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This parallels the changes in consumer banking since the introduction of the ATM. It's now rare for most people to interact with bank staff beyond opening an
by neovive 15y ago
This parallels the changes in consumer banking since the introduction of the ATM. It's now rare for most people to interact with bank staff beyond opening an account or taking out a loan.
Supermarkets are another great example of self-service automation. For example, my local supermarket has 8 self-checkout lanes occupying the same space as 4 full-service cashier lanes. Only one staff member is required to support these lanes -- although they should have two considering there is no training requirement for the customers :). It's interesting to note that there is no discount for using the self-checkout, although you are now scanning and bagging yourself as opposed to the full-service you receive in the standard cashier. I assume this is the "cost" of progress (and shorter lines).
In the long-term, I think the restaurants that leverage technology to enhance the dining experience will benefit greatly (e.g. enhanced menus, reduced printing, order ahead, entertainment, brand engagement, etc.). Restaurants that simply use tablets for cost-cutting will lose customers.
Dining in a restaurant is more discretionary than banking or supermarket shopping.
- nknight 15y ago> It's now rare for most people to interact with bank staff beyond opening an account or taking out a loan. Loans I wouldn't know about, but opening accounts at major banks without entering a bank branch is generally quite easy, particularly if you can afford to wait a few days for physical mail to go back and forth. One hopes that particular anachronism becomes increasingly rare, too.
- politician 15y agoIt's surprising that you can open a customer bank account over mail given the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) laws which I thought included a physical presence check. Something to Google on a rainy day...
- nknight 15y agoI've never heard of a physical presence check being required, and I've opened a couple accounts "remotely" in the last five years with institutions I'd never done business with before. They practically demand your life history, but not that you walk into a branch. Physical presence checks would simply put some of them out of business. There are national banks with no or very few physical branches.
- rmc 15y agoIt could be gotten rid of, but remember that 99% of the population will probably open, what, 5 bank accounts in their life? Whereas 90% of the population probably us their ATM card 5+ times per month.