Cantillon: It’s banking, Jim, but not as we know it

Cantillon loves technology so it was interesting to get a tour this week from AIB's chief operating officer Stephen White of its impressive Lab (it stands for Learn About Banking) at the Dundrum town centre.

It's an incubator of sorts for its various digital banking initiatives. If they prove a hit with customers in Dundrum, they get rolled out in the 270 AIB and EBS outlets around the country.

This is not a branch, although it has the characteristics of one. There’s no sort code and any account openings or new mortgages are registered to its standalone branch in the village. Staff are togged out in polo shirts with iPads ready to help customers navigate its various services. Booths link via video to an agent in Naas where accounts can be opened in minutes and mortgages approved in principle.

Inbuilt scanners and printers take care of the ID issues and any documentation that needs to be signed, and a high-tech phone will plug you into an agent if you have a query about your account. And there’s free wifi and a kids’ play area.

AIB has also developed a piece of kit to allow the likes of plumbers and electricians process electronic payments in your home, reducing the need for cash or cheques. The bank is also working on an app providing of useful information on local areas for prospective house buyers.

AIB has about one million active online and mobile customers, with 550,000 using its mobile app alone, which is getting an upgrade shortly.

White was keen to stress this is not designed to replace branches but to empower the customer in managing their finances. Mmm.

The investment in the lab and its various digital ding-dongs is a closely guarded secret but has undoubtedly aided AIB in reducing its operating costs by €350 million a year.

White is a Scot who previously worked for National Australia Bank (NAB) in both the UK and Australia. NAB is the owner of Clydesdale Bank, where AIB chief executive David Duffy is headed shortly, having handed in his cards in January.

Has White offered him any words of advice to Duffy on his new employer? “No, none at all,” was the deadpan answer.