Future Role of Bank Advisors and Traditional Bank Branches in the Age of Digitalization—An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Due to increasing digitalization, the German banking sector is undergoing a massive period of change. This threatening challenge is massively influenced by demographic change, supervision and regulation, the low-interest phase and technological progress. In the last twenty years, mergers of regional banks, staff reduction measures and the closure of their traditional bank branches have been the order of the day. Banks in Germany are therefore forced to deal with the introduction of omni-channel concepts. The aim of the research is to make a statement on the extent to which the two distribution channels “bank advisor” and “traditional bank branch” will still play an active role for regional banks in Germany in the future. The results of standardized interviews with bank experts (N = 43) in Germany form the core of this study. This paper summarizes the findings of the quantitative research descriptively. Furthermore, the article critically examines the academic discussion on the digital transformation of banks in Germany, especially savings and cooperative banks. This article is structured as follows: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Limits and Directions for further Research. The results of this article can be useful for researchers and bank practitioners to identify and utilize the strategic change potential under omni-channel aspects due to the digital transformation.