06


NEWS


Retail Branch change promises digital future for physical locations


I


f you want to have an idea of how often a major bank reinvents its physical presence, just ask Ivan Dubovsky, managing director and head of business transformation at Barclays.


Dubovsky told the audience that Barclays Bank hadn’t changed the core concept of its physical locations for ten to twelve years. “A phenomenal amount of things have happened in that time,” he said.


But, when looking at a new way of presenting its branches, Barclays didn’t want to go down the usual routes. Instead of just adding a “coffee machine” or making the interior look like “a child psychologist’s office”, Barclays wanted to see what its customers wanted.


Barclays signed a deal with Eight Inc. Managing principal at the firm, Steve Lidbury, showed why the firm was a favourite of Apple


for so many years. He said that it’s about “designing the human experience”, as people have different needs, ambitions and goals in life. Buzzwords flew at the Royal Lancaster hotel: customers need a “holistic” experience, are “channel agnostic” and need better “coherence”.


Digital banking is becoming a standard, said Lidbury. “The research shows that people want human engagement. They need a conversation and they need help with their lives. Do the basics well, but don’t just sell them a banking product – help them move home.”


“We talk about community a lot,” added Dubovsky. “Communities are now virtual, and communities of interest. We need to tap into these and work with them.” Banks also need to become a “lifelong” partner with the customer, guiding them through life from first account to pension plan.


Connecting the dots to keep customers W


ith 9,000 bank branches closed across Europe in the past year, is the retail banking industry scrambling to find a way to keep customers loyal?


Alan Kerr, senior vice president for software at Diebold Nixdorf, told the audience that turning your bank into a coffee house isn’t the answer.


“The physical and the digital are coming together, and retail banking has both elements of this,” he said. Yet banks are at risk if they don’t start their transformation journey immediately.


Collaboration is the first stpe, argued Kerr, to creating a better customer journey from the consumer’s point of view, not from the corporate point of view. Digital isn’t the be-all and end-all, either:


“There is a need for human interaction when it comes to promoting financial health, and it has to be done from the start of the journey.”


Banks need to think about “the larger journey”, added Kerr. The branch, he added, has become the centre of a connected world in retail banking.


All the same, Kerr has a warning for those present at the event: they will never reach the “nirvana” of a modern, digitised, balanced branch. It’s impossible due to the pace of change in the industry. By the time a bank has installed its new coffee bar, people will be busy wanting a new feature.


A mixed approach, featuring both hardware and software, is best to survive the innovation waves rocking the retail banking industry.


Cash defeats the analyst naysayers C


ash is a long way from dead, and banks need to make sure they continue to provide services for customers that rely on it.


Lee Walker, head of manual payments for UK corporates at Barclays, espoused some surprising figures – at least to those who think we’re going cashless any time soon.


Cash in circulation is going up year-on-year, with $1.5 trillion in circulation across the US in 2016. In the UK, there were 15.4 billion cash transactions in the same year; it also accounts for 40% of


transactions. Yet, volumes are decreasing, and dealing with cash as it decreases is crucial. “Traditional branches are inappropriate places to handle low-value transactions,” said Walker.


While the employees of corporates might be happy to stand in line for 30 minutes, whittling away their day at work, it’s not great business for the employer. Mapping out the customer journey is crucial when it comes to servicing them properly, he concludes.


Identifying client needs and worries is the way forward, not knee-jerk reactions and unnecessary digitation of the bank branch.


www.ibsintelligence.com | © IBS Intelligence 2018


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