retail bank branch of the future: time to tango...retail bank branch of the future: time to tango...

Reprinted for Cisco Systems with permission from Meridien Research

Retail Bank Branch of the Future:Time to Tango

Special Research Report

June 2002

Analysts: Richard Bell

Bill Bradway

Many retail banks and savings institutions are struggling with their branch networks. On the one hand, they have a tremendous invest-ment in branch networks, and the vast majority of their customers continue to use branches. On the other hand, branches are expen-sive and are generally seen as an underperforming drain on bank profitability. Worse still, banks are facing the need to make new near-term branch investments, as obsolete branch systems require replacement. As if this was not trouble enough, the branch’s role in the bank is changing. Branches are being called upon to deliver, service, and sell nontraditional financial services. They are being asked to provide higher levels of personalized customer service to an increasingly demanding customer base. The branch networks at many institutions are in crisis.

This special research report examines the opportunity to transform the bank branch—to enhance it to better meet the needs of today’s customer-driven marketplace, to reengineer it based on contemporary Web technol-ogy, to improve branch productivity while reducing operating costs—in short, to turn the branch from an underperforming delivery channel into a profit-generating engine for growth and competitive advantage. We believe this is a generational opportunity for forward-thinking banks to transform their branch networks from a drain on bank profitability to a highly productive asset.

© 2002 Meridien Research, Inc. All rights reserved, worldwide

Reprinted for Cisco Systems with permission from Meridien Research•2• Retail Bank Branch of the Future: Time to Tango

Overview

Today’s crisis in bank branch delivery has been building for over 30 years. It is rooted both in changes in the financial marketplace and in branch technology solutions. The compelling reality of today’s market-place is that branches aren’t going away, and financial institutions must find ways to transform the branch from an underperforming asset to a highly productive part of their business.

Up through the 1960s, retail banking was a fairly simple business with branches staffed by tellers and platform officers who focused on transac-tional services.

During the 1970s, things began to change. Banks added new channels: first the telephone and ATMs; more recently the Web and wireless. But as channels proliferated, consumer adoption was slow, with the vast majority of customers continuing to prefer using bank branches (83% according to a recent ABA study). However, over 70% of consumers use more than one channel; interacting with the institution via the branch, Web, contact center, and ATM. Despite the proliferation of channels and decades of investments in new channels, branches haven’t gone away and show no sign of doing so.

In the 1980s, changes in financial regulations lead to new entrants. Non-banks offered first some, then many, traditional banking services. Com-petition intensified and many bank products became undifferentiated commodities carrying commodity-like prices. This has placed increased pressure on operational and delivery costs and efficiencies throughout the bank, including the branch.

Banks today offer more products, and they are more complex. In 1999 the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act fundamentally redefined banking, dramatically expanding the range of financial ser-vices that banks can offer and creating an opportunity for banks to com-pete more effectively for wallet share. Unfortunately, the delivery channel infrastructure at most institutions, particularly their branch infra-structure with its focus on transactions, are ill-suited to selling, servicing, and delivering these more complex products.

Marketplace and technology changes have redefined the retail bank.

Special Research Report © 2002 Meridien Research, Inc. All rights reserved, worldwide

Reprinted for Cisco Systems with permission from Meridien ResearchRetail Bank Branch of the Future: Time to Tango • 3 •

As traditional banking has changed into a merchant business, consumer expectations have changed. They now ask, what have you done for me today? Do it simple, easy, quick, hassle-free! Meet my needs! These increasingly dominate customers expectations. Yet today’s branch infra-structure remains ill-suited to participate in an increasingly customer-centered merchant delivery strategy.

When all is said and done, changes in the banking marketplace have fun-damentally altered both the mission of the bank and the technologies needed to support that mission. The branch of the past just isn’t going to work in the 21st century.

