New breed of bankers, no lunch break needed

We have convenience stores without cashiers, and now it seems banks are the latest business to dispense with traditional staff.

The concept of a bank without tellers was so intriguing that when Jiang Zhongquan, a postgraduate at the Nanjing Forestry University, came to Shanghai last week to visit his girlfriend, he couldn’t resist the chance to see China’s first-ever unmanned bank.

It is the Jiujiang Road sub-branch of China Construction Bank, where customers are served by robots, not humans.

A genial robotic woman at the front of the branch is the lobby manager. She welcomes customers, finds out what they want to do and helps them get a queue ticket.

Those entering the bank need to scan an identification card or China Construction bankcard to gain admission. On their next-time visit at the bank, they need only show their face to a scanning machine at the entrance.

Jiang said the most interesting feature of the bank was the use of virtual reality to find home rentals. He told Shanghai Daily that he usually looks for rentals via agencies, which is rather time-consuming and not always in tune with his expectations.

“With the virtual reality equipment in the branch, I know exactly how a flat looks and what kinds of facilities it has,” Jiang said, “I need only check out those that really impress me, instead of wasting my time looking at others.”