Why Banks should adopt Touch Screens

I wrote this piece for ViewSonic's content library. Please find the original post at https://www.viewsonic.com/library/business/banking-innovation-how-touch-screens-will-change-banking-technology

As seen in retail and food services, self-service is a vital part of improving speed and efficiency — interactive banking technology solutions based on touch screens should be leveraged to achieve this goal. The banking industry has proven the self-service banking theory to be correct through the introduction of the ATM during the 60s. Such innovation allowed customers to access financial services at any time of the day or night. That’s one small step for a bank, one giant leap for the bank industry.  

It has been said that people need banking but not necessarily banks. Hence the number of branches has been declining all over the world. Compared to the speed and efficiency of a modern lifestyle, most banks still provide an old fashioned experience. What’s the secret of those that don’t?

5 Challenges banks face before moving to a touch-based banking technology application

Banks and other financial services that are still holding dear to the traditional ways face myriad of problems when trying to capture new and young customers. 

As a consequence of the rapid evolution of home and mobile banking, paired with the emergence of digital banks, the number of daily transactions taking place in conventional bank branches decreased substantially in recent years. With that being said, bank branches still hold an important spot in banks’ strategy and, at the same time, on the balance sheet – due to substantial real estate and staffing costs.  

Young customers tend to have higher expectations for technological prowess and level of digital banking integration displayed by the companies they choose to interact with. However, the way the banking technology is deployed better add value to the customer's experience or it will have the reverse effect. Big bright displays inside a branch can be visually impressive but, if that’s all they do, their true potential is being wasted. The impact of such displays can be multiplied if there's a chance for interaction through touch helping the customers move towards the answer to the problem that originated the visit. 

The onboarding process is a pivotal point during the acquisition of new customers and it creates a long-lasting impression. That impression, good or bad, has a rippling effect through the customers' family, friends, and even business partners. Every bank knows the saying "time is of the essence," and it's clear that those who decide not to use technology to streamline the onboarding process, show a lack of respect for customers' time, which is often considered an asset more valuable than money itself. Hand-written forms that require the teller to transcribe the information into the system, drawn-out verifications of documents and signatures, still plague the banking industry, but they are no longer viable.

A by-product of this outdated approach to banking is the massive trail of paper it leaves behind. An enormous amount of paper that is also inconvenient for the customer that needs to handle and keep copies of everything.

The world today is a digital place where people are online at all times, clicking away on screens of various sizes, even at school with the adoption of interactive learning. One way or another, banks have an online presence where commonly a customer learns about products and campaigns for the first time. Walking in a bank branch with no interactive banking technology creates an acute disconnection between online and offline experiences and humans are not programmed to be fond of inconsistency.

5 required levels of integration for a successful interactive banking experience

Multiple fully-digital banks are gaining popularity, entire countries are adopting cashless payment systems, and more customers understand that money has been reduced to 1s and 0s. It makes sense that all financial institutions set in place an ever-evolving digital banking strategy or prepare to face the consequences of a heavily connected Era.

Following the rationale presented above, the customer journey often starts on a website or a social media platform. That’s the top level of a digital banking strategy for any bank, so it deserves a great deal of attention to make sure customers want to go down the funnel and start using the bank’s services.

The next component is having a responsive home banking platform paired with a robust mobile app. These are the two places most customers will use for budget management, daily operations, and simple transactions. It’s hard to retain young customers without honing down these two aspects. Considering that an overwhelming percentage of the internet traffic today comes from mobile devices, which essentially is as a touch screen with almost limitless capabilities, how come banks still don’t have touch-screens like the ViewSonic TD2421 inside their branches? The familiarity of touch-screen displays helps the customers feel at ease when visiting a physical location.

If everything is executed correctly on the top level, customers should only feel the necessity of visiting a bank branch with complex questions or when it’s time to look for more advanced solutions that require counseling or expert guidance. On stepping foot inside the branch, customers should have the chance to interact with a touch-screen display, quickly selecting the appropriate department for their current situation. In case there’s the chance to go a step further and use this interactive screen to communicate “who,” “what,” “when,” plus anything else that proves valuable to smooth out the process that will be very much appreciated and noticed by all customers.