A Market Vision for the Branch of the Future

So, what will the branch of the future look like? There are many competing visions of the branch of the future. Some are rooted in visions of technology revolution. Others forecast fundamental changes in the financial services mar-ketplace and customer behaviors. We think that many of these miss the mark. We believe that the branch will evolve into a financial services merchant store-front (see Figure A), offering a full range of traditional and new financial ser-vices and embracing customer-centric preferences, while driving operational excellence. While this branch of the future will seem familiar in some ways, it will be fundamentally transformed and reengineered.

Figure A: Market Vision for the Branch of the Future

Source: Meridien Research

T ra d itio n a l b ra n c h a c tiv it ie s

O p e ra tio n a l e x c e lle n c e

C R M d r iv e n d e liv e ry

E x p a n d e d p ro d u c t s e t

T ra d itio n a l b ra n c h a c tiv it ie s

O p e ra tio n a l e x c e lle n c e

C R M d r iv e n d e liv e ry

E x p a n d e d p ro d u c t s e t

The branch of the past isn’t going to work in the 21st century.

We believe the branch will evolve into a financial services merchant storefront.

© 2002 Meridien Research, Inc. All rights reserved, worldwide Special Research Report


Our vision of the branch of the future recognizes that retail banking today is a merchant business, characterized by merchant values and pro-cesses. Financial products have become undifferentiated, and consumers who do not like the service or delivery at one bank can (and oftentimes do) go to another “store.” We believe that this is a fundamental shift in what it means to be a retail bank. Retail banks are metamorphosizing into “stores,” placing new emphasis on having the right product at the right price, delivering and servicing that product effectively, and devel-oping a sustainable customer relationship—the core underpinnings of a sustainable business.

We believe that while the branch must evolve, traditional branch activi-ties haven’t gone away, and they are not going to go away in the foresee-able future. The branch of the future will still have tellers and platform officers performing the same tasks they do today, but the branch will need to do more. These additional responsibilities will require new busi-ness processes and new technology systems to support a wide range of financial products and services.

We believe that operational excellence is fundamental to success in a financial services merchant environment. The bank needs to deliver competitive products that meet the customer’s financial needs backed by outstanding service at competitive prices across all of its channels, including the branch. The branch must become an integral part of the institution’s multichannel delivery infrastructure. It must be able to effectively deliver, service, and sell all of its products while advancing the institution’s relationship with the customer. In a marketplace where the brand is a thousand experiences and competitors actively pursue six-sigma quality, operational excellence is mandatory.

Given its critical place in the bank’s delivery infrastructure, we believe that the branch of the future must be able to create and nourish a sustain-able long-term relationship with the customer. To do so, it must become a seamlessly integrated part of the bank’s multichannel delivery environ-ment and fully CRM enabled.

Unlike some market visions of the bank of the future, this one is rooted in fundamental changes in the financial services marketplace. It envi-sions an evolutionary path, moving from today’s isolated branch infra-structure to a future where the branch becomes a valuable asset integral to the future success of the retail bank.

In a marketplace where the brand is a thousand experiences and competitors actively pursue six-sigma qulaity, operational excellence is mandatory.



A Technology Vision for the Branch of the Future

Supporting this new environment requires reengineering the branch. It requires deploying a new technical delivery infrastructure to support the branch’s traditional activities, new products, and institution-wide CRM strategies at new levels of operational effectiveness. While market visions for the branch of the future remain uncertain, there is broad con-sensus on what its technologies will be.

We have classified the technology vision for the branch of the future into three broad groups (see Figure B). “Now” offers a clear direction, backed by substan-tial consensus and a well-established business case. “Near Term” has less cer-tainty; but the problems are real and the solution components, while uncertain in all their details and timing, are broadly apparent. “Future” is where the inter-esting and exciting opportunities exist, but there is significant uncertainty about their role in the branch of the future. We explore each of these groups and their impending effect on the branch of the future.

