Customers now carry out almost all banking transactions digitally or at the ATM. The result: branches are merged and the stationary supply is reduced. At the locations that remain, the emphasis is on meeting places and atmosphere. Read here how the banks in Upper Austria experience and implement the change.
“We want to enable our customers and colleagues to spend the autumn holidays with the family.” For example, Stefanie Christina Huber explained why the Sparkasse Oberösterreich, which she heads, is bringing forward World Savings Day to October 24, thus breaking with tradition. that has been going on for more than 20 years. It was anchored 100 years ago on the last day of October.
“Good,” some people think. Others, on the other hand, are not interested in the step at all, because they rarely or never enter a bank branch and therefore World Savings Day is not relevant to them. Because online banking has become indispensable nowadays: customers carry out almost all banking transactions digitally or at an ATM: depositing money, withdrawing money, transferring money, printing an account statement.
The figures speak for themselves: of the almost 6.2 million payment transactions, Hypo OÖ counted only 21,000 that were carried out manually last year. At Raiffeisen Upper Austria, more than 98 percent of transactions will be processed digitally by 2023. “Customers do their banking on their laptop, many now do their banking on their mobile phone,” confirms Heinrich Schaller, Managing Director of Raiffeisenlandesbank.
“Advisory to companies and IT service providers”
“Ultimately, we are a consultancy firm and an IT service provider,” says VKB Managing Director Markus Auer. “There is an incredible desire for a contact person who takes care of worries and has time,” says Franz Gasselsberger, Managing Director of Oberbank.
“Changing workplaces”
The result: the remaining branches are being converted and the traditional bank counter is disappearing. “Jobs are changing,” says Klaus Kumpfmüller, CEO of Hypo-OÖ. Auer speaks of an atmosphere that is created: “When we redecorate a branch, where the counter safe used to be, the refrigerator is now located so that we can offer drinks for consultations.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
