One of the things that many consumers may find difficult to deal with when it comes to making a trip to the bank is the tedium of simply standing in line. In a lot of cases, this is simply unavoidable, even in well-staffed bank locations, because each transaction takes time and consideration to handle. But now, banks are starting to work on technology with that consideration for people’s frustration in mind, and seem to have landed on a solution to the problem.
Some major banks are now starting to introduce a type of technology, known as “pre-staging,” that allows consumers to lay the groundwork for the transaction they’re about to complete at the counter, ATM or even while they’re standing in line, according to a report from the Charlotte Observer. This has already been tested at a number of bank branches in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona, in recent months and received a warm reception from consumers and banking professionals alike.
How does it work?
In order to get started with pre-staging, all a consumer would have to do is open their bank’s app while they’re standing in line – or even in the parking lot, at home, etc. – and start the process of, say, withdrawing money or making a deposit within it, the report said. Then, they could complete it more quickly once they get to the window or in-branch ATM, meaning there’s less wait time in line in the first place.
Of course, the ways in which they would be able to complete that transaction would probably vary from one bank to the next, the report said. For instance, some might allow a consumer to effectively complete everything about a transaction except taking one final step, then generate a code that a teller could enter or scan to formalize it. In the future, they might also be able to use near-field communication technology to complete such a transaction.
“It’s one of the next innovations from a banking perspective,” Miranda Hill, the Seattle-based manager for one major bank’s digital innovation lab, told the newspaper. “I would say for the most part we think of this as a choice, another choice, for [bank customers] to be able to engage with us, but it’s also very convenient.”
Potential benefits
In addition to the obvious issue of simply getting lines to move more quickly and keeping consumer frustrations down, experts also say that there’s a chance they can make some bank transactions more secure, the report said. With pre-staging in place, there are no cards to swipe, meaning that there may be an extra layer of security to even counter transactions. However, that’s something that’s more likely to be seen as a benefit to the banks themselves, rather than individual consumers.
Certainly, though, anything that can be marketed as bringing more convenience and security to a trip to the bank is likely to be viewed positively by consumers, and efforts to roll out this technology in the near future will therefore probably be well-received.