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Self-service grows as consumers look to bank when and where it’s convenient

April 11, 2014 by Terry Dooley — SVP & CIO, ITS, Inc

Consumer use of alternative, convenient, self-service and ATM channels is on the rise.

A recent Mercator Advisory Group study found that while consumers continue to prefer using their financial institution’s teller line to deposit checks, this trend is beginning to wane.

The survey, "Self-Service, ATM, and Other Channel Banking: Rising Use in a Mobile Era," polled 3,001 U.S. adult consumers about their self-service vs. in-branch service preferences.

For making both smaller deposits, such as a $50 checks or larger deposits, such as a $1,000 check, the report found an increasing number of survey respondents said they would prefer to make the deposit via an ATM, mobile device, or computer.

Smartphone and tablet users in particular indicated a preference for the ATM or remote deposit capture to deposit $50 checks, rather than having a teller make the deposit.

“The proliferation of mobile channels appears to stimulate ATM and self-service use, not supplant it,” said Karen Augustine, manager of primary data services at Mercator.

By the numbers, the movement toward self-service appears to be on the uptick as just 9 percent of those surveyed indicated a preference for mobile deposit for a $1,000 check in 2012, compared to 12 percent in 2013.

Interest in making deposits via ATM is also on the rise, increasing from 17 percent in 2012 to 20 percent in 2013.

Additionally, the report found that the use of teller deposits has dropped. In 2012, 68 percent of respondents said they would prefer to deposit $1,000 via a teller, while just 61 percent said they preferred to use this method of deposit in 2013.

These statistics indicate that overall, the self-service financial services segment is growing rapidly as the result of consumers’ desire to carry out more transactions by themselves at their own convenience.

This underscores the importance of FIs of all sizes continuing to offer and regularly update the convenient, in-demand, self-service channels consumers want.

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