FNB has expanded its dotFNB branch footprint by opening the first cashless bank branch on the West Rand. The new dotFNB branch has opened at Cradlestone Mall, the newly developed shopping complex in Mogale City.
Following the success of the first dotFNB branch, which opened in April 2012 at Nicolway Shopping Centre in Bryanston, a total of eight stores have since opened around South Africa: four in Johannesburg, including Cradlestone Mall dotFNB, one in Centurion, one in KZN and two in Cape Town. Approximately 4 000 people visit each of the stores monthly, fast becoming a popular touch point for customers, wanting to learn how to use FNB’s digital banking channels.
“DotFNB entrenches FNB’s dominance of digital banking channels and shows the bank’s strategy of on-going innovation. We understand the global trend of convenience, especially for consumer services, like banking. With this growing momentum of digital, self-service banking, customer experience has become an even more important element in our business,” says Kim Gibson-van der Walt, Head of dotFNB, FNB Banking Channels.
The store provides a virtual environment in which to experience FNB’s service and product offerings, in a tangible form, by engaging with unique mechanisms that have never before been seen in branches, including an interactive financial planning Microsoft surface as well as video-conference cubicles. Customers are migrated to the bank’s digital platforms (Cellphone Banking, Online Banking and App Banking), and are also educated on how best to use these platforms to simplify their banking experience.
“The store creates a balance between what we believe to be the future of banking and the need for human interaction. Sales and service pods are designed in such a way that customers sit alongside the bankers, sharing the experience of discussing their banking portfolio, choosing a device and setting it up with the FNB digital channels, ” states Gibson-van der Walt.
Apart from advanced deposit-taking ATM’s outside dotFNB branches, dotFNB is completely cashless. All visitors, FNB customers and non-FNB customers, can browse products and services and apply for them instantly. Non-FNB customers can also open a cheque account on the spot and apply for a smart phone, tablet or other available device.
The latest addition to dotFNB stores, smart device accessories, ensures one less stop for existing FNB customers who want to purchase accessories with their FNB Cards or new customers who want to purchase both their smart device and accessories upon opening an FNB account.
“We are living in a digital era and although traditional branches are here to stay, we need to keep our fingers on the pulse of the solutions we can offer our clients through continues technological innovations. We believe that the link between education and banking on digital platforms needs to be readily available to clients, so that they can experience a marked impact on their lifestyles and the way they bank, now and in the future,” concludes Gibson-Van der Walt.
