Bank of America opens its 3rd employee free branch

Bank of America opens its 3rd employee free branch

THOMASDISHAW.COM Feb 12, 2017

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An alarming trend is emerging throughout society; companies are ditching humans and replacing them with automation. We mostly hear about these situations in tech and supply chain companies and even fast food restaurants, but now we see this come to fruition in banking as well.
Banks already operate with little to no physical cash on hand, making the elimination of the bank teller that much easier. Armed guards will be replaced as biometric eye scanning software contracts become the next big thing in banking security. The loss of these jobs alone will result in hundreds of thousands without work in the next ten years.
Bank of America seems to be leading the charge of a human-less future. According to this Tampa Bay times report, they have opened their third completely automated branch that employees zero humans where customers will be able to make transactions via ATMs and teleconference with bank
Like many U.S. banks in recent years, Bank of America has been reducing its overall branch personnel count to cut costs even as it opens new branches in select markets. These new branches are typically smaller, utilize more technology, and are aimed at selling mortgages, credit cards and auto loans rather than simple transactions such as cashing checks or making a withdrawal.
According to Bank spokeswoman Anne Pace, there is already one completely automated branch in Minneapolis and one in Denver, both of which are relatively new markets for the bank’s consumer business. They are about a quarter of the size of a typical branch.
The new branches were mentioned Tuesday briefly by Dean Athanasia, co-head of Bank of America’s consumer banking unit, during a question and answer session at an investor conference. Unfortunately, he did not provide details.
Athanasia said Bank of America will open 50 to 60 new branches over the next year, though Pace said the bank will also be closing branches in certain markets, so the 50 to 60 branches do not represent a net increase.
There are “no further details on where we will add additional centers,” she said. “This is a test in three centers only at this point. We will evaluate the customer response and determine next steps from there.”
Needless to say, the end game of this is going to become a huge problem for the economy. The more we take jobs away from citizens, the fewer people we have contributing to society and more needing assistance. But perhaps that is the plan all along.
http://www.thomasdishaw.com/economy/bank-of-america-opens-its-3rd-employee-free-branch/