Cash Recyclers
Though an established technology at many banks, cash recyclers will continue to change branch environments where they are installed. By freeing employees from counting money and balancing amounts at the end of the day, recyclers allow employees to concentrate on the customer.
Microsoft Surface
People learn in different ways, and reading a pamphlet or listening to a sales pitch isn't the best way to reach some customers. Surface offers another way of learning by physically moving through data and making dimensional relationships. At Barclays Bank in the U.K., customers and bank employees sit together and move through the digital content by touching and swiping the tabletop screen with their hands.
RFID
Not implemented anywhere yet, radio frequency identification (RFID) could someday be used to recognize customers by reading their bank cards as they walk into the branch. Employees might see pictures of the customers on the computer screen, know their names, accounts, and might even be prompted to suggest certain new products.
Video Conferencing/Messaging
A powerful way to connect customers to product and service experts in other branches or headquarters, or to conduct a Q&A with the CEO, or to organize seminars with outside experts or famous authors. Some limited deployments have begun, but the industry is just beginning to tap this tool.
Queue Management
Nothing irritates customers more than a long, slow-moving line. Envision is one company promoting "queue management," a handheld paging device given to a customer that vibrates when it's that customer's turn to speak with an advisor. Barclays has deployed another handheld "service angel" that employees use to conduct simple transactions, or schedule a time slot with an advisor, allowing them to escape the line.
