Matt Symonds, a partner at Bain & Company, says that despite the rise of mobile banking, more traditional channels such as branches "remain critical" for effective service, marketing and selling. Bain's study of more than 80,000 consumers worldwide shows that about half use a combination of digital and physical routes for banking, supporting the idea of "omnichannel" banking. Symonds also argues that mobile remains an "untapped tool" for influencing bank product purchases, with many customers still making mortgage applications, for example, in a branch.

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