University Federal Credit Union of Austin, Tex., is introducing self- service kiosks, PC-based home banking, and access to information via the Internet.
The credit union is attempting to increase banking outside branches to cut transaction costs while providing more convenience.
University Federal expects the push to help it "provide a broad spectrum of banking services practically on demand," said Charlotte Warren, vice president for marketing and planning.
This month the credit union deployed a multimedia kiosk at its newest branch in Austin.
Through the kiosk, which provides a video connection to a customer representative, customers can open accounts, apply for loans, and obtain information on products, services, and rates, University Federal said.
The credit union, with $250 million in assets, said it will be installing additional kiosks over the next three months. Customer reaction so far suggests that three more kiosks may be installed at other Austin branches, Ms. Warren said.
Eventually, the kiosks will be placed in high-traffic areas, such as shopping malls. In some locations, the kiosks will be teamed with automated teller machines to form remote banking centers, she said.
The kiosk, featuring a touch screen, color graphics, and software customized for University Federal's banking applications, was developed by North Communications and Interactive Multimedia Artists, both of Marina del Rey, Calif.
The credit union also is providing services and information by personal computer.
Using a home banking system developed by Portland, Ore.-based CFI ProServices Inc., customers will be able to perform similar tasks as those performed at the kiosk.
Customers also will be able to download information from their accounts into personal finance software such as Microsoft's Money, or Intuit's Quicken.
From the credit union's home page on the World Wide Web - the multimedia portion of the Internet - customers can view product rate information and link to other financial services.