Figure B: Technology Vision for the Branch of the Future


Element Business - Functional Impact

•Reduces costs, simplifies communications, improves service, and lays technical base for converged voice & data

• IP Telephony

Now

• Integrates branch into multichannel delivery infrastructure, and lays base for branch transformation

•Reduces leased lines & support costs, integrates branch more closely with contact center

•Web branch platform & teller

•Common IP voice & data backboneN

ear T

erm

• Integrates ATM into multichannel delivery, improves ATM CRM potential

•Enhances self-service capabilities in branch, establishes remote presence

•Provides remote access to high-value & specialty skills capable of enriching relationship, distance-learning

•Simplifies provisioning for IP-based services, mobile staff, ATMs, video kiosks, and surveillance

•Web ATMs

•Web Kiosk

•Video

•Wireless LAN

Futu

re

Element Business - Functional Impact


• IP Telephony

Now





ear T

erm





•Web ATMs

•Web Kiosk

•Video

•Wireless LAN

Futu

re


• IP Telephony

Now •Reduces costs, simplifies communications, improves

service, and lays technical base for converged voice & data• IP Telephony

Now





ear T

erm • Integrates branch into multichannel delivery infrastructure,

and lays base for branch transformation•Reduces leased lines & support costs, integrates branch more closely with contact center



ear T

erm





•Web ATMs

•Web Kiosk

•Video

•Wireless LAN

Futu

re





•Web ATMs

•Web Kiosk

•Video

•Wireless LAN

Futu

re

There is broad consensus on the technologies for the branch of the future.



“Now”

IP Telephony IP telephony offers an attractive alternative that promises to dramatically lower operating cost while providing a variety of other benefits. The sav-ings available will depend on the geographic footprint, base telephone service cost, calling unit cost, and toll charges for individual banks, but IP telephony promises to reduce direct voice communications cost by US$8,000 to US$12,000 per year per branch! We believe this level of savings will stimulate strong interest at banks with 100 or more branches. For large institutions with over 1,000 branches, direct savings in excess of US$10,000,000 per year are possible.

While cost reduction will drive the IP telephony decision at most banks, institutions will derive many other significant advantages. Adopting this technology will reduce the maintenance difficulties associated with adds, moves, and changes. It will simplify the branch’s overall communica-tions infrastructure and move it one necessary step closer to an IP-based, converged voice and data infrastructure. IP telephony throughout the institution will make mobile and remote workers a much more practical and productive choice. It will open other resources to the branch, such as using contact center resources during peak branch loads. Likewise, it will make branch resources available to other delivery channels so that branch assets, for example, could be available to the contact center. IP telephony offers the possibility of unifying voice and e-mail messaging. It provides a necessary technical underpinning for emerging data phones that offer Web-based services via XML interfaces into the institution’s infrastructure. Conversely, soft-phones running on Windows can provide a consolidated desktop workstation. While it is not possible to accurately know which of these many possibilities will prove significant, it is clear that some will be and that these will provide substantial benefits going forward.

IP telephony is real and ready today. It promises significant cost savings in the near term. We believe that banks should consider these cost sav-ings as the low-hanging fruit. Going forward, it is a necessary step on the road to a converged IP-based voice/data environment that allows an institution to maximize its network infrastructure investment and access a variety of other significant benefits. Reengineering this infrastructure, lowering costs, and building a network foundation for the next 25 years is a revolutionary opportunity.

For large institutions, direct savings in excess of $10 mil-lion per year are possible.

IP telephony is real and ready today. It offers significantly lower cost and a variety of other benefits.



“Near Term”

Web BranchPlatform and

Teller

Many of today’s branch applications are rooted in 3270 green screens, later 4700 technology, and OS2 PCs running client/server applications. While these technologies performed well in their time, they are no longer sustainable and are now simply technologically obsolete.

Meanwhile, the Web and the Internet have had a transforming impact within the bank. Most banks, particularly large banks, now have signifi-cant investments in Web and Internet delivery infrastructure. Browser-based applications, IP communications, and related Internet technologies increasingly underlie the institution’s multichannel delivery infrastruc-ture.

