Industry Insights: Finding the balance between high-tech and high-touch
It’s been a couple of decades since Bill Gates said, “Banking is necessary. Banks are not.”
Now that so many formerly branch-only transactions can be done online, with a smartphone app or through a fintech provider, do financial institutions still fit into the mix? And does anyone know where the optimum balance is between high-tech and high-touch?
Traditional banks and credit unions are grappling with the complexity of making both in-person and digital customer experiences seamless, efficient and personalized. Interactive teller machines (ITMs), artificial intelligence (AI), automated chatbots and appointment setters are a few of the innovations financial institutions are trying to bring a human touch to digital interactions. Meanwhile, branches are being re-engineered and remodeled to make them more streamlined and appealing.
We’ve rounded up these recent articles to help you take a close look at how industry innovators are bridging this gap and meeting the needs of both digital natives and brick-and-mortar fans:
- Bank of America Opens Tellerless ‘Robo Branches’, Financial Brand. An overview of Bank of America’s fully-automated “robo branches,” which are simply video-equipped ATMs with meeting rooms for appointment-only conferences.
- 9 Best Practices to Operate Interactive Teller Machines, Creditunions.com. Insights and recommendations from nine credit unions that have successfully deployed ITMs, which combines the traditional ATM with added human interaction when needed.
- How an Inside/Outside Strategy Can Pay Off, CUtoday.info. Advice from Alogent SVP-product management and strategy Jason Schwabline about the key role of integrated technology behind the scenes, in providing consumers unlimited, omni-channel services.
- It’s the end of banking as we know it, but that’s not a bad thing, American Banker. Personal banking experiences from the CEO of Leumi, one of Israel's largest and leading banking institutions—a story that parallels the challenges of adapting to innovation.
- As everyday banking goes digital, branches need higher touch, American Banker. Real-life scenarios show how to meet consumer demands for ‘the best of both worlds’ in terms of in-person and digital interactions.
About the Industry Insights Series
Alogent’s Industry Insights—this blog and the companion newsletter series—track insights into transformative financial technologies as they happen. Our diverse team of experts pulls the threads together and weave in thoughtful—often actionable—analysis to help banks and credit unions keep their competitive edge and meet new generations of consumers where they’re going next.