Banking Industry

I have been working in the banking industry for over fifteen years. Nowadays, the banking industry has changed so much in comparison to the banking industry a decade ago. Technological advances have revolutionized people's banking habits. Advance technology has given people more options than just coming in physically into the bank to conduct account transactions. In this paper, I will compare banking in the past versus banking today and how technology has played such an enormous role in creating this difference while maintaining the same customer service.

I started as a teller when I first began working at the bank about fifteen years ago. In the past, traffic at the branch was high and customers constantly came into the branch to conduct financial transactions. The branch was busy from the time it opened to the time it closed. Today, walk-in customers have dropped dramatically. Customers do not utilize the branch like they used to in the past. With so many different options to bank, customers no longer have a reason to physically visit a branch unless there is a major issue with their accounts that can't be addressed outside of the branch. The banks' ability to get additional businesses such as loans from their customers has declined also because there is less interaction between bank employees and the customers. In order to attract customers to the bank, the banks have to change their marketing skills to bring customers into the branch. One such skill may involve giving customers calls in the evening on a monthly basis to setup appointments for them to come into the bank. Another skill may involve visiting a business location in an attempt to gather more businesses for the branch. In the past, these marketing skills were not created because there was no need for them since people came into the branch anyways.

In today's society, web or online banking has become a must have feature for every bank. In the past, customers can only check their account activities once a month when they receive their monthly statements or by walking into a branch. Today, transactions are updated online instantaneously. Online transaction will show up as soon as you make a purchase with your debit card or after a deposit is made. This feature is advantageous for customers because it gives them an opportunity to identify errors made to their accounts on a daily basis. As a result, fraudulent financial transactions are discovered a lot quicker and offer better protection for everyone.

Recently, mobile banking has also become very popular. Everybody owns and carries a smartphone with them wherever they go. It has become one of the most essential parts of people lives, especially for those in the younger generation. It only makes sense for the banking industry to offer such services through smartphones. Ten years ago it would be impossible for customers to know what is going on in their account unless they look