BPI Queue

Went to BPI today to make a deposit when I realized that their electronic system for writing down the details of a transaction via a touch screen terminal is more than a year old. But despite being a leader in this field, not many banks have adopted this electronic system. Banks like BDO, PNB and Eastwest still make use of the traditional paper and pen for noting down transaction details. And from experience, the electronic system has not been better than the paper system. In fact, the electronic system has probably made queuing worse for bank customers.

Why is this so? I've noticed that BPI's "efficient" system allows people to quickly obtain a queuing number. So more people end up waiting inside the BPI branch. There have been occasions where the crowd has been so dense, I was worried that the people coughing were spreading some virus. And all they are really doing is waiting for a transaction that should be over within two minutes. But the wait time to get to the teller can range from thirty minutes to an hour.

Is this a marketing advantage? Will people flock more towards a bank that is full of people? Does that mean that the bank is better compared to a bank with less number of people?

The banks using a paper system have similar queuing times. (Assuming they have the same number of tellers as BPI - usually two.) And this is where I appreciate BDO more since they have more tellers available - usually four - compared to two tellers from other banks.

If the electronic system makes no difference, why has BPI maintained it instead of reverting back to a paper system? Is the cost savings on paper and printing outweighing the cost of maintenance (electricity, ink, paper and repair) of these new machines? Or does BPI simply want to be seen as different - more technologically advanced, perhaps - than its competitors?

If they can somehow solve the teller bottleneck, then I'll probably be impressed. I don't think a customer should spend more than five minutes in a bank for a simple deposit transaction. ATMs have already solved the withdrawal side. Why hasn't an automated system solving the deposit side been made until now? Shouldn't banks be eager to take away our money from us? (And yes, I know that they have to make sure that what they are taking is real and not counterfeit - and this is one of the reasons why these types of transactions take time)