Repetitive yet necessary tasks such as counting cash andscanning checks steal away precious time that branch employeescould be devoting to servicing their members.

While the spread of cash recycling and check scanning equipment has already freedworkers' hands significantly, credit unions can expect to seebranch automation technology take another step forward in 2013.

According to Glen Fossella, chief operating officer for globalcash recycler and check scanner manufacturer CTS North America,those machines are beginning to move from the back office to thefront, leaving back office workers with more time to focus on memberservice-centric tasks.

“As back-office functions begin to move to the teller window,manual operations are being squeezed out the door, and the backoffice will become more of an extension of serving the member,”Fossella said. “You'll start to see back-office staff providingsupport to the member instead of doing mundane tasks.”

When the Wixom, Mich.-based CTS entered the U.S. market aroundfive years ago, deploying check scanners for use in the back officequickly became a standard at financial institutions, Fossella said.But don't expect them to stay there for long.

“Back office use of check scanners is on the way out, and thatis happening pretty fast,” Fossella said.

Why? For one, the newest versions of check scanning machines arefaster and more reliable than they were in the past, which meanstellers can utilize them in branch transactions without holding uptheir members, Fossella explained, adding many financialinstitutions are now processing in-branch check deposits in realtime. The same level of improvement goes for cash recyclingmachines, which are becoming smaller and less likely to break downor jam.

Additionally, Fossella said thanks to the rising popularity ofelectronic banking, member foot traffic has dwindled in branches,leaving more time for tellers to take that extra step of scanningand processing checks at their windows.

High-volume cash management machines are also moving out frombehind the scenes and into branch lobbies, although they're mostlikely to make it into the lobbies of financial institutions thathandle a large number of business transactions, Fossella said.

One credit union that can testify to the benefits of cashrecycling machines is the $704.9 million Melrose, Minn.-basedCentral Minnesota Credit Union, which began deploying one ormore ARCA CM18 cash recyclers in its branches three years ago andplans to have at least one in every branch by June 2013, said JasonMacDonald, director of information technology for Central MinnesotaCU. ARCA, based in Mebane, N.C., is CTS' U.S. distribution partnersfor cash recycling.

The cash recyclers replaced teller cash drawers and the need tomanually balance cash inventories at the credit union and also ledto increased workplace efficiencies and fully accurate cashbalances from every employee, MacDonald said. For example, sincethe recyclers also act as vaults, fewer vault management tasks arerequired, which has allowed the credit union to cut back on staffscheduling.

“We've peeled back on staffing at our smaller branches,”MacDonald said. “Since the recycler is a vault, we don't needsomeone managing vault access, so we only need one employee in at atime instead of two.”

The recyclers have also lightened up workloads and thus shiftedemployees' focuses to members, MacDonald noted.

“In the past, we had to balance our cash drawers throughout theday, and sometimes they didn't balance,” MacDonald said. “And ifthey didn't, we'd have to take extra time at the end of the day tofigure out why. Employees really like the fact that once theirshifts are over, they can pack up and leave.”

Another emerging trend in branch automation is the creation anddistribution of instant-issue payment cards at the teller window,Fossella said. With payment card production technology nowavailable in smaller, more efficient machines with directintegrations to core banking systems, financial institutions arebeginning to issue cards in single window transactions. One majorbenefit of the trend is that it puts payment cards into circulationquickly, he pointed out.

“Since the member doesn't have to wait weeks for the card toarrive in the mail, the credit union can begin reaping the benefitsof transaction fees right away,” Fossella said.

As automation technology continues to develop, employee jobdescriptions will be less about processing transactions and moreabout providing quality service; that's true not just at financialinstitutions, but in many industries, said Kirk Nelson, associatevice president of ARCA's OEM Solutions.

“From ARCA's perspective, we're seeing a move toward automationin general,” Nelson said. “More self-service kiosks are being used,for example in grocery stores and movie theaters. With the pressureof working the booth taken off employees, they can focus better ontheir customers' needs.”