“Bank of America announced on Tuesday that customers can now access its mobile app with their fingerprints, doing away with the need to enter a passcode. It's a tiny tweak, but it nevertheless represents an important step in the direction of branchless banking.
One of the biggest challenges for a bank like Bank of America concerns what to do with its expansive (and expensive) branch network. Ten years ago, its coast-to-coast network of physical locations was arguably its greatest competitive advantage. But today, it's evolving into an albatross.
A consulting firm that tracks the performance of bank branches, FMSI, estimates that transaction volumes at credit unions and community banks have fallen by 45% since 1992. Meanwhile, the hourly pay rate of branch employees has increased by 90% over the same period. The net result is that the cost of each in-branch transaction has risen by 133.3% in just over two decades.”
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