Virtual Branching: The Key to Transforming Financial Services

By CIOReview | Friday, February 23, 2018

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Disruptive technologies are beginning to reshape the way contextual financial services are consumed and structured by organizations. Virtual branching technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have the incredible potential to engage customers with different types of content, providing vivid experiences enabling them to interact with it. It also offers new channels of communication for financial services providers. Financial transactions via smartphones and other mobile devices are on the rise and AR has the ability to personalize and enhance the customer experience. For instance, it can offer targeted location-based deals, locate potential banking channels, and make account management highly efficient. AR can also seamlessly ease out the efforts required in searching for property, getting an insurance policy, and transferring money.

Store-within-a-store’s digital version—a virtual branch, enables financial service providers to have a live encounter with potential customers browsing a partner website, providing a seamless service. Australian Bank Westpac released an augmented reality app for mobile devices that provides 3D visualizations of transaction history and balances. LiveBank, a virtual branch, offers audio, video, and chat communication, enabling customer authorization and authentication. Additionally, it also provides the option to carry out safe bank transactions and convenient online exchange of documents. Furthermore, LiveBank allows customers to liaise with virtual advisors who are available immediately, and offers their clients efficient service anywhere and at any time, which is exactly what today’s customers want. With virtual branching arising slowly as well as becoming more affordable, financial services providers should utilize this opportunity to adapt to the disruption of technology before it is too late.