Original story

16.3.2000 - www.abc.com, reporting from Helsinki, Finland (March 16, 2000, 5.20pm EST)

Merita-Nordbanken establishes virtual branches in old people’s homes

The Finnish-Swedish banking consortium Merita Nordbanken has launched virtual banking facilities in Helsinki old people’s homes. In the virtual bank branch, the customer carries out the normal over-the-counter dealings via a multimedia network, talking to the familiar bank teller.

The virtual bank resembles a traditional bank branch, across which has been drawn a curtain. When the customer steps up to the counter, the curtain opens and the customer sees a view of the manned service desk at the nearest conventional main street branch of the bank, complete with clerk. The virtual counter contains an image scanner and a printer, by means of which the necessary documents are passed both ways between the bank and the customer. The most significant transactions are confirmed by placing a hand on the scanner, while less formal matters can be handled with a signature, a bank card containing an ID. photo, and verbal confirmation. The State-issued digital identity card can also be used to confirm that the customer is who he or she claims to be.

Merita, the Finnish end of the Scandinavian banking group, has been running virtual banking trials for the past year, and has now reached agreements with several old people’s homes on installing its facilities in lobby and lounge areas.

One such virtual bank has been set up in the privately-owned Dunroamin Retirement Home, in the Tammisalo suburb of the Finnish capital. Eine Sandos, 79, considers the virtual bank to be a great boon.

“It feels just like going to the bank”, she says enthusiastically. “The only difference is I don’t have to drag my arthritic old legs any further than the downstairs lounge. Earlier, with those videophone things, the picture was very flickery, and you still had to send papers and things by post. Frankly, I didn’t see the use of it. But now it’s just like you were sitting next to the counter in a chair that’s quite as comfy as the one in the manager’s office. Of course, it’d be nice if they’d serve up coffee, too, or if you had the chance to chat with some of the other people waiting to get served, but you can’t have everything, can you?”

Katriina Westerlund, the matron of the retirement home, says that Merita was the first bank to offer up this new service. She notes, however, that Merita can by no means claim a sole right to Dunroamin’s custom, and if necessary they will think again about whom they do their virtual banking with.

“One important factor in our choice of Merita was their promise to expand the system. If the interest is there, the virtual office can be extended to include contacts with the user’s G.P., with the pharmacist’s, and with many other services.”

Merita’s system does not allow for unlimited dial-up videophone access, since the bank fears that the videophone lines would become overloaded, as experience has shown many people would call merely to have someone to talk to, mirroring the situation often found in a conventional bank.

The background to the virtual banking line taken by Merita lies in Helsinki’s already highly developed multimedia infrastructure. Multimedia networking began in the Finnish capital (population around 550,000) back in 1997, and the idea has since spread to other cities all over the world.

As elsewhere, the branch network of the Finnish banks has contracted sharply since 1990, and banking services have increasingly been passed over to data networks, with users encouraged to pay their bills from their PC. This has not been universally popular among account-holders, particularly among the elderly. Many still look for personal service, and are even willing to pay for it.

The virtual bank has been developed by the videoconferencing giant PictureTel, in collaboration with local equipment and furnishing designers.

Toteuma-arvio 2026

Toteuma lyhyesti

  • Ilmiön toteuma: 4/5
  • Toteuma viiden vuoden tarkkuudella: kyllä; arviointi-ikkuna on 1995–2005
  • Toteuma väljemmällä aikahorisontilla: kyllä, ja kehitys on vahvistunut myöhemmin
  • Ilmiön ydin: pankkipalvelu tuodaan etäyhteydellä asiakkaan luo niin, että myös iäkkäät voivat asioida kasvokkain työntekijän kanssa.

Videoneuvottelu, sähköinen tunnistaminen, asiakirjojen digitaalinen välitys ja etäpankki toteuttavat kaikki tarinan ydintä. Vanhainkoteihin rakennetuista virtuaalikonttoreista ei tullut yleistä mallia, mutta etäpalvelu ja avustettu digiasiointi toteutuivat.

Johtopäätös: ydin toteutui olennaisilta osin ja ajoissa, vaikka palvelupisteen fyysinen muoto jäi erilaiseksi.