BARCLAYS in the Kingfisher Centre is just one of a hundred banks in the country to use new innovative assisted service technology.

A number of tills have been replaced by assisted service counters which aims to allow customers to undertake their everyday banking transactions more efficiently with community bankers on hand to help them if they need support.

Those staff will be in the banking hall, rather than sitting behind a counter.

The hope is that staff will have more additional time to spend with customers who have more complex banking needs.

Richard White, manager of the branch, said: “I’m proud that Redditch branch has been chosen to have this new technology installed. It’s a big investment in Redditch and a vote of confidence in the town.

“Our customers have quickly adapted to the new format of the branch and many are using the technology on their own, while some people need a helping hand which we are happy to provide.

“The new technology has some great features including providing photocopies of cheques deposited for customer’s records and the ability to pay coins directly into an account without having to separate them out in advance.

Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands Anthea McIntyre recently visited the new branch to see the changes that the bank has made.

The MEP said: “It was a pleasure to visit Barclays in Redditch, and to see the very modern and high tech branch first hand.

"Not only did I get to see the bank in operation but I also had an interesting discussion with Richard White and Richard Stockland about the various apprenticeship schemes that the company is successfully operating.

"It is good to see a large business using their resources and assisting the community in a number of ways.”