even the most technologically reluctant consumers — 25% of us — an “aha moment,” said Brown. Once exposed to the advantages, it’s tough to think one would go back to the old ways.
In the meantime, financial institutions (FIs) are busy making the investments necessary to improve the customer experience. He offered the example of a community bank in Georgia that has been creating and fine-tuning its virtual, AI-driven assistant. In deploying that solution, the assistant helps speed transactions for the consumers and reduces some of the manual processes involved for the bank’s staff.
Combining Video, Audio and Virtual Assistants
The combination of visual and audio, AI and algorithms, said Brown, mean that banking is getting smarter. And high tech, he said, can improve trust and confidence amid “surge activity,” such as during periods of high economic stress or when, for example, a customer has forgotten a password or has been the victim of fraud. On that latter point — fraud — advanced tech is extremely useful. The weakest link in the banking chain is the customer or the staffer — the human. Education is key, and so is making all parties involved more comfortable with best security practices (and how technology can help).
By and large, within the bank, “the machine learning patterns are being applied to back office functions that make them more efficient. And those jobs are the ones that are getting tougher to staff,” said Brown.
Read also: The Imperative to Improve Digital Banking for Business Clients
That flexibility and efficiency are advantageous as banks find their enterprise clients’ needs changing. These smaller firms, roaring back from the pandemic, need straight-through processing and more visibility into their banking activities.
“Small business adoption [of digital banking] really is accelerating at a much faster clip than consumer,” he said.
Looking ahead, credit unions (CUs) and FIs of all stripes will have to take stock of how their physical footprints will evolve.
“Branches will still be needed — but what they’ll look like, and how they function will change,” he said.
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