Digital Banking

Self service banking: 3 tools that improve the customer experience

Here are three of the best self-service banking tools that can improve the bank experience.

Photo: Adobe Stock

July 2, 2024 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

Self-service banking was previously limited to ATMs that only provided cash withdrawals at branch locations. However, those days are now far behind us. Customers are no longer satisfied with rushing to the branch during its staffed hours, they want access to banking on their own terms.

The goal of self-service banking is to provide customers access to as many banking tools as possible that they can access at a time that matches their schedule. This is in turn can make a big impact on the overall banking experience.

Here are three of the best self-service banking tools that can improve the bank experience.

Self service banking ITMs

Interactive Teller Machines (ITMs) come in a variety of forms that each deliver different services. Traditionally, ITMs have acted as ATMs with video capabilities.

For example, if a customer wanted to perform a different task on the ATM such as pay a bill, ask a question about a loan or about how to perform a task on the ATM, they could select an option on the ITM to speak to a live representative who would then be connected via video.

While this can be useful there are limitations, such as the fact that these video ITMs will still have limited hours and deploying them in a drive-thru could hold up the line.

Newer ITMs however are going beyond just video banking to other tools. For example, banks are integrating ITMs into their core banking systems to allow customers to perform more advanced features.

For example, Bank of Missouri states on its website that its ITMs can:

• Make withdrawals in different cash denominations.
• Break up a larger cash bill.
• Make a loan payment.
• Ask account related questions.
• Communicate via text messaging on the screen to a banking representative.

ITMs can also be improved through integration with cash recyclers, which can take customer deposits and reuse them for withdrawals, decreasing downtime and improving security simultaneously.

Self-service mobile banking

Mobile banking is one of the largest self-service banking tools in the market currently and it is being integrated into many different areas of banking. While most think of mobile banking as simply allowing customers to look at their accounts and transfer balances, more advanced mobile banking is transforming the banking experience in many different ways.

Community Bank identifies in a blog post a few must-have features for mobile banking such as:

• Customizable interface.
• Biometric authentication.
• Spending, cash flow, balance management tools.
• Digital wallet integration.
• Card control features.
• Click-to-Pay
• Easy access to bank employees.

In this new era, customers also expect to be able to use their phones to interact with many different devices, including ATMs. The rise of cardless ATMs is rising to the challenge.

With cardless ATMs, customers can simply pull up Apple or Google Pay, select their debit card on file and tap the phone against the contactless symbol for the ATM.

This is useful on a number of levels. For one, customers can interact with the ATM with their device of choice. For another, they can avoid potential security issues such as skimmers or PIN readers on the ATM.

Chatbots

Although AI has been top of mind for many industries, there's one AI tool that's been around for a few years that has made continual improvements to the bank customer experience: chatbots.

With chatbots, customers on mobile or online platforms can get answers to a variety of banking related questions, without having to interact directly with an employee.

One of the most successful chatbots is Bank of America's Erica, which has helped more than 42 million customers since its launch in 2018 due to its ability to help customers search transactions, transfer money, provide insights and more.

"Erica's natural language processing capabilities enable clients to engage 24/7 in the Bank of America app for assistance on a range of everyday banking actions, like searching past transactions, viewing bills and transferring money between accounts. Erica's predictive analytics engine delivers personalized insights to our clients about recurring and duplicate charges, merchant refunds, ways to maximize excess cash, and more," Jorge Camargo, managing director of digital product management at Bank of America, said in a story on ATM Marketplace.

In case of more advanced issues, Erica can recognize what topic a user needs help with and connect them with the right employee, whether that be online or via phone.

As AI tools, chatbots will continue to advance as banks integrate more language processing tools to help them deliver better advice to customers.

Self-service transformation

With self-service banking, customers can take control of their banking journey and personalize it to fit their needs. However for the tools to be successful, they must integrate together in a seamless way to deliver the same bank customer experience across channels.

Customers judge customer experience based not on other banks but on major online giants such as Amazon. As a result, banks need to ensure their self-service banking tools work well before they deploy them to the public.

About Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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