Face to Face vs. Internet - Will Online Banking completely substitute Face to face service?

More and more banking services are offered online nowadays. Companies transform their business into more online banking as this saves costs and gives the customers as well as the bank itself the opportunity to do business 24/7.

Face to face means trust and trust is especially crucial when it comes to money. Hence still many people prefer to do important business on the bank counters and not online. Particularly the current generation 50+ still does not trust the services offered on the internet. Furthermore they worship the opportunity to get assistance and advices.

Online Banking opens up many new opportunities to offer new services to customers. They now can check their business from home and do transactions all around the clock, not bound to any opening hours of bank counters. Further, the online banking desktop can and will be customized to the need of every single customer in the future, making this way of banking even easier and more efficient. Services on the internet save costs, as there are no longer needed branches in expensive downtown areas with employees to be paid, which of course can also be seen as an disadvantage when people lose their jobs.

What to do?

Both types of services can melt and adapt attributes from each other. Face to face marketing will still play a large role in the future, but has to be transformed. Future face to face assistance can also be done 24/7 in banks, for example through video counters connecting to a customer service center or advices through connection to the customer via webcam. Face to face marketing can also adapt lessons learned on the internet, like for example increasing customization of services. There have to be found ways to prepare bank workers for the next customer in order to offer him better service and help.

Concerning online banking there still have to be made developments in the user interface as well as to be found new measures to increase payment security. Other advantages of the well connected world can be used, like for example a shared desktop, where bank advisers can directly assist the customer, whether in the banks itself or on your own computer.

Matthäus