'Banks Also by Appointment Like Hospitals'... Banking Sector Gradually Introduces Related Services (Comprehensive)

5 Major Banks All Offer 'Branch Reservation' Service
Improved Staff Work and Customer Time Efficiency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jin-ho] Office worker Juhyun Young (36, pseudonym) recently decided to visit a bank for a loan consultation. However, she was worried whether the process could be completed within her lunch break, as the waiting time and consultation duration were expected to be considerable. After sharing her concerns with a colleague, she learned about a service that allows visits by appointment. Using a mobile application (app), Juhyun Young was able to visit the bank at 11:30 a.m., the start of her lunch break, and complete her consultation smoothly.

The image of bank counters with “long waiting lines” is expected to become a thing of the past. This is because major commercial banks have fully introduced counter reservation services. Bank branches have now entered an era where customers can visit by appointment, similar to hospitals.

According to the financial sector on the 5th, Woori Bank began implementing the “One-Time Reservation Consultation Service” from that day, allowing customers to select the branch and time for consultation without waiting. A key feature of this service is that the bank does not have to process the reserved customer's tasks in the order of waiting.

Visits to branches can be made from the next business day after the application date up to 5 business days later, and most counter services such as deposits, funds, retirement pensions, loans, and foreign exchange are available. This service is implemented at Woori Bank’s 580 branches nationwide.

A Woori Bank official explained, “It will provide customers with a new experience by enabling quick consultations without waiting time,” adding, “We plan to upgrade the service so that customers of other banks can also make visit reservations through the mobile app in the future.”

With Woori Bank’s launch, all five major commercial banks now offer branch visit reservation services. Although the names of the services differ slightly by bank, they share the common feature that customers can select their preferred time and branch.

KB Kookmin Bank operates the “Smart Reservation Consultation System,” which allows customers to designate their branch visit. It has also introduced a “Pre-Preparation” service, enabling customers to fill out necessary documents on a tablet PC during waiting times.

Shinhan Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank also provide branch visit reservation services through their apps. Hana Bank reduces waiting times for branch visitors through ticket issuance and the “Smart Counter Plus” service.

Government-owned banks are also planning to launch branch visit reservation services. IBK Industrial Bank of Korea is currently upgrading its queue guidance system for branch visit reservations, aiming for a launch as early as this year.

Recently, branches operating exclusively by 100% reservation have also appeared. Shinhan Bank’s Seoul Seosomun Digilog Branch is a representative example. Considering the high number of office workers visiting, all consultation services are operated by reservation only, enabling swift processing.

The main reason major commercial banks have been introducing reservation consultation services one after another is analyzed to be the improvement of employee work efficiency. This is interpreted as a response to the environment where the workload at bank counters could increase due to the rapidly decreasing number of branches over the past few years. The number of branches of the five major commercial banks decreased significantly from 4,721 at the end of June 2018 to 4,380 at the end of June this year.

A banking industry official said, “Reservation consultation services are a clever solution that can catch two rabbits: customers’ time efficiency and employees’ work efficiency,” adding, “It is also expected to have the effect of dispersing risks such as group infections, which are a concern amid the COVID-19 situation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.