Southern Bank is First in Region to Introduce Live Video Banking

(October 23, 2015 – Poplar Bluff, MO) Southern Bank is the first bank in the region to introduce Interactive Teller technology, also known as ITMs, at select branches. An Interactive Teller machine looks like an ATM, the difference is the customer can have a real time, face-to-face conversation with a Southern Bank Personal Banker at the machine. This allows customers to complete at least 95 percent of banking transactions with a live person just as they would inside the bank or through the drive through lane.

Southern Bank, headquartered in Poplar Bluff, has deployed several ITMs throughout branches in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas, including the bank’s main branch on Vine Street in Poplar Bluff, along with branches in Springfield, Jonesboro, and Thayer. The new bank headquarters currently being built on Oak Grove Road, scheduled to open in early Spring, will also have two ITMs available to customers.

“The Interactive Teller technology gives Southern Bank the ability to better serve our customers by offering additional banking choices and extended hours for added convenience,” said Southern Bank Chief Operations Officer, Kimberly Capps.

The Interactive Teller service is available at all ITMs from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The ITM can also offer regular ATM services 24 hours a day.

The ITMs offer instant two-way audio and video interaction with a Southern Bank Personal Banker located at a centralized location at the bank’s headquarters in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Transactions at the ITM are just as secure as if the customer were doing a face-to-face transaction and processed exactly the same way. For security purposes, all transactions are recorded and customers are asked to scan in personal identification to authorize the transaction.

At least 95 percent of the transactions customers can do with a face-to-face teller can be done at an ITM. Customers can make deposits, withdrawals, transfers, loan payments, cash checks, and more. The Southern Bank Personal Banker will offer instructions on how to complete every step of the transaction.

Capps said, “The Interactive Teller machines give Southern Bank an advantage in bringing our customers technology that the larger banks here don’t have, while still keeping the most important aspect of a community bank intact with personal customer service”.

About Southern Bank

Southern Bank has served the financial needs of America's Heartland for over 130 years, making it one of the oldest financial institutions headquartered in the region. Southern Bank offers dynamic and competitive products to individuals and businesses with a full range of financial products and services. An intense focus is placed on core values of being strongly rooted within the communities it serves, but Southern Bank also offers the innovative technology and ease of accessibility consumers seek from larger banks. Southern Bank is now a $2.1 billion financial institution, with 47 locations in Southern Missouri, Northern Arkansas and Southern Illinois. For more information, visit www.bankwithsouthern.com.