Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0

Author-Name: Alexandra Prisznyak
Author-Workplace-Name: Not marked
Author-Email: alexandra.prisznyak@gmail.com
Author-Person: 

Title: Robo Sapiens Bankerius: An Ideally Designed Humanoid Banking Service Robot?

Abstract: Autonomous intelligent robots are playing an increasingly prominent role in the
banking sector. The acceptance and perception of these robots as social actors
depends on various factors. Through the process of anthropomorphisation, people
attribute human-like characteristics, behavioural patterns or intentions to robots.
This essay explores the anthropomorphisation of banking robots and examines the
interactions between key robot features: social skills, functionality and appearance.
It presents the theoretical concept of an ideally designed "Robo Sapiens Bankerius".
A questionnaire-based survey involving 26 robots which focused on the evaluation of
the anthropomorphic appearance of banking robots was conducted between 2023
and March 2025: it found that majority of respondents preferred less human-like
robots. Age, gender, concerns and attitudes showed no significant correlation with
the choice of robot. The analysis of the open-ended responses revealed trade-offs
between robots' social capabilities, functionality, and appearance. These findings
point to new directions for research and provide an opportunity to compare the
results with international literature.

Classification-JEL: O3, G21, L62
Keywords: anthropomorphisation, humanoid banking service robots, human-robot interaction, dehumanisation
Pages: 98-131
Volume: 24
Issue: 2
Year: 2025
File-URL: https://hitelintezetiszemle.mnb.hu/sw/static/file/fer-24-2-ove2-prisznyak.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:mnb:finrev:v:24:y:2025:i:2:p:98-131