Convenience can mean different things to different people at different times. It can refer to a service that is readily available or a task that is easy to perform. Over time certain elements of convenience have changed. For example, our expectation of what is an acceptable waiting time or even, in some instances, the importance of location may be impacted by new user experiences and by the development of new technologies. Even here, factors such as the availability of alternatives or of means of transport will impact upon whether an individual will regard a service as being convenient. Someone who lives in a remote location but owns a car may have a very different opinion as to what is a convenient store or branch location compared with someone who is reliant on public transport. At the same time an early adopter of new technologies may have a different view of what is an acceptable alternative to face to face retail service. Not all consumers are the same and change cannot be forced. For many people an important element of convenience remains choice - the choice to carry out a transaction at a time and manner that is convenient to them. In this respect convenience involves carrying out a transaction in a way that is in the user's comfort zone.

It is often stated that we live in a mobile society. In the UK, for example, Statista shows that 95 percent of households own a mobile phone. However, 95 percent of 16-24 year olds own a smartphone, compared with 51 percent of those aged between 55 and 64. Meanwhile, 2018 ONS statistics show that 90 percent of adults were recent Internet users but 8.4 percent had never used the Internet and 20 percent of disabled adults had never used the Internet in 2018. Interestingly, only 64 percent of retired adults were recent Internet users.  

The availability of retail and banking services via the Internet or increasingly by the use of mobile devices does not mean that such services are convenient for all your customers. Whether it is security concerns (rational or otherwise) or whether they believe the devices are not user friendly, large numbers of customers still prefer to use traditional channels to carry out their business.

Research shows that significant numbers of customers still want to use branches at a time when banks are under pressure to reduce costs. Though branch visits are declining, according to CACI the typical UK customer will still visit a branch on four occasions in 2022. In the same year more than half the population will still use a branch.

Various research reports have demonstrated the benefits of self-service versus manual teller transactions, but this is only part of the story.  One of the reasons people still use branches is the need for personal service and not all are comfortable using self-service technology. The challenge is to provide the services customers want in a convenient manner while making staff available to deliver on their financial needs.

Assisted Service technology enables banks worldwide to transform the way they provide bank services and enables a customer centric approach to branch service provision. It migrates transactions away from the counter but takes into account different levels of self-service adoption. It enables customers to go at their own speed, using branch staff as and when required. Combining self-service with the personal touch delivers on convenience and it does so cost effectively. As omni channel service delivery evolves it is important that you do not leave significant numbers of customers behind.

One way to start is to ask the question 'what does convenience mean to all my customers'? Once we know that then the path should become clearer.