In Defense Of Bank Branches

by. Ron Shevlin

I got this from a CNBC article on bank branches:

“Mobile transactions are easier for customers and cheaper for banks to service, according to Diebold, a company which specializes in ATM and branch transaction services. In the company’s 2010 investor presentation, it estimated a $4.25 per transaction expense at a bank branch versus only 8 cents through mobile banking. A 2013 Deloitte study found 40 percent of consumers were willing to pay more for the ease of mobile banking, too.”

My take: There’s so much wrong with that paragraph — both stated and implied — it’s hard to know where to begin.

So let’s begin with the first sentence. Why would mobile transactions be “easier” for customers? Because they don’t have to go to into a branch to conduct the transaction? What if the transaction (or interaction) requires some discussion or involves some level of complexity?

If we’re talking about checking the balance on a account, or transferring funds between accounts, then sure, a mobile transaction may be easier for a customer to do than doing it other channels or through other methods. But the blanket statement “mobile transactions are easier for customers” doesn’t hold water. Unless, of course, you assume that the only transactions that exist are those that more easily done through a mobile device.

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