How Teller Capture Equipment Impacts Customer Experience – And Why Your Branch May Need an Upgrade

Your bank or credit union needs its fleet of teller check scanners and printers to work seamlessly in the background while tellers complete transactions, get to know customers and pursue upselling opportunities. Technical glitches contribute to longer lines, associate discontent, and poor customer service.

The 30 seconds that's spent clearing a jam or restarting a scanner casts a shadow on your branch. A customer or member may wonder if the funds they’re depositing will hit their account; they may question the competence of your staff; and they may start thinking about alternatives—such as banking services offered at the big-box retailer they frequent.

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​Reduce Friction in Customer Journeys

When you consider the role branches continue to play in the growth and success of financial institutions, it makes sense to eliminate any potential sources of friction, such as malfunctioning teller capture devices. Unreliable equipment can offset customers’ trust and belief in your brand. Plus, if your financial institution is providing an excellent online experience, your customers will expect an excellent in-person experience. The bottom line? Your teller capture technology must work flawlessly 99.9% of the time.
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Even as people start relying more heavily on digital banking, the branch remains a powerhouse in attracting, retaining and expanding customer relationships.  Consider these market trends:

• Customers under age 40 who use mobile technology are more likely to open an account with a financial institution if it has a branch near their home (WBUR.org, 2021)
• Frustration with their bank’s digital banking app drives millennials into the branch, where they can get the issue resolved and learn about additional services (Forbes, 2021)
• 62% of consumers prefer to use banks or credit unions that have a physical presence, rather than a digital presence only (Forbes, 2021)
• 57% of bank customers wanted to be able to speak to a banker in person for major issues and 10 percent wanted to establish a relationship with a personal banker (Banking Journal, 2022)

Malfunctioning equipment can distract tellers from making valuable connections with account holders. With high-performing teller capture equipment, financial institutions can be assured that tellers will have the time they need to focus on providing excellent customer experiences that foster loyalty and account growth.
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Here are a few things to consider as you strategically maintain your teller capture equipment.

​Does Your Current Teller Capture Equipment Support Your Technology Roadmap?

Is your branch adopting a universal banker model? In this mode, individual branch personnel are empowered to help customers with a range of transactions--from deposits and withdrawals to loans and advisory transactions. If you are using or plan to deploy the universal banker model, legacy standalone equipment might impede your success. 

Typically, the universal banker model works best in open branch environments that feature teller pods and network technology. The scanners and printers deployed are networkable devices with embedded drivers that connect via a thin client to the teller application on a remote server or in the cloud. These secure networked devices are easy to use and look great in an open environment, where transactions take place at pods instead of at the teller counter. 
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Financial institutions adopting this model have lower operating costs and require fewer devices.

​Are Your Tellers Productive?

Older, less reliable teller capture equipment can significantly reduce teller productivity and impact customer satisfaction. For example, a scanner that is five to seven years old takes longer to scan checks than the latest generation of devices. Additionally, they may not have the upgrades that can bring them to their peak performance level. Also, they may have high exception rates due to poor image reads. Similarly, printers that are five to seven years old may not produce high-quality receipts or transaction records. 

​Is Maintaining Your Current Teller Printers and Scanners Becoming Too Expensive?

Have you considered the total cost of ownership of your existing teller capture equipment? If you’re constantly sending equipment in for repair, or if your warranty contract is almost over, then you should consider upgrading your devices. Over time, legacy equipment is not only going to cost more than it’s worth, but it is also going to severely impact productivity. As you consider an upgrade, you must factor in the risks that obsolete and failing equipment poses to daily operations. 
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You may be able to trade in your old equipment for newer scanners and printers. Reach out to us to discuss the possibilities.

​Start Planning for Your Next Teller Capture Upgrade

The printers and scanners your bank or credit union uses every day are foundational to providing excellent customer experience. This equipment has to be reliable and efficient as you continue to prioritize the customer experience. Having devices that consistently perform keep tellers focused on the customer and help ensure that each customer gets the attention they need. Research from McKinsey reinforces this position. The cost of not having good teller capture equipment as part of your efforts to improve the customer experience can be significant. As McKinsey indicates, companies that prioritize customer experience can "realize a 20 percent improvement in customer satisfaction, a 15 percent increase in sales conversion, a 30 percent lower cost-to-serve, and a 30 percent increase in employee engagement.”

For additional pointers on how to evaluate your financial institution’s teller capture equipment, download this checklist.