The future of the branch was already an open question as established providers were re-thinking the role of the physical branch network in response to changing customer behaviors and declining footfall. Adding pressure to that evolution were a crop of new challengers that were fully digital from birth and starting to build up market share. Then along came Covid and the time horizon to think about those changes shrunk dramatically. 

As institutions of all shapes and sizes had to shift dramatically to digital channels to meet the ongoing and often rapidly changing needs of customers, there arose both challenges and opportunities. This had an obvious impact on the present but also on future thinking about the role of the branch and changes in the need for face to face engagement and servicing.   

We will look at how employees can be provided with the best tools and technologies to support both existing and new customers across a range of activity in an efficient, compliant and safe manner without compromising on client experience.