Apr. 18 (NBD) -- Following the opening of an unmanned banking outlet in Shanghai, China Construction Bank (CCB), one of China's four state-owned banks, recently lifted the veil of a smart banking branch in Shenzhen, where 95 percent of personal business and 85 percent of corporate banking business is handled via self-service equipment, rather than bank clerks. 

The smart branch is equipped with two self-service machines, through which users can learn about the bank's financial products and other contents in advance and shortens their waiting time. 

This is an episode of the channel reform in the banking sector. 

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said in its annual report that it did a lot to extend the smart service model in its system last year. 

According to the China Banking Association's report on China's banking industry in 2017, China's banking institutions have opened 228,700 business outlets across China as of the end of last year. The number of transactions that were not done over the counter amounted to around 260 billion in 2017, up 46.33 percent year over year. The value of these transactions surged 32.06 percent year over year to about 2010.7 trillion yuan (320.1 trillion U.S. dollars). 

A person-in-charge with CCB's Shenzhen branch said to NBD that banking outlets will remain in place in the future, but will see huge changes. In terms of functionality, comprehensive outlets will experience intelligent transformation and introduce non-financial services. 

The channel reform of banking institutions also leads to changes in personnel structure. 

From the 2017 annual reports of China's four state-owned banks, it can be seen that the proportion of counter staff in the total workforce decreased while that of IT personnel saw an increase last year as compared to the previous year. 

The above-mentioned person-in-charge told NBD that some front-desk clerks will be transferred to marketing or positions at high-end private banking units. 

Ping An Bank is also hiring more IT staff. The Shenzhen-headquartered commercial bank recently announced the plan to recruit retail banking talents around the globe, especially those proficient in AI and big data.  

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn