BANK WAITING LINES: WHY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SEEMS NOT TO SOLVE IT? MANAGERS' PERCEPTION OF CAUSES AND VIABLE SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Despite the investments that banks have carried out in automation over the last few years, the problem of waiting lines persists. Nowadays there are two types of lines: teller lines and ATM lines. To better understand the issue from the viewpoint of those who actually manage lines, a survey was carried out in a government-owned Brazilian bank. Eighty-six southern and southeastern branch managers were interviewed, either by e-mail, face to face, or by telephone, in 2006. The sample selection was non-probabilistic and oriented by aspects of convenience. All responded questionnaires were accepted during the data collection period of six months. The survey aimed to understand what the causes of bank lines are, why the implementation of ATM machines was not enough, and what these branch managers may think as a solution to the problem. The analysis of the interviews showed that, as far as the interviewees were concerned, the waiting line problem at the surveyed bank not only is complex but also goes beyond service capacity and demand management, thus requiring that Brazilian bank customer’s culture and behavior be taken into consideration. Moreover, it requires an active articulation of several participants of the financial system in order to achieve a solution. Data analysis made it possible to propose seven hypotheses that should be tested in future works, with larger and more representative samples.