Bank of America aims to add 10 to 20 modules to its virtual reality training program every year to enhance employee training and improve information retention.
Training employees hasn’t changed in many years: It is still done through shoulder-to-shoulder coaching or Zoom or WebEx calls, Mike Wynn, head of academy innovation and design development at Bank of America, told Bank Automation News.
“What we started to notice is that people wanted to learn differently as they weren’t retaining the information the same way that they had in the past” from traditional training methods due to information overload, Wynn said.
Since the bank rolled out virtual reality (VR) training modules in 2021, employees have retained training information better, he said.
The $2.4 trillion, Charlotte, N.C.-based bank saw its employees reacting towards the technology in a positive manner and decided to roll out VR across the enterprise, Wynn said.
“Every single one of our financial centers has a virtual reality headset, and all of those associates that are located in those centers are able to use that headset,” Wynn said. “We also have headsets in our contact center spaces and our Merrill Lynch investment offices as well.”
The bank has developed 40 training modules in its library, which can help employees:
- Respond to bank robberies;
- • Coach managers on conducting better interviews with candidates;
- Establish virtual meditation centers;
- Discuss workplace conduct; and
- Deal with customers in a friendly manner.
“We’re continuing to build every single year from 10 to 20 virtual reality training modules,” Wynn said. The bank aims to develop modules that help employees develop soft skills and manage operational risks.
Growing VR adoption
Major financial institutions like JPMorgan, Citi, TD Bank and Mizuho Bank are developing the metaverse for new engagement models with customers and new asset classes, according to an April 2023 report by think tank Gartner.
TD deployed VR training last month and has found that information retention among trained employees has increased by 90%, Product Manager Kerry Narduzzi previously told BAN.
The metaverse will penetrate almost all sectors of the economy and yield up to $1 trillion in revenue in the coming years, according to a January 2022 report by JPMorgan.
Despite virtual reality being a big technological wave that can change financial services, banks cannot drive adoption by customers, Wynn said.
“We have over 4,000 headsets deployed, and thousands of employees are using it,” Wynn said, noting that it would take a lot of adoption on the consumer side for the bank to roll out VR capabilities for its clients.
