Get smarter – tellers must adapt as Chinese customers embrace digital banking services
Bank staff must embark on new roles to generate more value for customers and banks, analysts say
How do users and tellers cope with the “go smart” banking trend in Shanghai?
For young white-collar worker Ada Shen, it did not take her long to get familiar with the new “intelligent” teller machine at an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) branch in the downtown Jingan district.
The 31-year-old rarely visits bank branches nowadays, and even when she goes, she usually turns to the smart machine first, unless for cash services that must be handled by a human teller.
“It’s really convenient as I can buy foreign currency within minutes by simply following the steps on the machine. There is no need to go to a bank counter to deal with a human teller face-to-face unless I want to take out the money in cash,” she said, noting that there is also a banking staff member around for consulting, including guidance on how to use the machine.
She said the machine has been available since the branch completed a revamp this year, which also trimmed the number of banking counters manned by human tellers to two from three.
“I see less service counters but more machines instead now,” she said.