When Britain’s first telephone bank opened in 1989, it claimed to be from the future. In a television advert marking the launch of First Direct, a hologrammed woman was beamed from 2010, seemingly heralding a time when 24-hour call centres would replace bank branches.
Twenty-five years later – and with traditional branches still very much in existence – lenders are claiming a new revolution. They say digital technology is fuelling the biggest change in consumer banking for decades.
Soon, they say, banks will be able to track customers in real time and bombard them with information and offers for shops they are walking by or transport services they are about to use. Technology will enable banks to offer loans on goods before the customer has decided to buy them; identify customers the moment they walk into a branch; and process payments without the buyer ever having to take out their wallet.