Cummins Allison CUNA Guest Blog Post

by. Bob Gibson

How Can Credit Unions Leverage Technology To Maintain A Profitable Member-Centric Branch?

Despite the growing popularity of digital banking services, in-store branch visits are still an important element to member engagement and satisfaction. In a recent Accenture study, nearly 78 percent of respondents reported they expect to visit their branch just as often – or even more frequently – in five years’ time, largely because the majority of members still prefer to purchase banking products in-person versus online. ¹

The challenge for credit unions is to ensure that branches remain profitable while delivering a member-centric approach, and technology can play a vital role in helping credit unions address this branch conundrum.

Credit Unions Should Evaluate Opportunities for Branch Level Process Improvements

Start by identifying processes that can be simplified or automated. Branch or teller image capture is an excellent way to remove inefficient cash and check management processes. While the benefits of a simplified deposit process are obvious – elimination of off-site processing centers, reduced errors, fewer labor and transportation costs – they can be lost if the right technology is not deployed in the right way. New solutions that accurately process checks and currency at high rates of speed deliver the most efficient forms of branch capture.

For many branches, daily processing of coin deposits is a labor and time intensive process. Tellers can lose valuable face time with customers if they disappear into a back room to process coins. Utilizing self-service coin counting machines that offer streamlined sorting, collection and storage results in tellers that are longer occupied with processing coins in the back room; reducing customer wait times and adding more face time.

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