When it’s time to sit down with the teller, go through contract details, and sign the dotted lines, an interactive banking experience should include a tablet such as the ViewSonic PD1011 or ViewSonic PD1611. The multitude of functions it allows, include drawing and making annotations to explain or point out the most critical areas, sign and save agreements and exploit the added security layer of biometric data as well as sealing documents and automatic email a copy to customers’ address.  

Depending on the location and size of the branch, it might make sense to add the extra level of interactivity by allowing customers to have a live conversation through the screen with a specialized bank teller working from a central location. 

3 most important benefits of interactive banking technology

1. The increased service speed with interactive banking technology

The true character of a person surfaces when the internet connection is even slightly slower than usual. Now, if visiting a bank branch feels like going back to dial-up internet, during a time when everything else moves closer to the speed of light, how much frustration can one truly endure before walking out and choosing a different bank? The answer is not much. A value-packed interactive experience can do wonders for the speed of the branch with queue management, digitization of documents, and more (find below).

2. The higher security level of touch-screens and tablets utilized in banking technology

With multiple privacy and data breach scandals coming to the public eye, digital security is under extreme scrutiny. This is even more sensitive when we are talking about banks and financial services for obvious reasons. The use of interactive solutions such as touch-screens and tablets with the top of the line levels of encryption is a cornerstone feature of a well-thought-out banking experience prepared for the future.

3. The environmentally friendly side of interactive banking technology 

One aspect every big company is trying to tackle is the environmental impact of its operations. The average customer is increasingly sensitive to this global issue and rewards the most conscious companies with unshakable loyalty. By utilizing a tablet with advanced touch-screen capabilities, every bank branch seamlessly starts saving paper sheets, trees and, ultimately, the planet. Every transaction equates to multiple sheets of paper and every contract to a dozen of them. If as per magic all of these turn digital, how much closer is a bank to become 100% green?

Additional benefits from interactive banking technology and the use of touch-screen displays

1. Interactive Banking technology improves the Customer Journey

A successful company will always have the customer journey in mind. Banks, due to the nature of the business, see every little detail of this journey being magnified. By adopting an interactive approach and creating value for the customer at multiple stages with the use of touch-screens and tablets, banks can improve the customer journey and provide a better service with a residual cost.

2. The branding potential of Interactive Banking technology

Big touch-screens ready for the customer to interact also have the ability to add a solid layer of branding through the use of high-quality visuals creating a consistent image throughout all channels: website, mobile app, and finally bank branches.

3. Banking technology provides a low friction experience 

Technology and e-commerce giants are known for their low friction systems that get customers addicted. On the other end of the spectrum, you can usually find the banks. Famous for long processes, duplicate forms and too many steps to perform simple operations, especially when visiting the bank in person. Proper integration of interactive banking technology is something that brings banks much closer to the lack of friction makes companies so very successful amongst users.

4. Queue management using interactive banking technology

A bank branch is only open during working hours and usually closes the front door earlier than almost any other business in town. When it’s necessary to visit the branch it’s mandatory that the time spent at the bank is reduced to the minimum amount possible. Touch-based queue management systems help the flow of customers and streamline the whole experience from the customers’ point of view.  

5. Deploying banking technology to promote stronger relationships 

As so many other jobs, bank tellers are also seeing a shift on the focus of that position from handling dozens of simple transactions a day to a position where the focus is on building meaningful relationships with the customer. In this indirect way, interactive banking enhances service quality by a lot since it can be so difficult to replace human interaction with customers.   

If efficiency in the use of time, people, and other resources (such as paper and more) is a concern by any means, deploying up to dated banking technology is a must. The vision for an optimal bank branch experience needs to include the highest standards in security and powerful branding visuals to accompany every step of the customer journey.