Robot concierge unveiled in Shanghai bank

In this April 13, 2018, photo, bank customers speak with a robot at an automated branch in Shanghai. The outlet opened by Beijing-based China Construction Bank has been dubbed China's first "unmanned bank" and is equipped with face-scanning software, a virtual reality room and talking robots. [Photo: AP]

A state-owned Chinese bank has opened an automated branch offering services with robots and virtual reality machine.

The branch in Shanghai is being hyped as the first "personless bank" in China, with facial recognition software, a virtual reality room, a hologram machine and robots that can talk.

Beijing-based China Construction Bank says its new high-tech branch in Shanghai is meant to make banking more convenient, personalized, and efficient.

The new branch is drawing throngs of curious observers.

"I saw the bank on WeChat (a smartphone app), and we just happened to be in Shanghai, so I dropped by to take a look. It seems like it's very convenient and capable, and this robot's language and technological abilities are really good, much better than I had imagined,"a visitor said.

"These days, because people are less and less likely to be inclined to want other people to come and bother them, or because they want to be left alone, we hope when we come to a bank that we have human-machine interaction, this kind of experience,"another visitor noted.

In this April 13, 2018, photo, a China Construction Bank employee demonstrates the use of face-scanning software at an automated bank in Shanghai. The outlet opened by the Beijing-based bank has been dubbed China's first "unmanned bank" and is equipped with holograms, a virtual reality room and talking robots. [Photo: AP]

A robot greets customers at the entrance and answers questions using voice recognition software.

Clients can swipe their national identification cards to enter the bank - or scan their faces using the bank's facial recognition device.

Machines inside allow visitors to buy gold, change currency, or scout real estate investments using virtual reality goggles.

The bank isn't totally unstaffed.

Guards are still present, and a room equipped with teleconference software allows VIP clients to request help from human employees based elsewhere.

Li Linfeng is a banking technologist from Shenzhen-based Ping An Insurance.

He says the bank's use of technology is not particularly thoughtful.

He says older folks will likely need human help.

"Technology has to serve us, not leave people behind. Some people who are older, in their 60s or older, who I made contact with - now, their view was that these technologies look great, but when it comes to actually using them, it's not convenient, because they haven't used these kinds of equipment before. So, they have to have people help them."

In this April 13, 2018, photo, customers mill outside an automated bank in Shanghai. The outlet opened by Beijing-based China Construction Bank has been dubbed China's first "unmanned bank" and is equipped with face-scanning software, a virtual reality room and talking robots. [Photo: AP]

State-owned China Construction Bank, founded in the 1950s to fund large scale infrastructure projects, is the second largest bank worldwide as measured by assets.

Analysts say the bank is responding to pressure from internet giants like Alibaba and Tencent, which are transforming Chinese consumer finance with mobile applications that enable people to transfer money and pay for goods using their smartphones.

You Tianyu is vice president of research at iYiou, a technology think tank.

"These days, everyone is talking about banking or financial innovation. This is kind of an experiment, a shot in the dark, trying to prove that traditional banks, too, can innovate.Traditional banks rely on their clerks to verify and prove identities, and rely on them to use their own vision to check and verify identities. This, of course, comes with risks. But when you use facial recognition software, the error rate is extremely low."

The trend toward automation is not new.

Retailers in China and elsewhere have been tinkering with automated supermarkets and convenience stores.