Alternative banking – the opportunity!

It’s easier than ever to avoid the charges and restrictions of traditional banking and financial services, whether as an individual or corporate customer.

Banks are recognizing the need to change, apparently becoming more aware and responsive to customer needs – clearly evidenced by the growth of digital banking apps and online services. Moves away from traditional tellers to automated kiosks (as seen in many branches of Chase, BOA, Wells Fargo etc) are a clear indication that the running costs of branches and staff are no longer tenable. And with the increasing reallocation of staff and managers to provide customers with actual personal services we could imagine this is a return to the good old days!

But is this really a positive move? Are kiosks in branches the way to go? Why not go further, with kiosks in coffee shops perhaps? Certainly Capital One think so. The use of kiosks in branches is really no more than banks attempting to utilize their many millions of square meters of redundant retail space.  Even so branch closures are apparent whichever country you are in. There are Caribbean islands with 10,000 plus inhabitants that have no bank branches. In England too, many towns and villages have no branch. 

The perceived wisdom is that everyone has and wants to use their smart phone. A wisdom that is, today, as misguided as the ‘90s statement ‘you can sell your goods on the internet’. Many people will of course comfortably use a smart phone but there are significant numbers who have no confidence in their ability to successfully buy anything online let alone run their banking. There is also growing distrust even among the smart phone savvy of the security of smart devices and the internet.

But why just coffee shops and why kiosks that only cover banking needs? Why not have them in convenience stores or gas stations or perhaps at theaters or stadiums? Why not pay bills, top up mobiles, buy tickets for the theater or sports event, exchange reward cards and cash checks?

There are companies out there who can provide financial kiosks that cash checks, dispense prepaid debit cards and reward cards, pay bills, top up mobiles, provide loans and crypto purchases; a variety of services that are being added to almost daily. These can and are being located in the local convenience store, shopping centers and gas stations, yes and coffee shop. Kiosks, with 19”+ touchscreens and full video and online support, really pro-active banking stations that will only increase in number to meet the growing customer need.

But this is still only part of the answer to the development of an alternative banking model.

The main driver of a cashless society, with real added value to corporations, is in the uses of a prepaid debit card. Used in conjunction with kiosks it boosts profitability in stadiums and theaters through theft reduction, improved collection and use of transaction data and enhancement of personnel and customer security. In addition, the card can facilitate payment of the payroll and HR management while providing medical and dental cover and numerous other financial products. Payroll fulfillment can become cash positive rather than negative.

Integrating the financial kiosk, the prepaid debit card and the payroll card can create significant revenue while developing an entirely new and ever-growing customer base.