Chris Skinner describes his vision of a two-tiered banking model this morning. Yes, there will be many who are quite comfortable with a digital-only experience. However, Chris notes, there will still be a need to bring “humanity to the digital experience”:
And that is where I see the future: not a branch-based one, but one where there is humanity.
- human contact in the bank’s offices;
- human contact in my office;
- human contact through my devices; or
- human contact embedded in my net-based life.
That is where the battleground lies: connecting humans to the net and humanizing the digital relationship.
Most legacy institutions don’t have the answer yet, but it’s heartening to see many of them starting to ask the right questions about branch function, design, and the technology required to support what Chris is talking about.