Innovations within mobile banking may take the glossy spotlight, but developments in physical branches must sizzle,  too. That’s because consumers are divided on how they wish to connect with banks.

So concludes the findings from a report released today by Cisco IBSG Omichannel Banking Study.

The report shows that 38% of North American respondents said they are highly interested in virtual banking, while slightly more than 40% said they have little interest in the virtual-only model.

“These are polarizing concepts,” Philip Farah, director of the financial services practice at Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, tells Bank Innovation. “We’re in a situation where there is ‘strong for’ and ‘strong against’ virtual branches.”

What that dichotomy means to banks is something that reigns true for all businesses: companies must enhance all of their channels to meet consumers’ demands. Cisco defines this notion of consumers coming together for a seamless consumer experience as “omnichannel” banking.

“The world of omnichannel isn’t a word of period; it’s a word of ‘and,’” Farah says.

That means bank branches also need some loving from management. Farah, for one, urges banks to go beyond offering “traditional services” at the branch level. The Cisco report revealed that 83% of consumers say they would be somewhat or highly interested in bank branches that offered an expanded portfolio of financial and advisory services like financial education, legal, accounting, tax and insurance services. What specialty branch services interests North American respondents most are: financial education (31%); notary public services (30%); tax preparation (28%); and legal services (24%).

We know what you’re thinking? Who the hell goes to a bank branch these days? Well, according to Cisco, frequent users of virtual channels also visit physical branches more frequently than bank customers at large. Indeed, the data shows that the segment most strongly in favor of mobile banking visits branches 2.6 times a month on average, which compares to 2.3 times across all respondents.

Cisco believes these visitations have something to do with how consumers prefer more personal advice and attention for certain banking activities. But that doesn’t mean branch customers can’t also use digital technology while at the brick-and-mortar bank locations.

Within the survey, Cisco folded in some questions concerning specialty bank branches and video technology to support a new product it’s pushing out to banks, Cisco Remote Expert for Retail Banking Smart Solution. The new product lets banks equip their branches with virtual meetings via high definition video — a trend that the company expects to gain traction in the coming years.