How does it feel to compete with yourself? In some ways, that’s what local bank branches find themselves doing.
As customers turn to the convenience of the online and mobile options offered by their financial institutions, those same banks are challenging their local physical branches to increase customer engagement. Beyond engagement, these locations are expected to help meet the bank’s overall business objectives by increasing sales of retail banking products and services.
Many branches have turned to digital signage. Industry data suggests roughly 84% of U.S. branches use digital signage to enhance customer communication and engagement. These are not simple monitors, displaying cycled ads in a repetitive loop throughout the day. Digital signage offers a unique opportunity to deliver focused, customized, and highly targeted content. It can seamlessly integrate product offerings while also featuring regional news, sports updates, and local weather, creating a dynamic and engaging experience. These vibrant digital displays, powered by advanced smart content management systems, are transforming the traditional bank visit into a modern, engaging customer experience.
Help Customers Buy Into Their Financial Future
Financial institutions were among the earliest adopters of digital displays, helping to drive the development of more interactive and sophisticated devices. Today, banks are using digital signage to innovate and meet evolving customer expectations, transforming branches from service centers into retail destinations.
This type of environment is more personal and engaging, promoting new services and products and improving customers’ brand loyalty. 68% of consumers say digital signage influences their purchase decisions. At the same time, about half of customers still visit branches to resolve issues or get help. Digital signage creates opportunities to upsell relevant products and services while customers are in the branch, helping banks to increase revenue.
Wait Time is Brand Time
Bank branch digital signage simplifies customer, visitor, and staff engagement by delivering real-time, targeted information—whether tailored to a single branch or broadcast across multiple locations. While customers wait, dynamic on-screen messages and media can share compelling stories about how your bank’s products make a difference in people’s lives. It could be informational, highlighting the unique benefits of a new credit card, or inspirational, showcasing a first-time homebuyer’s journey made possible by a special mortgage rate. Replacing static placards with vibrant videos or animations not only captures attention but can also inspire customers to explore and choose new retail banking products.
It’s simple to create and display content relevant to the bank branch, such as:
- Real-time compliant rates and quotes with automated data imports.
- Products and service promotions, such as personal and home improvement loans, rates, or credit card benefits.
- Definitions of financial terms or recommendations for resources to help people learn about savings or investing.
- Local news and weather, with a tie into banking products — for example, a news feature on vacation planning that encourages branch visitors to open a new savings account.
- Bios of bank employees, humanizing the staff for visitors and customers.
- Directions to use on-site self-service kiosks for bank employee directories, maps, or even sign up for products.
This blend of information and entertainment offers a strategic advantage by significantly reducing perceived wait times. On a practical level, customers can use interactive touch screens to sign in and receive text notifications when it’s their turn to meet with an associate. Digital bank signage can also display real-time wait times, guide customers to alternative options if they prefer not to wait and even encourage visits during non-peak hours.
Considering the average customer’s patience runs out after 10 minutes, digital signage is a game-changer, shown to reduce perceived wait time by 35%. By keeping customers engaged with captivating content instead of fixating on the clock, they remain more relaxed and are likely to be in a better state of mind when interacting with bank associates.
The Dollars & Sense of Content Management
Delivering this kind of engaging and timely content requires the right tools behind the scenes. For banks operating across dozens or even hundreds or thousands of branches, managing content consistently and efficiently can quickly become complex. Messaging must stay compliant, relevant to local audiences, and updated across multiple screens and locations. Without the right system in place, keeping content fresh and coordinated across a distributed branch network becomes difficult.
This is where a modern Content Management System (CMS) becomes essential.
With a platform powering your digital signage, managing your content becomes straightforward, whether on large displays or smaller screens, unlocking your system’s full potential. This isn’t just basic display software—it’s smart Content Management System. A CMS is the key to tailoring your content to your customers’ ever-changing needs, while streamlining the creation, publication, and maintenance of the information displayed. It ensures your content is always fresh, relevant, and targeted to your customers’ financial needs.
A modern workplace communications platform takes this further with AI-powered automation features that customize signage based on the day of the week or time of day. For example, if investors typically visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can highlight real-time currency conversion rates and stock prices. In the mornings, focus on financial services for retirees, while late afternoons can feature promotions for a new credit card tailored to Millennials or Gen Z.
