Banco Sabadell is trailblazing when it comes to harnessing Google’s Glass technology – a wearable headset that links users to the internet. Jane Cooper talks to the bank’s head of innovation, Pol Navarro, and asks, is this the future of banking?

Creating an app for a gadget that has not yet been released to the general public is forward thinking and perhaps even downright unusual when it happens inside a bank.

Banco Sabadell, the sixth largest bank in Spain by Tier 1 capital, is the first bank in the world to unveil its app for the Google Glass headset. And although the app has been functional and available for download for months, the bank’s customers in Spain are still waiting for Google’s wearable technology to hit the streets.

Google headgear has been gaining attention around the world and Pol Navarro, head of digital transformation and innovation at Banco Sabadell, sees “living services” as the new evolution that the internet is about to experience.

Technological evolution

An early stage of this evolution was using Google to search for information from a desktop computer and accessing the World Wide Web. Next came access to information via apps on a smartphone and the mobility that came with it. Google Glass can be viewed as the next stage of evolution, where information and services can be accessed through the eyewear, similar to a hands-free smartphone where the display is inside a spectacle frame.

“Wearables in general are a natural extension of the mobile phone on the eyes or in the hand or another part of the body,” says Mr Navarro.

Instead of typing into a computer – or smartphone – Google Glass works through voice commands, tilting the headgear upwards or tapping the side of the optical unit attached to the frames. A speaker inside the device means the user can make phone calls in much the same way as a Bluetooth headset is used to make phone calls hands-free.

Google Glass can record videos and take pictures, just as a smartphone can. Wearers command the device with 'OK Glass' before they issue an instruction, such as 'OK Glass, take a picture'. As the device is connected to the internet, the picture can then be shared on social media sites simply by telling the device to do so.

Wave of innovation

Banco Sabadell has been involved in the first wave of innovation with regards to Google Glass. Elsewhere, in the healthcare industry, for example, surgical operations have been broadcast live on the internet from the surgeon’s Google Glass, allowing specialists in other parts of the world to be involved in the consultation.

When it comes to Banco Sabadell’s approach to developing the app, Mr Navarro says: “The first pilot was to understand how customer behaviour could change around this kind of device.” It was also about discovering which services could be built into the device, such as location services, digital customer service and retail payments.

Banco Sabadell’s app was built with Droiders – a Spanish company authorised by Google to develop applications for Google Glass. The bank’s app has a number of functions. For example, a global positioning system linked to Google Maps tells the user where their nearest branch or ATM is, and how to get there.

If the customer gets to the ATM and it is not working, they can connect to an operator, who will be able to see what the customer sees from their device. Another feature in the pipeline is being able to deposit a cheque by taking a photo of it with Google Glass.

When asked if the bank set out with the serious intention for its customers to use Google Glass this way, Mr Navarro explains that the company always starts from the point of experimenting. “To [innovate] is not about having the best ideas, but executing and defining which ones will be interesting for the customers,” he says. 

With the Google Glass project, he adds, it started as an experiment and then it became clear there was an opportunity to deliver some services that could be adapted for this device. Mr Navarro says that when introducing new digital technology, the perception of the bank’s brand is very important: “It’s not the technology innovation [that’s important] – it’s more the customer experience and the digital experience.”

So, when will wearable technology catch on? Mr Navarro says that some of the bank’s more tech-savvy customers already have smartwatches, although he does not expect them to be more widely used for two or three years, and the same goes for real use of Google Glass. For now the cost is still a barrier to use; in the US and the UK, where Google Glass is available, the price is $1500 and £1000, respectively. 

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