Applicability of Technology Tools in the Banking Sector
THE APPLICABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN THE BANKING SECTOR AND THE EVALUATION OF BANKING PRACTICES IN THIS LINE IN TURKEY
When it comes to banking services in the traditional sense; It is understood that customers go to the nearest branch of their bank and request the service they want in order to receive banking service.
However, considering the cost to the customer of requesting this service, the time spent by the customer to leave his job and reach the bank branch, the difficulty of making transactions during branch working hours, the time spent waiting in line at the branch, and the time elapsed until the desired service is performed can be mentioned.
In today's world where time is of vital importance, the better, faster and more diverse the bank services are, the lower the cost to the customer.
There are two alternatives: retail banking, which aims to reach a widespread audience in the application of technology tools by banks to the sector, and retail banking for the high-income group, which does not aim to reach a widespread audience, who wants to benefit from specialist banking and consultant banking, whose portfolio preferences are formed by the bank, and who wants to benefit from technology-intensive retail banking. In general, banks in our country prefer retail banking, which aims to reach a wide audience.
The starting point for a bank is to make this distinction clearly and to determine which customer group is targeted and what the expectations of this customer group are. Only in this way can technology be appropriately internalized by using the right strategies in the most efficient way.
In general, the use of technology tools in banking, adding new departments to the organizational structure and the emergence of new organs, standardizing the information flow system in banks, ensuring efficiency, preventing the repetition of the same transactions and making more transactions in a shorter time, reducing the employment of middle managers, and distributing the responsibilities of the management differs for each group. It allows assignment of duties, authority and responsibility, reduction of costs and globalization.
The application of technology tools to the banking sector has rendered traditional banking definitions meaningless, and has caused these definitions to be completely reshaped and imposed a new set of abilities on this sector. However, it should be noted that banks are aware of the existing change while acquiring and applying these technologies. Because the application of these technologies is not only a method used for cost reduction and competition, but also a complete differentiation of banking philosophy and existing organizational cultures.
The higher the quality, the higher the quantity and the lower the cost, the more competitive advantage can be achieved in the banking sector. The only way to increase the quality and number of services by reducing the cost is to use the appropriate technology in the most efficient way.
Keeping abreast of technology enables banks to offer a wider range of products, as well as lowering the costs of services. In this context, the aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability of new technologies in banking sectors, which is a branch of service sectors, and to evaluate banking applications in this direction in Turkey.
Technology Applications in the Banking Sector How banks' technological investments are shaped in banking applications and how they are reflected on customers is as important as the technology used. These applications can be evaluated as credit cards, ATM, telephone banking, home and office banking, internet banking on the basis of products. In addition, EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) system, SWIFT (World Interbank Financial Communication Institution), VOIP (Communication over Interent Protocol) technologies used in most of the banking applications are important in shaping the technology tools in banking applications (Karasu, 1999; Toprak, 1999; Capital, 1998).
It is the name given to the plastic cards that allow the credit card holder to shop without having to pay cash in a certain commercial enterprise or to withdraw cash from ATMs, and to receive the expenditure income immediately after deducting a certain commission, without having to wait undisputed. Unlike western countries, Turkey jumped directly from cash to credit cards without using checks during the transition period (World, 1997; 1998). With the increase in the use of credit cards, an interbank card center was established in August 1990 by 13 credit card issuer banks in order to find solutions to common problems and develop rules and standards (Capital, 1999).
In addition to withdrawing money, automatic teller machines also perform functions such as depositing money into accounts, transferring between accounts, informing customers about their accounts, making regular payments, requesting a checkbook, issuing travellers' checks, and accepting loan applications (Paramatik, 1999).
The ATM application, which started to be used in the USA in the 1960s, was implemented for the first time in Turkey by İşbank in 1988 (Banks Association of Turkey, 1998).
In order for banks to get the highest return from ATMs, it is important to move ATM machines from places where the capacity is higher than the demand to regions with high demand, and to reduce the operational costs of banks by making agreements with other banks and establishing joint ATMs (Yapı Kredi, 1991).
Banks that want to increase the profitability of their ATMs have to implement some differentiation strategies. Alternatives such as promotional coupons, tickets for sports events, watching advertisements on the screen while waiting for the transaction can be a tool for banks in this context (Tab and Singer, 1996).
It is also common for money questions to be asked by speaking and in various languages while making transactions with ATMs. Thanks to these ATM machines, banks did not have to open more branches in order to bring their services closer to their customers, and they were able to reduce their operating costs.
Banks combine to provide joint ATM services. In common ATMs, transactions can be made with more than one bank by using one ATM. This system; While providing significant savings to both the Turkish economy and banks, cardholders can benefit from a wide service network not only by using their own banks but also by using ATM machines in other banks that enter the system (Şekerkaya, 1997).
The number of automatic cash machines (ATM) is increasing day by day, and the cost of each is approximately 25 thousand dollars. The maintenance and renewal costs after the establishment of the ATM vary between 5 and 10 thousand dollars per year. Thus, the cost of an ATM to the bank can reach up to 35 thousand dollars. According to the data of the interbank card center (2003), it has been determined that there are twelve thousand ATM machines.
Source: Prof. Feride Bahar IŞIN magazine article
