Consumers Prefer Self-Service Kiosks at Banks

Mercator Advisory Group’s customer insight report revealed that even though American consumers typically prefer to deposit their checks with bank tellers, they’re increasingly using self-service methods to deposit their checks. The advisory group surveyed over 3,000 American customers over the course of a year, and found that consumers who don’t like using mobile and online banking prefer to use self-service kiosks at physical branch locations. Studies also show that customers increasingly prefer using self-service kiosks at their banks because of the time it saves.

According to a study by Source Technologies, self-service retail banking kiosks can offer significant improvements to physical branch locations. Usually it takes customers 9 minutes to get an official check from a bank teller. When banks provide self-service kiosks for their customers to use, the time it takes to get an official check gets cut down to 40 seconds. Customers can get their checks 13.5 times faster with a self-service kiosk.

Self-service kiosks in banks help tellers offer better customer service since they’re not focused on helping customers with routine transactions. Bank employees can answer complex financial questions for customers who need in-depth information, and they can also tell their customers about additional services that their bank has to offer. According to Source Technologies, a bank in Connecticut used self-service kiosks to handle 40% of customer transactions, leaving employees free to work on more complex tasks. A credit union in North Carolina decreased bank teller costs by 40% when it made self-service kiosks available to its customers.

The Source Technologies study also found that although online banking has reduced foot traffic in retail branch locations, millennials prefer to visit banks to get more detailed information from employees. The study revealed that out of the people who visited a physical branch location last year, 72% were millennials. Also, 54% of millennials prefer to visit banks when they need more in-depth information from employees regarding their banking needs. Typically millennials prefer to conduct routine transactions themselves, and like to use self-service kiosks when available, but they also like to have an employee nearby to help if needed, or to provide more detailed information.
With self-service kiosks, customers can spend less time at the bank. Instead of waiting in line for a teller, customers can scan their IDs and bank cards before completing a routine transaction at a self-service kiosk, and be out the door in seconds. Banks can also use self-service kiosks to quickly help their customers sign up for different promotions and offers. Customers might be hesitant to sign up for a promotion because they’re short on time, and don’t want to fill out any routine forms. With an ID scanner at a self-service kiosk, customers can get the routine paperwork out of the way in seconds. Bank employees will also know that they don’t have to worry about fraud, since their customer’s ID was verified and authenticated. Self-service kiosks can reduce the amount of time customers spend at banks, and free up time for bank employees.