The authoritative media Financial News has released "Market Review of Smart Branch Terminals of China in 2021". According to the article, GRGBanking is still dominating the Chinese financial terminals market, ranking No.1 in the smart financial terminals market for 14 consecutive years. At the same time, the company has taken the lead in deepening the integration of financial services and different scenarios to help construct digital branches for major banks. Below are some excerpts from the article.
Deepen the integration of "Finance+" scenarios to promote the construction of digital banks
--Chinese market review of smart branch terminals in 2021
Digital Banking is the pioneer of digital finance, and Fintech is a powerful engine to promote digital transformation. Financial institutions and banks have ushered in new opportunities for transformation and upgrading by leveraging financial, biometric, and innovative technologies, such as AI, big data, cloud computing, and blockchain. The Digital Banking 4.0 era has become more intelligent, open, and digitalized.
The year 2021 is the first year for China's 14th Five Year Plan and the last year for China's Fintech Development Plan (2019-2021). This year, China has entered the stage of high-quality development in the Fintech industry, while its new requirements for Fintech have also put forward. The solution providers conform to the demands of digital transformation by following the changes in technology and connecting financial services with cross-border trading to build an intelligent, open, and non-physical digital bank.
As branch transformation accelerates, the demand for smart financial terminals rises steadily.
According to the General Operation Report of Payment System Q3 2021 released by the People's Bank of China in December 2021, the number of bank cards in use has reached 9.183 billion by the end of Q3 2021, an increase of 0.80% compared to Q2 2021. The total number of ATMs in China was 959.7 thousand units, a decrease of 27 thousand units compared to Q2 2021. However, the number of ATMs has slightly declined, as the number of branches remained stable, and with the rising demand for branch transformation, the number of smart financial terminals kept increasing.
The statistical data from the financial license information platform of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed that over 2,600 branches closed and over 2,400 branches opened in 2021, which means the total number of branches remained stable. As it is difficult to obtain a license for a full-service bank branch, bank operators have come to a common ground: the key point of branch transformation is improving efficiency. The bank branch is still an important service channel for banks, for it plays an important role in dealing with complex transactions and connecting online to offline channels. Smart financial terminals have become more important than ever as the key intersection to integrate banking services with scenarios and a bridge to connect online and offline services.
Improve the capability of omnichannel banking services and promote co-development of online and offline channels.Improve the capability of omnichannel banking services and promote co-development of online and offline channels.
In the fourth stage of the development of Digital Banking, the importance of customer experience is becoming more and more prominent. Branch transformation has begun to take effect, but the customer experience is below satisfactory, and the service shift between the online and offline channels is not smooth enough. On the one hand, online channel services cannot cover all the customer groups, and the "warmth" of online services is far less than offline services. On the other hand, banks can still acquire customers from offline channels. Therefore, the key points to enhance digital transformation are optimizing the customer experience, smoothly connecting online channels with physical branches, and providing customers with all-in-one service. Based on this situation, banks began constructing an ecosystem that connects online and offline channels to optimize the banking process and increase efficiency while improving their capability of omnichannel serving. Therefore, manufacturers with comprehensive solutions and strong capabilities to integrate software and hardware have become the best choice for major banks.
The sales revenue shows GRGBanking still performed the best in 2021, with various machines and terminals installed in Chinese banks. It has been in first place in China's financial terminal market for 14 consecutive years. Cashway and Yihua were in second and third place, respectively.
Innovate "Finance+" scenarios and activate new possibilities for ecological integration to promote financial inclusion development
China's Fintech Development Plan (2022-2025) emphasizes deepening the integration of digital technologies and financial services and promoting innovative and win-win development of the industrial ecology. This plan proves the importance of scenario finance construction, which can expand business for financial services and promote financial inclusion development.
In the era of open digital banking, banks tend to integrate financial services with various industries such as government services, education, enterprise management, and tourism. Major providers have developed innovative products and solutions to meet the demands of their customers. In parallel, banks began to extend their services to rural areas to achieve financial inclusion. Guangdong Government Service Data Administration Bureau, Guangdong Rural Credit Union (GDRCU), and GRGBanking jointly developed a self-service machine for the government services. It supports 159 government and financial services, including remote medical treatment, public accumulation fund inquiry, social security information checking, bank account checking, and many other services. It can meet the demand for government and financial services in city areas, deepening the integration of government services and financial services. As to "Finance + Education", GRGBanking collaborated with China Guangfa Bank (CGB) to put forward the "Little Red Flower" digital kindergarten project, which has been implemented in more than ten cities in China to help the kindergartens achieve digital management.
Meet customer needs and deepen the integration of "Finance+" scenarios.
With the wide spread of advanced technologies and the integration with diversified ecosystems, the branch scenario is also becoming diversified, hence the rising demand for smart terminals. Major providers in China have noticed the trend and explored the potential of combining AI, big data, cloud computing, and other information technologies with financial solutions to support branch transformation.
As digital technologies are developing and integrating, banks are transforming to become intelligent, open, and non-physical by constructing scenario-based branches that are smart and compact. Moreover, banks tend to focus more on customer experience and use intelligent technologies in various scenarios to meet customers' needs. The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)and GRGBanking have constructed the first "5G + smart branch" in Shanxi Province. It adopts Fintech technologies such as big data and biometric authentication to achieve touchless marketing and provide better service. It is an eco-branch for future banks, integrating financial services with AI technology, a cafe bar, and an all-in-one financial supermarket.
Smart financial terminals will be integrated with more digital technologies and become more diversified and compact to meet the demand for digital transformation. GRGBanking has released a Cloud Counter Solution (Modular STM Solution) that includes four sections: transaction center, marketing center, operation center, and customer service center. Customers can do self-service transactions by connecting to a remote teller using a mobile phone, PC, PAD, large screen, and the smart branch terminals in the branches. Besides, some providers have already developed relevant technologies for digital currency to participate in the deployment of ATMs and systems to provide a solution for digital currency. GRGBanking can provide a comprehensive solution, including branch terminals, systems and platforms, scene solutions, and ecological operations. It has co-released with ICBC and CCB some smart terminal solutions for digital currency and can reform existing ATMs to support digital currency transactions.
Banks are built for customers, and they change for customers. Their optimization, such as improving efficiency, lowering labor costs, and accelerating the integration of online and offline channels, aim to provide highly efficient, customized, and diversified banking services to meet customers' needs. In the future, banks will continue integrating with various industries and penetrate financial services into people's daily lives. Major providers will also follow up with the trends and innovate their products to provide technology support for banks and promote their digital transformation.