by: Henry Meier
Any vendor that can make itself relevant to the financial services industry since 1859 is worth paying attention to because it clearly knows how to change with the times. That’s why thispostfrom the Motley Fool about Diebold caught my attention. At a recent electronics conference in Sin City, Diebold unveiled its vision of the branch of the future.
Diebold envisions what it describes as a “responsive banking concept” in which tellers are eliminated and branches become smaller but much more high tech. You can go into the branch for simple ATM transactions, or if you want to make more sophisticatedtransactions using virtual tellers, you can do that, as well. Let’s say your member is interested getting a home or car loan. Another virtual touch board would allow the member to easily communicate with a live person via two-way video.
Similarly, IBM recentlyannouncedthat it was partnering with the Bank of China to create a flagship technology branch. This branch will not be entirely virtual since members will have the ability to call over bank representatives when they need them, but the basic idea is the same: members will use cell phones or codes to execute transactions with minimal involvement from tellers.