It is now time, we believe, for banks, driven by technological obsoles-cence on the one hand and a need to rejoin the bank’s multichannel delivery infrastructure on the other, to rebuild the branch around Web technology. This Web branch should support the full range of the bank’s products. It should be an integral part of the institution’s multichannel delivery infrastructure. It should be directly integrated into the institu-tion’s CRM infrastructure. It should be driven off of the same customer knowledge. It should have access to the same processes and procedures as the rest of the institution’s delivery infrastructure.

This new Web branch promises to deliver a number of advantages to the bank. In many instances, direct cost savings can be realized by eliminat-ing redundant systems and communications. Web-based platform and teller applications should share significant elements of the bank’s multi-channel delivery infrastructure, reducing the cost of both the necessary conversion and ongoing maintenance (since many of the components will be shared across the delivery channels). These revitalized applica-tions will now be able to access many of the enhanced capabilities avail-able in other channels, particularly the contact center. As new features are added to the bank’s multichannel delivery infrastructure, they will become part of the branch, improving time to market. The ongoing prob-lem of training will be simplified, since most new employees will already be familiar with Web-based applications (unlike 3270 function key-based applications). The range of direct and indirect cost savings and other benefits for a Web-based branch, including teller and platform, is significant.



The business case for the Web branch is building rapidly. Going forward, converting the branch to a Web-based environment promises to leverage it and make it a much more effective channel within the institution’s multichannel delivery infrastructure. We believe that reengineering the branch around Web technology to achieve cost savings today and to lay the technical infrastructure for revitalized branch of the future is an opportunity that banks should pursue in the near-term.

Common IPVoice & Data

Backbone

Today, branches exist in a world of multiple communications infrastruc-tures that are costly to operate, support, and maintain. The typical branch has a voice infrastructure wholly disconnected from its data infrastruc-ture. Oftentimes, the latter is running a variety of protocols over several different communications backbones or sharing a single backbone with a complex set of protocol converters. Many times the ATMs, physically located in the branch, have their own unique communications infrastruc-ture. These infrastructures oftentimes have excess capacity. The bank pays for peak bandwidth to insure responsiveness, but simply wastes bandwidth most of the time. These difficulties argue for adopting a com-mon communications infrastructure.

With the rise of the Web, IP telephone, and Web branch a common IP-based backbone supporting both voice and data is the option of choice today. This will likely require reengineering some of the branch’s con-nectivity into the institution’s core systems. The opportunity to leverage a common set of connection standards to integrate the branch into the bank’s multichannel delivery environment, however, is justified. We believe that banks that move to a simplified IP voice and data architec-ture will reap significant benefits going forward.

“Future”

Web ATMs Web ATMs promise to both revitalize and revolutionize the ATM. Unlike traditional ATMs, Web ATMs are based on PCs running Win-dows. Web ATMs connect both to the traditional ATM infrastructure and to the institution’s IP-based intranet. This new class of ATMs can sup-port both traditional ATM functions and an evolving array of advanced Web-based applications, which when paired with intranet connectivity provide the technical underpinning that promises to transform the role of ATMs within the bank. In the near term, Web ATMs promise to reduce network cost by eliminating specialized ATM communications.

Reengineering the branch around Web technology is an opportunity banks should pur-sue in the near term.

Adopting a simplified IP voice and data archi-tecture offers sig-nificant benefits going forward.



Beyond these direct operational cost advantages, Web ATMs can inte-grate with the institution’s multichannel delivery infrastructure. They can share components of that infrastructure, reducing ATM development and support cost. The institution’s ATM network can more readily accommodate product changes and new products and services. Web ATMs can move beyond the traditional handful of transactions to offer a broader range of services, encouraging self-service behavior on the part of customers. They can offer personalization and targeted promotions driven by the institution’s common CRM infrastructure. Instead of dis-playing an inappropriate product-of-the-week message, the institution can deliver a targeted message customized to an individual customer.

Web ATMs promise to revitalize and revolutionize the role ATMs play within the financial services industry. While the exact shape of this revo-lution is not clear, it is clear that it is coming. We believe that institutions that capitalize on this opportunity can achieve significant competitive advantages.

