I Am Impressed: The BPI's Automated System

I've been with Bank of the Philippine Islands on and off for more more years than I care to count. And I have been more than satisfied with their service. Though every so often, a random question does pop up and I have no idea if the people in the frontlines (the tellers) would even know the answer to these questions.

Case in point is why one of the accounts I had previously opened was still active? I opened this quite a while ago, and I have taken out all my funds from that account. But I guess since it's a payroll account, BPI has some internal policy not to delete it from their records. I don't know. I can only smile when a teller mentions that I have that one account in that branch, and I have to reach back into deep memory before I realize what the teller meant. I'm not mad or angry, just perplexed about the whole thing.

One innovation which BPI has recently rolled out is an automated system replacing the transaction slips. There are these machines which look like a cross between ATMs and info-kiosks, and you enter all your transaction details into them. Of course, it has a touch screen interface, and the navigation is clean, smart and, dare I say, sexy.

The transaction kiosk replaces the transaction slips. No more filling up of forms, just a few tap-taps and you're through. I first used the system at the old Rustan's Cubao branch. And it has now been rolled out to some of the branches here in the bukid. The transaction isn't completed at the kiosk. Instead, you are issued a queue number. Once the number is called up on the screen, you go to the teller, present the number, and money and the teller will give you a transaction receipt.

From a workflow viewpoint, this means that there was only one data entry point for the whole transaction. The teller is only there to confirm the money is received. Because there are now lots of seats, there is no need for queueing. As a client, I would need to do the data entry standing up, but then again, filling up the old forms took a bit longer. On the teller side, there should be no more data entry errors. Errors on money count would still be there, but this should be minimized. For withdrawals, the first option is still the ATM machines at the front of the bank. But for larger cash amounts, and for passbook accounts, this should be faster as well.

All in all, I am impressed. Very impressive indeed.