Successful New Year Resolutions for Banks and Credit Unions

​With 2020 behind us, banks and credit unions should start 2021 off with some impactful resolutions. Resolutions have the reputation of being ignored but with these three helpful resolutions, your bank or credit union can achieve success in 2021. A great way to incorporate business goals and resolutions is an assessment of what areas could use the most boost. Elements of your bank or credit union that would benefit from a revamp could include technology, operations, and even customer interactions. Each aspect of your bank or credit union can be updated or improved without being costly projects. These resolutions may seem like big goals but are cost-effective and will build foundational success in your branches.

New Year, New Technology
When planning resolutions for 2021, technology has to be one of the top priorities. Without highly functional technology your customer satisfaction takes a major hit. Ensuring that your technology is optimized helps ensure that your customers are happy and satisfied. Improving branch technology can address hardware needs, support needs for your IT department, and even large technology projects. Some might fear technology resolutions because of expensive updates but these technological improvements often save your bank time and labor, while having long-lasting ROI and higher customer satisfaction. When assessing banking technology some hardware needs fall under disposal, repair, or new. Dispose of financial equipment safely and sustainably with Benchmark. Repairing hardware is a great way to increase ROI on devices and achieve success affordably with Benchmark's Repair Programs. Even with a repaired check scanner or teller printer, your tellers may still be troubleshooting devices. Don’t let your IT department get bogged down with easy fintech calls. Instead, let Benchmark’s Help Desk be the easy and friendly resource for your IT hardware. After you have repaired or disposed of old banking technology, it's time to go shopping! Finding the perfect fintech device for you can be an overwhelming journey with stackable options, feed options, and even teller space. Let our knowledgeable consultants help you discover the perfect financial device for your bank or credit union. Adding this resolution to your list in 2021 helps trim outdated technology while implementing technology or technology services that will help you build success all year long. 
 
Improve Operational Efficiencies
Continuing the momentum of building success with technology resolutions, next comes improving operational efficiencies. Technology and operations in banking come together to provide complete solutions for customers. With technology experiencing an update, branch operations should follow. Operational success can coincide with branch transformation or physical restructuring of your branches for better customer navigation. To create more of a natural flow for customers helps increase visits and comfort felt in your branches. Your bank or credit union can begin this process without costly renovations. Start by automating some of your teller or customer processes. Cash automation is an easy initial step into improving your financial institution’s operational efficiencies. Cash automation combines the power of cash recyclers with teller responsibilities. However, the quality of your cash automation is where efficiencies are hiding. CashWare is a middleware application that helps cash recyclers and teller applications communicate and helps improve branch efficiencies. CashWare helps your tellers be more productive and engaging with customers. Implementing cash automation isn’t enough to improve operational efficiencies, but with CashWare you can turn this resolution into a permanent solution for your bank or credit union.
 
Prioritize Customers & Tellers
Assessing technology and operations is a straightforward approach to building action-based resolutions, but prioritizing customers can take on subjective meaning. Your bank or credit union is continually putting customers first but with this resolution, you can help empower your tellers and keep your customers happy. Consider teller workspace and challenges when prioritizing tellers. With stackable check scanners and printers, you can provide a cleaner teller area. An organized area can help decrease stress and improve teller functionality. With productive tellers, there is more time to engage with customers. Tellers who have time for engagement help customers have a well-rounded experience in your branch and will remember these in-depth interactions. Along with customers who physically visit your branches, there are RDC users who need support. RDC end users can have a lot of needs that can overwhelm your IT department. These needs could be as basic as getting the right equipment to the right user. TraxIT is an online fulfillment tool that centralizes your RDC management and even has service requests and shipment tracking built in. If your RDC program has been experiencing continual success, there might be a need for a mass update that our Installs and Upgrades team can handle remotely. This resolution is a great way to emphasize opportunities where you could be making teller and customer lives easier.