Three-D avatars.

It’s that time of year again—time to put away the ball in Times Square and polish up our crystal ball for 2017.

Amid the smoky aroma of fresh-roasted coffee and the sweet scent of pastries, Scott Maykis starts his morning routine by tapping into the free Wi-Fi at the Capital One Café on Chicago’s Gold Coast.

Almost all banks have grown by acquisition, resulting in a mix of facilities.

Through this scenario, consider the impact technology is having on how consumers navigate something as routine as their daily lunch hour: Before an executive even leaves her office, she preorders and pays for her favorite meal at a nearby quick-service restaurant via her mobile device—and bypasses the line to pick up her already prepared food.

The recent article in Banking Strategies Online, “Three things you must consider when closing branches,” (Oct.

Just what will bank branches look like 10 years down the line? They’ll look smaller, for starters – and feature self-service machines to work transactions that free up staff.

There is no doubt that bank customers of all ages and incomes are moving to digital channels to conduct financial transactions.

It seems like every week you hear about another bank’s plans to close some large number of branches.

It has been a common banking practice across the U.

I’ve read many articles about the death of bank branches since I started in the industry more than 30 years ago.

How will retail banking’s changing service model define the branch of the future? With adoption of online and mobile banking on the rise, customers are visiting branches less frequently.

As consumer digital migration drains ever more branch traffic, banks have been working through a delicate transition with branch staffing.

Bigger is better may not have been what the politicians and regulators envisioned post-financial crisis but that’s what we now have in the banking industry.

If you have only scanned the headlines from the business world, the news about bank branches seems grim, as every week brings more branch closings by banks and credit unions.

It goes without saying that retail banking has many moving parts and Bank-at-Work programs are no exception.

An abandoned machine shop becomes a brew pub.

While digital transactions have taken a bite out of walk-in traffic, the brick-and-mortar branch is far from obsolete.

The branch that once captured 100% of all transactions now only represents 10% of transactions and has been impacted by various industry trends and fads.

With increasing adoption of digital and mobile channels, along with changing customer preferences, branch banking is undergoing a tremendous shift towards self-service banking.