Branches and Self-Service

Everyone is still trying to make sense of CX.

Amid today’s ultra-competitive banking landscape, you might think at first glance that digital and physical channels remain locked in an all-out battle, each using any advantage to lure customers to their side.

Not all that long ago—and perhaps it’s still the case in some corners—bank branches were targeted by cost cutters, who viewed physical space as hopelessly outdated in the digital world.

Even as digital banking gains ground, many customers still prefer human, face-to-face interaction for complex products such as mortgages and investments.

Banks have talked for years about bridging the yawning gap between physical and digital channels—first via multichannel, then omnichannel.

Back when people visited banks as their sole way to deposit paychecks, make large cash withdrawals and move money between accounts, branches were built to portray security and stability.

As customers continue to move towards digital channels, we see the ongoing, dramatic impact on monetary transactions, “paying and receiving” or teller transactions.

I recently attended two banking conferences and was struck by how much has changed—yet how much has not and needs to.

While consumers and small businesses consistently rate “local branch convenience” as a deciding factor in choosing their financial institutions, branch transactions are declining at an average rate of 7 percent per year—even higher in many urban areas.