New customer monitoring technology called Brickstream being tested in the Commercial Road Lloyds TSB branch in Portsmouth has helped to cut customer queuing times by 14 per cent with 69 per cent of customers now being served in under two minutes.

The Commercial Road Lloyds TSB branch is one of 30 across England where ceiling video sensors and imaging software have been installed to anonymously track customers when they visit. Daily data is then collected on how long people have to wait, how long it takes for them to be served once they reach the counter and how many cashiers are available.

In November 2004, before the Brickstream pilot began, 81 per cent of customers were served within five minutes at the Portsmouth branch, this has now increased to 90 per cent. In fact, 69 per cent of customers are now served within two minutes whereas in November this figure was 55 per cent.

Dean Sitch, branch manager Lloyds TSB, Commercial Road Portsmouth said: “Every day, over 600 customers come into the bank and we’ve always done pretty well at keeping waiting times to an absolute minimum. But, there’s always room for improvement and the Brickstream footage has made it possible for us to closely examine when the busiest times of the day are and make sure we have plenty of staff at peak times.”

Other Lloyds TSB branches currently participating in the Brickstream pilot in the South include Fleet and Southampton.