The far-reaching adoption of virtual branches is opening a new chapter in the transformation of the banking industry.
Virtual branches are the next big thing in the banking industry, helping companies, hard-pressed by ever lower margins, to cut their operating costs and bringing banking services to customers 24/7 and wherever they wish to access them. The introduction of virtual branches by industry giants Standard Chartered and Citibank provides ample evidence of this development.
But what is it exactly that sets a virtual branch apart from regular internet banking? Well, imagine simply that you don’t have to go to your local bank branch anymore, because you can get all you need through live video chats with financial experts, real-time desktop sharing, co-browsing, voice biometrics, on-screen signing and – and all those options come through a secure connection.
What's more, even the most complex banking services, including obtaining a mortgage, are available from the comfort of your home, or wherever you happen to be as long as there's an Internet connection on hand.
Lower Costs – Higher Conversion Rate
Nowadays, banks are able to open accounts for new customers virtually thanks to the so-called 'onboarding' procedure, without having to meet their clients even once – the process is also known under the acronym of eKYC. Using biometric technology, this procedure has become extremely accurate. For customers, virtual banking brings comfort and safety, while companies profit from lower costs because they need fewer bricks-and-mortar branches. And what's more, they also get a higher conversion rate, given that 95 percent of the bank’s offering can be transferred to the virtual channel.
Take the example of Bank Zachodni WBK, a company with some 6 million customers: the management noted that over the course of just one year, video connections increased tenfold. It counted 2,500 virtual sessions a day, and about 20 percent of virtual connections came from active engagement through online applications.
Early Stage of Market Adoption
Virtual branches are still at an early stage of market adoption, but the pace is accelerating by the day. As many as four out of five banks will be involved in virtual branch deployment by 2018, according to EFMA (the European Financial Management Association). The launches of some of the biggest banks are proof that virtual customer service is becoming a standard in the banking industry.
In fact, video branches are already available in many countries. Banks such as the Nationwide Building Society in the U.K., Bank of America, Bank of Montreal in Canada and Westpac in Australia all have deployed video-conferencing systems enabling customers to remotely contact centrally located experts, for instance to apply for a loan or to receive general financial information.
Virtual Banking Introduced
Other banks such as ABN Amro in the Netherlands, Commerzbank in Germany, mBank and Bank Zachodni WBK in Poland, Barclays in the U.K., ICICI in India, the Royal Bank of Canada and Standard Chartered Bank, also have introduced virtual banking, which means that more and more physical functions of bank branches are being moved into the virtual sphere. And it is much more than video communication.
Some of the world’s most innovative banks, such as Citibank, Standard Chartered, Commerzbank (Germany's No. 2) and Poland's award-winning mBank and BZ WBK have chosen the LiveBank solution to go virtual. LiveBank is not only the most advanced solution currently available on the market, but also already in use at a large number of banks worldwide. LiveBank’s success as market leader is undoubtedly due to LiveBank owner Ailleron’s focus on what banks really need.
World Leader in Branch Virtualization
«Banks face new digital contact demands from tech-savvy customers. LiveBank is a world leader in branch virtualization, multi-channel messaging and AI in customer service. Having introduced our technologies to a number of banks, we finally feel it is entering the mainstream. We are very proud to be chosen by one of the biggest international banks. We are riding the revolution of virtualization and automation,» says Rafał Styczeń, Ailleron CEO.
Enormous Interest
And naturally, LiveBank is thrilled to see the enormous interest of banks on every continent to implement such a solution. In 2015, the system was used in 2 countries, serving 18 million customers.
Last year, the product already was available in 13 countries and used by 40 million customers. For 2017, the predictions are for explosive growth, with more than 30 countries and 100 million customers able to use the system. The agreement with Citibank is definitely a milestone in LiveBank’s journey to conquer the market.