Web Kiosk While previous kiosk initiatives, plagued by high cost and consumer resistance, have not succeeded, we believe that Web kiosks based on PCs running Windows, Web applications, and Internet communications may play a significant role in the branch of the future. This new class of inex-pensive yet sophisticated kiosks can support advanced Web applications, in many cases the same applications found on the bank’s Web site. They can be deployed and supported as an integral part of the branch’s Web infrastructure. They can easily display video. We believe that, freed from expensive proprietary technology, the Web kiosk has significant poten-tial as part of the branch of the future.

Several potential roles exist for Web kiosks. They can provide product promotions to increase product awareness. In situations where the cus-tomer is known, they can deliver one-to-one service and sales messages. They can familiarize consumers with the institution’s Web site. For example, part of the branch’s new account process might involve show-ing a new customer how to access both an account online and self-ser-vice via the Web. The success of Internet cafes suggests that in-branch Web kiosks can provide access to the institution’s Web site, perhaps deflecting some teller and platform traffic. Some kiosk applications may be practical in the branch, where branch platform officers are present,

Web kiosk will find a significant place in the branch of the future.

Web ATMs promise to both revitalize and revolutionize the ATM.



that may not be practical over the Internet. In-branch kiosks can provide access to product and service experts through Web conferencing. They could provide access to shared tellers in a fashion similar to drive-up tellers. While the exact role the Web kiosk will play in the branch of the future is not clear, it is clear that it represents a new sophisticated para-digm for delivering financial services within the branch and at remote site locations.

We believe that institutions should consider the kiosk as part of their delivery infrastructure both within the branch and at remote locations. While it is not possible to project with any certainty the role kiosks will play in the branch of the future, we believe that they will find a signifi-cant place and that institutions positioned to use this technology can achieve a competitive advantage.

Video The potential benefits of video conferencing have prompted many enter-prises to experiment with it using very expensive specialized systems and leased lines. Contemporary Web technology and high bandwidth intranets and Internets have now made video much more practical. Indeed, it is now possible to run video conferences over relatively inex-pensive PCs connected to the public Internet. With the cost and technol-ogy now a commodity, we believe that Web-based video will play a significant role in the branch of the future.

A number of possibilities for this technology exist. Sophisticated two-way video workstations can deliver product or service experts, such as a registered financial advisor, to the branch, leveraging those experts into branches without incurring the expense and inefficiencies of placing them physically in each branch. Another possibility involves distance learning either for the training of branch staff or the support of in-branch seminars presented by world-class experts. Video can link voice, data, and an Internet browser to help resolve customer service problems, assist the help desk, demonstrate products, and enhance corporate communica-tions and advertising.

While the details of the future role of video in the retail branch are not certain, we believe that Web video in the retail branch should be viewed as an effective and cost-efficient technology with a significant potential to lower costs, improve service, and expand relationships. Sophisticated video interactions are quite feasible using Web-based voice, data, and video running on a contemporary IP backbone.

Web video should be viewed as an effective and cost-efficient technol-ogy with long-term potential.



Wireless LAN As we consider the ever-increasing role of Web applications and Internet infrastructure within the branch of the future, connections to networks are critical. Unfortunately, few branches are wired for the future. In some instances, providing high bandwidth connections where and when they are wanted can be extremely difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, impeding the deployment of advanced Web branch facilities. One increasingly practical and cost-effective way to address this problem is to provide secure wireless LAN connections.

In addition to connecting to the network, wireless LANs offer the poten-tial of some new branch services and facilities. Mobile Web-based wire-less tellers and temporary wireless workstations and kiosks are interesting possibilities. We believe that wireless LAN technology will play a role in providing the intranet/Internet connectivity required by the branch of the future.

TechnologyFramework

for Branch ofthe Future

The technology framework for the branch of the future (Figure C) is based on Web technology. It makes extensive use of browser-based applications and Web servers. It uses Internet communications protocols to support all of the branch’s communications: voice, data, and video. This common contemporary technol-ogy infrastructure can integrate seamlessly with the bank’s multichannel deliv-ery infrastructure.

