A year ago I published a guest about the benefits of Mobile Banking. As online banking is becoming extremely popular, it was argued, mobile banking is staying in the shadows. The problem? Mobile browsing. The solution suggested? Using video.

Well, a year has passed, and mobile browsing is still quite a pain. However video and banking are starting to be two familiar terms, at least here in Israel. Just like the contact center becomes – with video – a visual contact center, banking as you know it becomes a whole different ball game when you add video to the mix.

As I believe that video is so much superior to “just” words, take a look first at this video (video is at the bottom of the page… don’t mind the Hebrew!).

A Futuristic Service? Not Really.

This is a marketing video by Bank Leumi, one of the leading banks in Israel. The service they announced this month (sadly, only in Hebrew) is called “Leumi V”, and it allows Bank Leumi clients to call their banker using video calling, from their desktop or their mobile phone.

The new service will allow you to talk, face-to-face, to a banker at any time and from any place. You can also easily share files. This gives “personal service” a whole new meaning, building trust between the banker and the bank client, and giving clients access in an unprecedented level of quality.

Accessibility also means that, like just like video conferencing in the US is improving the life of the deaf and hard of hearing dramatically, hard of hearing clients of Bank Leumi can now communicate with a banker over the phone or the Internet in sign language. This is truly remarkable, and impossible to achieve without video.

The technology behind this project is, of course, from RADVISION. The ability of our solution to provide video calls through different networks, using different equipment, and in a quality of experience that is needed (and expected) in the financial sector is what allows this futuristic service to be a thing of the present.

Video Call Becomes A Reality

This Bank Leumi service is quite ground-breaking, but like all good evolution steps, it will soon be adopted by all. One bank here in Israel is already offering a similar service; Others will probably follow. And the best thing is that clients will know about the feasibility of such a service, and demand such accessibility and such means of communications from not only banks, but any other service provider.

Government institutes, insurance companies, your local doctor – wouldn’t it be much nicer, much more effective, much more accessible, if you could just call them up using video, from your computer or your mobile? (Not to mention if you’re deaf or hard of hearing).

Just like with business travel (without moving, remember?), there is no need to convince anyone of the necessity of these kind of services or the way we would benefit from them. We just need that slight change in our state of mind, to expect video calling, to demand it as part of our communication options, and to offer it as part of a complete customer service.

When that will happen (and there’s no real If about it, just When), everyone would be winning. I guess the V in “Leumi V” doesn’t stand only for Video but also for Victory.