Don't look now but your neighborhood Bank Branch location may soon be closing.  The Banking industry has woken up to two important facts:

1. Most Customers really don't like (or have time) to come into a Bank Branch (or use ATMs) and more and more of them would rather just use their laptops, tablets or smartphones for most transactions
2. It costs a Bank 90% less for a customer to use a mobile app to complete a transaction vs them coming into a bank to execute a transaction

I know there are plenty of Baby Boomers that love to drive in traffic to the Bank, stand in line and see their local bankers. Really :) Others just don't trust mobile technology yet... and that's OK.  However, it turns out that the banks need to dramatically improve their customers' experience and at the same time, significantly drive down their costs to survive and thrive in the coming years.

The Bank's Cost of Processing a Transaction [chart]

JP Morgan Chase shared some of their transaction cost information showing the dramatic savings that Banks can benefit from digitally transforming their customers' experience from face-to-face to mobile transactions.

So what are the Banks doing differently now?

The new mobile banking apps have dramatically improved over the last few years. You can now:

1. Scan checks to be deposited into your account
2. Transfer money between accounts
3. Manage your mortgages, home equity loans, credit cards and more
4. Update account preferences
5. Pay bills
6. Financial planning
7. Some apps allow you to just use your fingerprint to access your app, simplifying your user interface and greatly improving security

Zelle may be the "beginning of the end" of cash as we know it

Many of the major banks are rolling out something called "Zelle," a new electronic payments system built into their existing mobile bank applications.  Zelle technology lets you easily pay friends and business associates without the need for hard cash or a credit card in your pocket. When you need to split a restaurant bill or some other event tickets, you can instantly get paid right into your bank account using the bank app ...and did I say it's free (FYI... Zelle was designed to compete directly with Venmo - a PayPal company that is used by a lot of Millennials every month).

Visit the Zelle website or check with your own bank to find out when you can start using this new free payment system.

Banks are now investing in digital transformation to improve their customers' experience while reducing the cost of doing future business - and at a much faster pace.   Please give us a call if you need help with digitally transforming your own business or if you'd like to speed up and improve the success of your current projects.