- NatWest’s VR app offers immersive banking experiences
- The technology provides competitive savings rates and services
- Adoption is slow due to high headset costs
As I looked around the room, I noticed lists of the most detailed bank account records suspended in the air in front of me. There are thousands of transactions made in the last year. Welcome to the brave new world of banking, where you can apply for a mortgage agreement in principle with the flick of a wrist in ten minutes.
I’m visiting NatWest’s headquarters in Liverpool Street, London, to try out the company’s new virtual reality (VR) banking app, which launched two weeks ago.
Through the VR headset’s goggles, a variety of bank statements, direct debits, and account balances appear in the centre of my field of vision. The centre of the screen appears identical to NatWest’s iPad app.
VR technology has long been popular among video gamers, but it could be better for managing your finances.
However, NatWest assures me that the technology will provide its customers, as well as those who save with Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, with a fresh approach to managing their money at a time when banks are increasingly directing people online.
It represents yet another shift away from in-person banking. Almost every month, a significant bank announces plans to eliminate hundreds more of its locations as online services increasingly replace physical contact.
Last month, Lloyds, Barclays, Halifax, and NatWest closed 40 branches as they encouraged clients to use live chats, digital assistants, and mobile phone apps.
The VR app even provides more competitive savings rates than consumers can obtain over the phone, by mail, or in person, albeit these prices are also available online and via the app.
Wendy Redshaw, NatWest Group’s chief digital information officer, believes VR banking will provide ‘one window into how the future of banking could look’.
NatWest is the first high-street bank to use it in this fashion. ‘It’s amazing to be a pioneer in such fascinating new technology,’ she says. The headset takes a few minutes to set up, and after a few attempts to log in to one of NatWest’s trial accounts, the app is up and running. A translucent 3D screen in front of me displays a suspended test bank account.
It runs smoothly and without glitches.
The virtual and physical worlds meld smoothly, and I place the rectangle containing my banking information to the left of my body so that I can still view my surroundings.
At first, it seems like I’m wearing hefty ski goggles, and I feel nauseous as my eyes adjust to the headset’s internal screen.
I take the headset outside to examine how it works, but an abrupt turn leads me right into a tree buried behind my banking information.
After getting my bearings, I swipe my right index finger in a bottom-to-top motion at shoulder height in front of me to browse through a list of all the test account’s debit card payments over the previous few weeks.
The goggles’ motion sensors allow me to operate the screen by just flicking my wrist. It takes a few minutes to learn each hand gesture and the commands they relate to, but once I have them down, I can open and dismiss windows and move between internet webpages in seconds.
Sliding my finger left opens another box where I can categorise my spending into 12 categories, including transportation, dining out, and grocery, and set budgets for each. Next, I hover my finger over a purple button on the left side of the screen, which brings up a choice of things for which I can apply.
I was surprised to learn that I can use the headset to get a credit card or a loan and even apply for a mortgage in less than 10 minutes. To close screens, all I need to do is point into the air or pinch my fingers together.
In need of some advice, I contacted NatWest’s virtual assistant, Cora, to help me close a savings account that no longer offers a competitive rate. Typing my inquiry into a virtual keyboard that hovers at waist height is challenging and takes much longer than on my computer.
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Apoorva Varma Mehta, who created the VR banking software, suggested I try moving my eyes to operate the keys. This only works for those who do not wear glasses or contact lenses, and I, unfortunately, require one of the two at all times.
Several functionalities of the mobile phone banking app still need to be available in the VR version, such as scanning a cheque with your camera and depositing it into your bank account. Some security features are also absent from the VR banking app, forcing users to check in using a passcode.
Although the technology is remarkable, Apoorva admits that it is likely to become widespread over time. ‘In the first week, we received ten downloads,’ she says.
“Only a small group of people will be able to use the headset to do their banking because it is so expensive.”At present, it will be used primarily by wealthy individuals and tech writers.
The program can only be used with the Apple Vision Pro virtual reality headset, which costs £3,499. Apoorva emphasises that, while adoption is sluggish, the device could pave the way for future improvements in banking.
‘We’re still in the early stages of experimenting to see what opportunities this new technology can provide,’ she explains.
‘It will by no means replace telephone banking.’