You can elevate this even further by connecting your content to current events. For instance, if local home sales are on the rise, one part of your screen can display a news feed covering the trend, while another section promotes home improvement loans to boost property value. This kind of dynamic, regularly updated content keeps customers engaged by aligning with their interests and needs.
Scheduling this content centrally in advance reduces the workload for retail bank managers, allowing them to focus on running the branch. Digital signage updates can be managed remotely across multiple locations, eliminating the need for physical travel or on-site adjustments, saving both time and resources. With just a click or tap, the right content is deployed quickly and reliably, ensuring brand consistency and delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time. The result is exceptional value for both the bank and its customers.
Banking Digital Signage Solutions By the Numbers > Digital Signage as a Performance Powerhouse
As a financial institution, there’s bound to be interest in the hard numbers. In other words, when it comes to digital signage for banks, “What’s the Return on Investment?”
The most immediate cost savings lies in the significant reduction in print costs. Traditional materials like posters, pamphlets, and flyers are drastically reduced by 30% or more, along with the time and effort employees spend managing, distributing, and replacing them. And when customers need the detailed information once found in multi-page brochures, a simple on-screen URL or QR code provides instant access to that content.
Digital signage also breathes new life into existing assets. Images, headlines, and creative elements from print materials, commercials, advertisements, and even social media posts can be repurposed and transformed into dynamic, animated content for your screens.
But the ROI of digital signage goes far beyond replacing print. It unlocks the power of sophisticated analytics. You can track content impressions and engagements in real time for each screen. By incorporating QR codes, you can measure customer interactions, such as scanning to access services or download offers. As digital screens advance with the use of sensors, they enable tracking of viewership metrics—such as how many people viewed a screen, for how long, and demographic insights like age, gender, and time of day.
This data empowers you to deploy highly targeted ads and content tailored to specific audiences, fine-tuning marketing campaigns and enhancing the appeal of your retail offerings. It’s not just about replacing print—it’s about leveraging technology to create smarter, more effective customer engagement.
With Banking Digital Signage, Seeing is Believing
Customers are enthusiastic about in-branch experiences enhanced by digital signage. In fact, Customers whose primary bank features digital signage report higher satisfaction — 71% high satisfaction compared with 45% among those whose bank doesn’t have signage. Consumers reporting that their bank has digital signage are more likely to describe their relationship with the bank as trusted and long-term (31%) versus those without signage (20%). Building on this positive impression, it’s worth exploring opportunities beyond the traditional wall monitors in waiting areas.
Outdoor digital signage can significantly boost brand awareness while guiding customers through drive-thru ATM services. Even the ATM screens themselves serve as digital signage, offering personalized messaging tailored to each user. Inside the branch, digital signs in reception or lobby areas can welcome and guide visitors while doubling as digital community boards, sharing local announcements and news—fostering a sense of connection between the branch and the community. Meanwhile, small counter screens can deliver specific customer instructions and promote products in a more personal, engaging way, enhancing recall of information, branding, and offerings.
Despite the diversity of these screens, they can all be managed from a single, centralized platform. For visitors, customers, and employees, this creates a seamless, coordinated campaign of information and engagement.
The result? A stronger sense of community, increased loyalty and trust in the bank, and heightened interest in your products.
Invest in the Long-Term Benefits of Digital Signage
Is it a competition between banking websites and mobile apps versus the local branch? Not really. In practice, these channels complement each other, and digital signage plays an important role in bringing the digital experience into the physical environment.
Dynamic, visually engaging content empowers retail banks to spark interest and boost awareness of their services and products—including their web and mobile offerings! In the spirit of shared services, content from web and mobile platforms can seamlessly be integrated into on-site digital screens, creating a unified experience.
Informative and entertaining, lobby digital signage serves as the neighborhood branch’s omnichannel concierge—a perfect blend of timely service, upselling, and cross-selling that strengthens relationships with existing customers while attracting new ones.
In essence, digital signage for banks isn’t just a tool; it’s a gateway to exceptional customer experiences.