Figure C: Branch of the Future Architecture


BranchBranch

BranchServersBranchServers

PlatformWeb platformIP Telephony

PlatformWeb platformIP Telephony

Web tellerWeb teller

Web kioskWeb kiosk

Web ATMWeb ATM

Web video conference Web video conference

MultichannelWeb

ApplicationServers

MultichannelWeb

ApplicationServers

External ATM& Bank

Networks

External ATM& Bank

Networks

External ATM& Bank

Networks

VoiceNetworkVoiceNetwork

ProductSpecialists

ProductSpecialists

ProductSpecialists

Enterprise NetworkEnterprise Network

ContactCenter

ContactCenter

ContactCenter

Core Applications

Business PartnerExtranet

DataWarehouse

CIF/CIS

Customer Analytics

…

Core Applications



DataWarehouse

CIF/CIS

Customer Analytics

…

IntranetExtranet

IP Wan

IntranetExtranet

IP Wan



A Business Case for the Branch of the Future

We believe that the business case for the transformation of the branch is com-pelling (see Figure D). It is rooted in lower costs and improved service that we believe will translate into competitive advantages as well as future business benefits. Activity in the marketplace suggests that a few banks already “get it.”

Lower Cost The transformation will initially be driven by lower costs. Banks with larger branch networks, particularly those deployed on older technolo-gies supporting multiple communications technologies, will be prime candidates for early adoption. Initial cost savings will derive from upgrading the bank’s communications infrastructure. The new infra-structure promises lower direct expenses and reduced support costs through the elimination of redundant systems. We believe that the poten-tial to harvest significant short-term cost savings while building a com-mon framework for the next generation of multichannel applications should appeal to most institutions. As mentioned earlier, the consoli-dated cost savings for per branch can range between $8,000 and $12,000 per year. Total direct network expense can be reduced by 15% to 20% per year.

Figure D: Business Case for Branch of the Future


Competitive Advantages

• Lower efficiency ratio• Increase customer

satisfaction• Increase retention • Improved lead generation• Increased market share• Increased wallet share

Future Benefits

• Shorter time to market• M & A consolidation• Speeds business

process deployment• Sustains existing

investments

Lower Cost

• Reduce direct network cost 15-20% per year

• Common network infrastructure eliminates redundant systems

• More cost-effective service delivery• Reduced support cost for single

communications technology• Shared delivery components

Improved Service

• Service availability for all products within branch

• Service consistency across channels

• Customize service to individual customers

• More one and done interactions, higher quality







Future Benefits



investments

Future Benefits



investments

Future Benefits



investments

Lower Cost

• Reduce direct network cost 15-20% per year

• Common network infrastructure eliminates redundant systems

• More cost-effective service delivery• Reduced support cost for single

communications technology• Shared delivery components

Improved Service

• Service availability for all products within branch

• Service consistency across channels

• Customize service to individual customers

• More one and done interactions, higher quality



Beyond short-term cost savings are opportunities to migrate branch applications into the multichannel delivery environment. While there will be a one-time investment to reengineer or replace older applications, once these applications are migrated to the multichannel environment, ongoing maintenance and support will be reduced to a fraction of the costs to sustain applications for disparate networks. Finally, the cost to deploy new capabilities, such as video, will be minimal as the infrastruc-ture technologies will already be in place.

Lower cost will be a significant element of the branch of the future. It will be less expensive to run day-to-day, less expensive to maintain and support, and less expensive to enhance as business needs evolve and technology advances.

ImproveService

While lower cost will drive early branch transformation initiatives, we believe that achieving superior service and delivery is a sustainable advantage. Retail banks face many difficult service challenges, but none so compelling as the need to provide consistently good service within the branch and across all their delivery channels. They need to redefine themselves not as “the bank” but as a “financial services merchant” able to offer their customers a full suite of reasonably priced products backed by superior service.

