OneBanks, the developer of a pop-up kiosk format which can offer in-person banking services on behalf of several different banks and financial services customers, has appointed Andy Willmot, (the Chief Digital Architect at Lloyds Banking Group) as its Chief Technical Officer.
With banks now beginning to shift from the High Street, the concept of providing shared banking hubs to offer localized access to financial services is being increasingly adopted across the United Kingdom.
OneBanks aims to offer bank-agnostic in-branch services – like cash withdrawals, deposits, easy bill payments, and in-person support – for individual consumers and SMEs in communities where physical branches have been shut down.
OneBanks’ quick to assemble pop-up kiosks reportedly use Open Banking tech from several different technology partners, such as Endava, Trust Stamp, Nuapay, NCR and Accenture Business. The solution helps with offering fast access to financial accounts from several different banking platforms. As a shared facility, the operational costs are split between the financial institutions that are using the service.
In December 2020, OneBanks introduced its very first pilot kiosk in the town of Denny, Scotland. The area has not had a local (physical) bank branch for the past 2 years. The fully-staffed kiosk, which has helped create seven new jobs for locals, will remain open from 7 AM until 10 PM, from Monday to Friday and 9 AM to 6 PM over the weekends.
Willmot has more than 25 years of experience working in the financial technology space. He has joined the company after working extensively at Lloyds Banking Group, where he was tasked with creating the architecture and handling engineering work of the UK institution’s mobile and Internet-based digital platforms.
Willmot stated that OneBanks aims to cater to the requirements of banking clients and communities with an affordable or economical way of offering face-to-face interaction that customers really value.
Willmot remarked:
“OneBanks is solving a key problem we’ve had in banking for some time – costly bank branches – with an approach [that’s] based on deploying the latest technology. OneBanks is maximizing Open Banking for the benefit of all customers – truly delivering on the promise of financial inclusion for all.”
