More and more Financial Institutions are pivoting toward the Universal Associate model to evolve their branch experience and better connect with clients. In hundreds of branches across the country, this new approach to servicing clients has created a repeatable path to success by decreasing costs, increasing staff flexibility, and supercharging client engagement.

Despite the fact that many financial Institutions have already implemented universal associates as part of their branch transformation projects, we’ve learned that there are still plenty of you out there that have yet to make that transition. Your tellers are stuck at the line, your associates are glued to the chair in their office or cubicle, and your customers have to choose between one or the other depending on their needs. While in theory, this method makes sense, in reality it has some flaws. One of the most serious flaws being the lack of flexibility and the effect that it has on service.

“I stood in line for 10 minutes only to have the teller inform me that they couldn’t complete my request, so then I had to sit in the waiting room for another 10 minutes for the associate who was originally available when I walked in.” Or maybe you’ve heard a client complain, “I met with a banker to set-up a new account, but when I went to deposit cash into my account they made me go stand in line at the teller station. Why couldn’t they have just helped me? Am I not important enough to take up any more time?”

And let’s be honest, if your FI isn’t running on a universal associate model - then you have run into one of these (or at least a variation of one of these) complaints. And you know you need to fix it, you just don’t know how. Well don’t worry, you’re not alone. You no longer need to imagine a world where your tellers can break away from their station and your associates/bankers don’t need to interrupt tellers or redirect clients for transactions -- thanks to RTA (pronounced Rita).

RTA, or Remote Transaction Assist, simply put is our innovative solution to safely process cash transactions for any staff member using any device (tablet, PC, iPad, etc.) anywhere in a branch. In other words, RTA breaks the hardware chains and gives your branch the flexibility it needs so that your cash machines are no longer limited to only two tellers at a time, and your associates aren’t service locked. And with this flexibility comes some major branch benefits, beyond breaking the traditional posts of employees, including:

A transition from transactional to advisory banking

More and more banks and credit unions are moving away from relationships built solely on client transactions to more advisory relationships built on education and trust—and the tablet-based Universal Associate model is a key part of this evolution. RTA was created to meet these exact market needs and allows for secure access to cash from any point in the branch. This flexibility gives staff the freedom to serve members without being directly tied to a cash drawer or cash automation machine, providing a more efficient in-branch experience to members.

Reduced costs and increased revenues

Operating costs are reduced by allowing more employees to share machines, which in turn decreases the number of recyclers and dispensers needed to operate a branch. At the same time, RTA enables staff to assist more clients, with better quality conversation, and advise on the additional products and services that are available.

Improving overall branch experience

Not only are you making the transition to advisory banking and the UA model, but you are also making the entire branch experience better for your client. Because handling transactions through RTA can be done from anywhere in the branch, long wait times are drastically diminished, and staff are now able to have more personalized conversations with members so that they can develop long-term relationships.

To top it all off, RTA is not only able to quickly impact your branches’ efficiency, but it also can be set up quickly too -- meaning your branch(es) can be up and running on the UA model with RTA in no time. To discuss how you can take advantage of RTA’s efficient, cost-saving, client experience-improving power, set up your demo today.