Branch transformation can help the bank meet these challenges. By inte-grating the branch into the institution’s multichannel delivery infrastruc-ture, the bank insures consistent service across all channels. It supports both the ability to differentiate service levels by customer segments and one-to-one personalized service. It allows the branch to more quickly resolve customer engagements and to insure more “one-and-done” cus-tomer interactions. One-and-done interactions have a relative cost advantage of between 2:1 and 10:1 over several follow-up interactions that often involve multiple departments.

CompetitiveAdvantages,

FutureBenefits

Achieving lower costs and improved service is the beginning of sustain-able competitive advantage. When a bank reaches a sustained level of superior customer service, it will deliver customer satisfaction and a higher retention rate. By efficiently supporting a broader range of prod-ucts, the bank’s ability to compete for market share and wallet share is enhanced. By providing an actionable flow of leads between the branch and other channels, it can improve sales.

Superior service and delivery are the principal sus-taining advan-tages for retail banks.

The branch of the future will be less expensive to run, support, and enhance.



Over the long term, the improved infrastructure of the branch of the future will reduce time to market for new product and service offerings, compress the merger and acquisition consolidation window, and facili-tate changes to and deployment of improved business processes. We believe the end result of this transformation initiative is a significant competitive advantage based on reduced costs and improved service lev-els. These benefits are the brass rings of today and tomorrow.

Lower costs and improved service will lead to com-petitive advan-tage.



Looking Ahead

The financial services industry has evolved into an increasingly inte-grated network of businesses focused on meeting the financial needs of an evermore sophisticated and demanding customer. The result is a transformed industry, now firmly rooted in the storage, processing, and movement of electronic bits through increasingly advanced levels of automation and accessibility. Web technologies are increasingly central to this transformation. Retail banks and savings institutions that effec-tively adopt these technologies will survive and prosper.

We believe that solid, well-executed business strategies, enabled by Web technology-based applications and infrastructure, will determine the leading retail banks. The desired goal state for these leading institutions will be to foster interactions both internally with staff and externally with customers.

The following attributes will mark the leaders.

• Leading institutions will have achieved a competitive advantage by improving service levels and lowering operating costs through-out the organization.

• Multichannel business processes and technology solution compo-nents will underlie the delivery infrastructure.

• Web standards-based technologies will provide the underlying technology infrastructure throughout the multichannel delivery environment.

• Browser-based applications will dominate the human facing envi-ronment.

• Infrastructure that supports converged voice, data, and video com-munications will become integral to their strategy.

• Enterprise-level thinking combined with patience will produce the biggest payoffs.

We believe these technologies have matured and are ready for rapid adoption. By 2005, retail financial institutions will look back at this branch of the future transformation opportunity with its focus on Web technologies and considered it a “no-brainer.”

By 2005, retail financial institu-tions will look back at this branch of the future transformation opportunity with its focus on Web technologies and consider it a “no-brainer.”



About Meridien Research

Meridien Research, Inc. was founded in 1997. It is a privately held, employee-owned firm headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, USA.

Meridien Research was formed to provide industry business leaders with informed opinions on the technologies required to create a competitive advantage. Meridien delivers research advisory services throughout the world to a wide range of clients, including banks, brokerages, insurance companies, asset management firms, and most of the major suppliers of technology and technology-related services in the financial services industry. Clients use Meridien’s research to help them stay up on new developments, make the right choices for their business, and ensure that costly mistakes are avoided. Technology providers use Meridien to help them understand user requirements and market dynamics so that their products and services are in line with customer needs.

Over 100 client firms depend upon Meridien’s analysis to anticipate, understand, and manage the implementation of technologies in financial service. As the leading research firm in the financial services industry, Meridien provides clients with a completely objective view based on close ties to the financial services industry and the independence that pri-vate ownership provides. Meridien also maintains strong relationships with leaders at major vendors and service providers.

Meridien Research, Inc.2020 Commonwealth Avenue

Newton, MA 02466 Tel +1.617.796.2800

[email protected]

www.meridien-research.com


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