An interesting post at Celent that is probably directional rather than predictive but the direction is clear.  Branches rule.  The better news is that at least internet banking is clearly 2nd.  The less good news is that mobile is not even on the radar yet.

The problem I have with this kind of research is that priority is not defined.  Two priorities that matter are costs and importance.  I am betting that most bankers think in terms of costs when allocating priorities.  If thats the case then this picture might be quite positive compared to 5 – 7 years ago when internet banking was hardly on the radar.  Bear in mind while you continue to operate branches there is a significant cost just to maintain the network.

Read through for Bob Meara comments on the Celent blog.