In an effort to meet the expectations of increasingly tech-savvy clients, Canadian banks are bringing new high-tech tools into their branches and encouraging financial advisors to incorporate these tools into conversations with their clients.

“There’s an insatiable appetite for technology,” says James Popalis, vice president of retail real estate with Toronto-Dominion Bank. “We’re trying to figure out different concepts and different ways of incorporating technology in today’s world.”

Technology already plays a prominent role in financial services through increasingly popular online banking and investing platforms. But several financial services institutions are seeking to expand the presence of technology at the branch level — not to replace advisors and other staff members but to enhance the role those people play.

For instance, firms are using technology as a tool for educating clients and as a way of minimizing paperwork and maximizing face time between advisors and their clients.

“Technology allows you to do a lot more than you could [previously], especially in financial services,” says Alan Depencier, vice president of marketing services and transformation with Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada. “Financial advice can be somewhat intimidating and complex. And what technology allows you to do is take more complex topics and simplify them.”

RBC recently rolled out high-tech tools into two new “retail store” branches designed to create a more informal and comfortable banking experience. The branches feature Microsoft Surface technology — large touch-screen tabletop consoles that are used interactively between clients and advisors, with applications that can educate clients on financial topics and showcase products and services in a visual way. “It’s fun, it’s interactive and it’s non-threatening,” says De-pencier, “so it’s a great way to start a conversation.”

An innovative feature of the Surface technology is its ability to recognize physical objects that are placed on the screen. When coins are placed on the screen, for instance, one of RBC’s applications recognizes their value and shows clients the amount of money they could accumulate over time by regularly investing that amount in a tax-free savings account.

RESONATING WITH CLIENTS

This application has resonated well with clients thus far, Depencier says. In fact, after witnessing the long-term benefits of regular contributions to a TFSA, many clients have decided to open an account. The resulting boost in transactions has advi-sors in the branches thrilled with the new technology.

“It’s actually helping them bring financial concepts to life, which results in more sales,” Depencier says. “It’s surpassed our expectations in terms of how well clients have received it, and also how our staff has received it.”@page_break@The Surface technology at RBC also features educational videos and other interactive applications, all of which are designed to start conversations between advisors and clients.

TD is experimenting with technological tools that serve a similar educational purpose. For instance, a newly renovated branch in Richmond, B.C., features several web kiosks that advisors can use to help clients find information online.

In addition, investor centres in some TD branches feature interactive digital screens and workstations that help TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage clients navigate the online trading platforms.

“We have representatives available full-time,” Popalis says, “to help you navigate through the web and learn how to trade and become an educated investor. We never want to eliminate the human component, but technology will continue to play a critical role in terms of the way we communicate and in terms of the way we educate our clients.”

Edmonton-based ATB Finan-cial is also exploring ways of modernizing its branches. But Dave Mowat, president and CEO, says ATB wants to avoid creating an environment that is dominated by technology: “Our ultimate goal is to provide more face time and conversation time with our actual human beings. We’re trying to use technology to make us feel more human and feel more approachable, as opposed to sterile and automated.”

For instance, ATB has invested in technology that reduces the amount of paperwork clients and advisors have to fill out; it automatically inputs information into forms electronically.

“If we spend time form-filling with people, then that’s time that they’re not getting advice,” Mowat says. “This technology is aimed at getting rid of the busywork, so it creates more time for the relationship.”

Another digital initiative at ATB aims to reduce the amount of time that advisors and their clients spend travelling to see one another. ATB branches are now equipped with new high-definition videoconferencing capability, which allows clients to have meetings with their advisors from the branch that’s most convenient for the client. This option is particularly beneficial for clients in remote locations without a local advisor. Says Mowat: “It makes advice more accessible to people that might not have otherwise gotten it.”

As clients become increasingly tech-savvy, financial services executives expect that firms across the industry will face growing pressure to invest in high-tech tools such as these.

Says Depencier: “These types of technologies will become more of a staple in the future and an expectation from our clients.” IE