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The Bank of the Future Is Here Now
Customers who first walk into a branch of Washington Mutual, Oakdale, Calif., don't quite know what to do with themselves. The branch looks much more like an office or schoolroom than the traditional bank.
Gone are the teller lines, the teller window, new accounts desk and even - cash. Tellers never touch the stuff - it's dispensed directly from machines.
The futuristic bank is designed to be friendly and more convenient. The room is filled with free-standing workstations. At those stations, customers can access their accounts, transfer funds and review balances - with or without the help of one of the tellers. To get cash, customers go to a workstation in the middle of the room, where a teller calls up account information on a computer, and customers watch the monitor. They can get cash in any denomination, including coins, and the machine dispenses the cash directly to customers.
Across the room on one of the walls is a touch-screen monitor that gives loan information. On another wall is a telephone linked directly to Washington Mutual's headquarters for tough questions or special needs such as language assistance. Outside the branch is an automated teller machine. And if none of those things work, there are 15 staff people available to help at no charge to the customer.
Furniture is designed for comfort, and desks are paper free. There is even a play area for children equipped with electronic games and other distractions.
Bank employees say that once people get used to doing business this way, they are much more relaxed than the customers who used to wait in long lines only to be greeted by bullet-proof glass.
Copyright © 2002 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1/02
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