When America First Credit Union opened its new "Innovation Center" branch in downtown Salt Lake City in June, the $8 billion institution knew it was taking a calculated risk by automating nearly all traditional teller tasks.
But CU executives felt strongly that conversations about the branch of the future had been missing one vital element: member feedback. So this center was designed to let members decide and shape the future of banking at America First, which has 120 locations and more than 800,000 members.
The center is designed to be an entirely new banking experience – part branch, part learning workshop and part technology playground, according to the CU.
Members are greeted by large tactile screens when they enter the center, which is located in the City Creek Shopping Center. Touching the screen presents various products and features 3-D models demonstrating products such as auto loans or mortgages.
Once the data is on the screen, members can activate information about those products and multiple users can be on the same screen at the same time.
A table in the front of the center hosts various mobile devices and allows floating staff members to demonstrate how members can use their smartphones or tablets to access products and services. If visitors want to speak with an employee, a remote expert/self-serve teller match them with a CU staff member best suited to meet their needs.
So far, thousands of people have visited the center and America First reports internal surveys found 74% of those visitors are positive about the solutions they are testing.
The remote expert/self-serve tellers have been especially popular. In a recent survey of more than 500 visitors to the center, one respondent noted that it the "teller was knowledgeable and professional, and made it feel like we were there speaking face to face. … The security and privacy features, like the fogged glass, of the room also greatly added to the comfort of the process."
Members also appreciated the ability to quickly interact, with more accommodating hours than a traditional branch, as well as the variety in denominations and transaction options (money orders, cashier's checks, etc.). Nine out of 10 respondents said they would definitely use the self-serve teller again.
"I liked that I was still greeted by a friendly human before using the machine, and that that human was there to help if I needed it, as opposed to walking up to an ATM and hoping there are no problems that I need to try without help," one self-teller user reported in the survey.
