Part 2: Optimizing Branch Performance with Video-Based Business Intelligence

In Part 1 of this blog, we examined some of the ways that a video-based business intelligence solution can help banks fight fraud. The powerful combination of surveillance video, analytics and ATM/teller transaction data can help financial institutions rapidly respond to theft and fraud, as well as detect other suspicious behavior that could be criminal.

In Part 2, we’ll explore how an intelligent video solution can go beyond security and fraud detection to help banks improve customer service, increase operational efficiency and maximize the success of their marketing efforts.

Optimize Staffing and Improve Customer Service

Great customer service is key to the success of any business. For banks, it’s incredibly important to establish and maintain a reputation for excellent service. In fact, the experience that a customer has at their financial institution was ranked as the No. 1 reason for opening or closing an account, according to a recent global banking survey. Respondents put the customer experience ahead of rates and fees, bank location and convenience.

By investing in a security solution with intelligent analytics, banks can monitor wait times in their lobbies and at teller windows and compare the data across each of their locations. If lines are always longer in one branch or service times are slower at a particular teller window, managers can adjust staffing or provide additional employee training if necessary.

A 2014 study by FMSI on lobby wait times in North American retail banks found a direct relationship between shorter wait times and better branch performance. According to the study, the top 10 performing financial institutions in North America had lobby wait times that averaged 3:46 minutes, while the bottom 10 performing institutions had average wait times of 6:59, or almost double that of the top performers. Shortening customer wait times clearly impacts a bank’s overall success.

Gauge the Success of Marketing and Promotional Efforts

It’s often difficult for financial institutions to measure the success of their marketing efforts. And without demonstrating a return-on-investment (ROI), marketing managers can’t make the case for additional dollars. It can be a frustrating cycle.

Video surveillance can help marketing teams analyze and improve their efforts by revealing which promotions are resonating with customers and which ones need improvement. Solutions like March Networks Searchlight for Banking offer advanced visual auditing capabilities, allowing managers to survey thumbnail images from each of their branch locations. Managers can see if promotions are displayed properly and in the right location, or even if they’re blocking a surveillance camera’s field of view.
Searchlight also incorporates a customer dwell time analytic, so teams can learn how long customers are lingering in front of promotional displays. By comparing that information with sales data, marketing teams can see which products and services being marketed are most popular with customers.

Difficulty measuring ROI, and a lack of data analytics and tools, were cited as some of the top challenges for financial services marketers in a 2013 survey by The Financial Brand. An intelligent video solution can help address both of these challenges with insights into customer interest.

Monitor Operational Compliance

For years, banks have relied on mystery shoppers to assess their operations and provide them with feedback on customer service. But these kinds of services can be expensive, as banks have to pay not only the mystery shopper, but also travel and other expenses related to the audit. Further, employees can sometimes be tipped off to the time and date of the audit, skewing the results.

Intelligent video can provide the same kind of insight and analysis as mystery shoppers, but with more accurate results and fewer of the above costs.

With a video-based business intelligence solution, managers can remotely spot-check their branches for compliance issues, including whether proper open and close procedures are being followed, if employees are properly dressed, or if tellers are correctly disposing of teller trash in a shredder. Remote video audits can be done at any time, so managers can be certain they’re seeing an accurate picture of their operations.

Managers can also set up automated reports on specific kinds of transactions. An operations manager may want to see video of all transactions over $5,000, which typically requires a bank manager’s approval to process. An intelligent video solution gives them the ability to quickly monitor these kinds of transactions to see if employees are following procedure.

Regular video audits can also help address health and safety issues, which can quickly spiral into larger problems for banks if left unchecked. Have the parking lots and sidewalks been cleared after a snowstorm, so customers can safely access the branch? Is the outdoor lighting functioning as it should over the remote ATM? With video, managers can see if their branches are safe and inviting, or if there’s issues that need to be addressed.

These are just a few of the ways that a video-based business intelligence solution can help banks and credit unions improve customer service and increase operational efficiency. Again, these benefits go above and beyond security and fraud detection, which a good surveillance system already provides. By choosing a video surveillance solution that combines transactional data with intelligent analytics, financial institutions can maximize their security investment, and extend the benefits of video to their marketing and operations teams as well.