NEFCU opens branch without tellers in Deer Park
An interactive teller machine at the NEFCU branch in Bay Shore on Sept. 13, 2016. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
NEFCU has opened a second branch location with interactive video teller machines and no live tellers.
The credit union said Wednesday it has opened its branch in Deer Park, nearly 10 months after it opened a branch without tellers in Bay Shore.
The new branch, on Deer Park Avenue in a shopping center that also has a Starbucks and CVS, is NEFCU’s 14th branch and the credit union’s fourth in Suffolk County. All of NEFCU’s branches are on Long Island.
All future NEFCU branches will operate under the new model, according to the credit union.
Members using an interactive teller machine can interact through a video screen with a live teller at NEFCU headquarters in Westbury.
A member can speak to the remote teller, who can deposit checks and dispense cash and perform other standard teller duties.
The video machines can also act as standard ATMs.
NEFCU said the Deer Park branch will also have up to three member service representatives, a branch manager and an assistant branch manager on staff.
Uniondale-based Flushing Financial also has started offering a similar service at branches, including its location in Uniondale. It also has staffers at the branch.
More financial institutions will follow the NEFCU or Flushing model, said Carmen F. Effron, president of bank consulting firm C F Effron Co. in Weston, Connecticut.
“This is much more affordable for a bank, and for customers it won’t be dramatic,” she said. “We’re all about fast. We’re all about convenience. It’s inevitable that more banks will do this.”
