The only place that a consumer can have a face-to-face interaction with a person is at a branch. But who wants this in an increasingly digital age? It turns out just about everyone, including the Millennial demographic that most people assume would never want to walk into a branch.
For example, TD Bank’s recent research on banking preferences of Gen Y found that 57{91edff4ab0179c213d4d62ccb73735ad51d636906a6f58336791bd911b76df7b} of them want to come in and talk to a real person when they are making big decisions on their mortgages, or they are buying a car, or student loans, or investments.
Branch detractors fail to recognize that even the most gadget-addicted consumers still want eyeball-to-eyeball human assistance when it comes to big financial decisions, to obtaining financial advice, to applying for many types of loans, and simply to clear up some error or misstep. The branch is a place to make a human connection which simply cannot happen in the other channels.
It is interesting to note that Apple, considered by many to be the ultimate high-tech company, has found great success with their Apple Stores and many analysts agree that one of the reasons the Apple Stores are so successful is that a lot of the traffic there is prearranged. People go online and make appointments to meet with Apple Geniuses.
Key Takeaway: The branch of the future is all about personal assistance and advice, so your credit union should make it easy to book an online appointment with an expert. Our Mobile/Web Appointment Booking Tool Module, which is the first appointment tool designed specifically for credit unions, is the perfect way to make this a reality.