FNB launches first dotFNB branch in SA

Banking group FNB has on Thursday (April 26) unveiled  its first dotFNB store at Nicolway Shopping Centre in Bryanston.

“With the gathering momentum of digital self-service banking, customer experience has become an even more important element in our business. We are seeing a movement across our branches away from transactional banking towards pure service and product delivery. While our traditional branches are here to stay, dotFNB is a view of future banking,” said Barry de Witt, CEO FNB Banking Channels.

The store provides customers with a virtual environment to experience online services; video-conferencing with financial experts for more complex services; and interactive mechanisms not available in other branches. FNB has also applied augmented reality technology to the new branch.

In what it claims is a first for the SA banking industry, FNB says its new outlet will have a large-scale ‘interactive surface’.

The branch is cash-less, aside from an advanced deposit-taking ATM. Customers walking into a dotFNB can open a cheque account and walk out with an iPad, Galaxy tablet or similar device on the same day. Another first for FNB is the availability of banking information ‘virtually’ at the customer’s fingertips.

Both FNB and non-FNB customers can browse through available products, services and solutions and apply for them instantly.

“By creating dotFNB, we are creating a vital link between the convenience of digital banking and the customers’ need to interact with us in a technology-focused banking outlet,” said de Witt.

“Innovation is part of the FNB DNA and the dotFNB store is a true reflection of our continuous drive to innovate to improve our customers’ banking experience,” he added.