HSBC has announced it will provide free wifi to customers in 650 UK branches, through BT.

The move comes as research by BT and Avaya2 revealed that almost half (49%) of UK banking customers felt that free wifi would greatly improve their branch experience.

The UK banking industry’s branch network has continued to shrink over recent years as customers are diverted on to digital channels to cut costs.

The move to support branch wifi suggests a push towards further self service channels at the bank.

HSBC customers can download the banks mobile banking app in store and be guided through how to use it by staff.

While existing customers are able to try out the app in store, UK banks have yet to offer any kind of mobile banking trial to potential customers.

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Carl Howard, head of digital for HSBC in the UK said: "We’ve been listening to our customers about how we can make banking easier for them, and they tell us they like the idea of mobile banking, but in some cases would value being shown how it works.

"Our branch staff can now demo our mobile banking app in branch to get people started, as well as demonstrating new features such as the new mobile payment service Paym which allows customers to pay their contacts using just a mobile number."

HSBC recently announced it had seen over £2bn ($3.4bn) of payments and transfers made on its mobile banking app, as well as over one million log ons each week.

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