HSBC is making a $130 million investment in its bank branches and the latest step is to arm its bankers with Samsung watches

HSBC has begun what it's calling a first-of-its kind program to bring wearable technology into its bank branches.

The firm is piloting a program where branch bankers wear a watch allowing them to send and receive messages, or speak to colleagues using small microphones.

The pilot is a partnership with Samsung at HSBC's flagship Fifth Avenue branch in New York City in which HSBC bankers will wear Samsung Gear S3 watches with customized software. 

The idea of the program is that it will allow employees at the branch — which has three floors and lots of rooms — to be more productive by improving communication, according to Jeremy Balkin, head of innovation for HSBC's US unit. Due to the size of the branch, its often hard to know where employees are at any given time and difficult to find them if one of their customers shows up for a meeting, or the front desk needs covering, he said. 

Business Insider visited HSBC's branch last week to check out the new wearable technology. 

HSBC worked closely with Samsung to customize the software powering the Gear S3. The devices have preset prompts and replies, making communication as simple as the press of a button.

The watch works as a phone as well as a texting device, so that employees can message each other, or if they need to communicate directly, speak into a small microphone.

Here, employees demonstrate how to use the voice functionality.

The watches use Verizon’s LTE network. Balkin said the bank hasn’t suffered any dead zones or signal outages since beginning the pilot several weeks ago, even though employees' cellphones occasionally don't work.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Contributer : Tech Insider https://ift.tt/2yUq6fl

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