{"id":33228,"date":"2019-03-06T16:41:15","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T21:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=33228"},"modified":"2019-03-08T10:48:11","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T15:48:11","slug":"for-banks-customer-service-means-keeping-up-with-the-latest-advances-in-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/03\/for-banks-customer-service-means-keeping-up-with-the-latest-advances-in-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"For Banks, Customer Service Means Keeping Up With The Latest Advances In Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Charles Wait. Jr., executive vice president of Adirondack Trust Co.
Courtesy Adirondack Trust<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Jill Nagy
\nCustomer service is important to any business, including banks. So keeping up with the latest in technology is important, as banks compete to retain and draw customers.
\nOnline apps that allow customers to make deposits, move money to other people\u2019s accounts, as well as check their own accounts; ATM\u2019s that accept cash deposits and return a photographic record of a check deposit; and branches smaller and more streamlined that offer a range of financial services, including insurance and investment services, are all services banks now offer.
\nTo eliminate telephone customers waiting \u201con hold,\u201d Saratoga National Bank has made employees more available with direct lines and company-issued cellphones. Customers can reach them easily and anytime, said David DeMarco, the bank\u2019s CEO. If a person calls Saratoga National\u2019s main line,DeMarco\u2019s voice answers and the automated system quickly transfers the caller to a human being, he said.
\nThe cellphones make the bankers available around the clock. \u201cThe days of \u2018bankers\u2019 hours\u2019 are long gone,\u201d he said. \u201cWorking and personal lives are intertwined.\u201d
\nAdirondack Trust Co. \u201creimagined the old teller line concept\u201d when they rebuilt the Wilton branch, said Charles Wait. Jr., executive vice president of the bank.
\nTeller stations have desks at two levels, he explained, so customers can do their business either standing up or sitting down. The newly decorated branch has \u201calmost a lean-to aspect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Marc Monahan, Glens Falls market executive with NBT Bank.
Courtesy NBT Bank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Exit 11 branch in Malta has a community room with a coffee machine for people who \u201cget tired while walking around downtown.\u201d That building is also designed with \u201cgreen\u201d features: double insulation, recycled materials and solar panels, he added.
\nIf a customer its too busy to come to the bank, the bank employee will go to the customer\u2019s place of business or home, said Marc Monahan, Glens Falls market executive with NBT Bank. \u201cWe try to be as accommodating as we can for all of our customers,\u201d he said, adding that NBT is a \u201crelationship bank.\u201d
\nIncreasingly, however, there is less and less reason to physically visit a bank these days. Just about anything, except picking up or depositing cash, can be done using a smartphone. Enhanced ATMs will accept cash, without an envelope or deposit slip. When customers have a check for deposit, the ATM it will return a photograph of it. Similarly, a customer can take a picture of a check with a smart phone and deposit it remotely.
\n\u201cWe are trying to stay up-to-date with technology,\u201d Monahan said. But personal service is still important. Therefore, drive-through and office hours are extended at some branches.
\nIn some cases, it is relatively small things that can be hits with customers. Adirondack Trust, for example, has coin machines in its branches. They are free for customers and, Wait said, very popular.
\nWait especially likes the photo deposit feature of his bank\u2019s app.
\n\u201cI can sit on the balcony and deposit checks,\u201d he said. Adirondack Trust also makes use of social media, sending messages to customers that help make things convenient\u2014for example when a branch closes because of a storm.
\nInsurance policies, including cyber insurance and drone insurance, are available at the bank sites, through insurance subsidiaries.
\nSaratoga National offers \u201ctelepresence,\u201d connecting the branches with a Skype-like system. Therefore, if a customer comes into a branch when the insurance salesperson is away, the customer can connect with another branch and take care of that transaction. The remote officer will appear on a television-like screen.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been very helpful to us as we have grown,\u201d DeMarco said. It is also used for staff meetings as well as for customers
\nSaratoga National is also bucking the trend toward fewer physical branches. They have added one branch per year for the last six or seven years, many of them in buildings abandoned by other banks.
\n\u201cWe are going to continue to look to expand,\u201d he said, \u201cThe Capital Region is a big place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
David DeMarco is the CEO of Saratoga National Bank.
Courtesy Saratoga National Bank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today\u2019s new bank branches are smaller. A relatively new Saratoga National branch in Troy, for example, is only 1,200 square feet, contrasted to older bank branches that were typically 3-4,000 square feet. They will typically be staffed by two tellers, an officer, and some specialists selling insurance or investment products.
\nMeanwhile, the bankers do an increasing amount of their business at local coffee shops with customers or at a customer\u2019s place of business. DeMarco said he spends so much time at one coffee shop that he feels like he owns his table.
\nSaratoga National is also concentrating more on its business customers. Coming up this spring is a new online banking platform that DeMarco said will be more user-friendly and intuitive. Businesses can use their scanners to make deposits remotely, a service that is proving very popular. If they prefer to make the deposit in-person, but can\u2019t come during the day, there is a night drop.
\nFor the future, \u201cWe are always working on new things,\u201d Wait said
\nSo are his competitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jill Nagy Customer service is important to any business, including banks. So keeping up with the latest in technology is important, as banks compete to retain and draw customers. Online apps that allow customers to make deposits, move money to other people\u2019s accounts, as well as check their own accounts; ATM\u2019s that accept cash […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":33229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking-asset-managment"],"yoast_head":"\r\nFor Banks, Customer Service Means Keeping Up With The Latest Advances In Technology - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/03\/for-banks-customer-service-means-keeping-up-with-the-latest-advances-in-technology\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For Banks, Customer Service Means Keeping Up With The Latest Advances In Technology - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jill Nagy Customer service is important to any business, including banks. So keeping up with the latest in technology is important, as banks compete to retain and draw customers. 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