Diebold Inc.'s vision of the future of banking includes an Apple iPhone.

Or any other similar hand-held gizmo with a touch screen that wirelessly connects to the Internet and cell-phone networks and can aid transactions between a bank customer and a bank branch.

The Green maker of automated teller machines and electronic voting machines showcases its latest thinking on the future of retail banking in its Exploration Center just off the lobby of its global headquarters on the Summit-Stark County line.

''We kind of refer to it as the branch of the future,'' said Jim Block, director of global advanced technology.

The room is a platform that enables Diebold to install technology that reflects its vision of what's coming in three to five years, he said.

But it also uses technology familiar to people today, such as Apple's innovative iPhone that went on sale last year.

It's all intended to help banks figure out the best ways to take advantage of consumer trends and preferences, as well as technological advances, and therefore drive Diebold profits.

And it demonstrates how Diebold is transforming itself from a $3 billion-a-year, high-profile hardware manufacturer into something that resembles more of a financial industry services and software firm, according to Chief Executive Thomas Swidarski.

Diebold demonstrated its latest incarnation of the branch of the future last fall at an industry trade show. Along with that, the company released a research paper by Perceptive Sciences Corp. on next-generation retail bank customers — just the kind of people Diebold hopes to reach with new technology.

The research paper said banks are transforming their branches to attract and retain customers as demographics, technology and customers' personal values and needs change.

Among the trends noted by Perceptive Sciences will be a shift toward greater demand in the United States for retirement and investment services among older people, an increase in digital transactions, more immediate access to free or low-cost information, and familiarity by younger bank customers in using interactive media.

''Now this year, the technology we are highlighting is mobile banking,'' Block said. ''A lot of banks are deploying it. It's accessing certain aspects of your banking relationship through your mobile phone.''

A core definition would be ''online banking on your phone,'' Block said.

Diebold's branch of the future takes that concept a little bit further, he said.

Block used an iPhone to demonstrate how a typical customer could use the device to plan ahead to deposit checks and prepare for other banking business before going to the bank. The idea is to use familiar technology and make the experience as easy as possible for the customer, while on the other end, increase branch efficiency and improve the use of banking services.

Another demonstration
showed how a banker can meet face to face with a customer and, with easy-to-use technology, store information and forms wirelessly onto the customer's cell phone. The information can be downloaded later at home. A third demonstration shows how a small-business person can wirelessly order cash from a bank.

The Diebold technology shows how customer cell phones can guide them to specific stations inside a bank branch. The technology lets a bank also know when a particular customer came in and where that person is inside the building, thus allowing a teller or banker to get ready to meet, Block said.

''In the customer's mind, they were taken care of from the moment they walked in,'' Block said. ''They were taken care of with this (the iPhone) guiding the way.''

He described the concept as having a concierge in a pocket. ''We liken it to call-ahead seating (at a restaurant.)''

Security measures would be in place to prevent fraud, he said.

Diebold's technology group began thinking strongly about mobile phone banking 21/2 years ago and how the devices can interact with ATMs and other aspects of banking, Block said. According to industry publication American Banker, Diebold as of last summer had received five patents related to mobile banking and has other patents pending.

''The farther we go, the more refined our thinking gets,'' Block said. Part of the development process can involve bringing in typical bank customers as test subjects to try out technology and new applications, he said.

''It's a lot of fun. I'm the first to say I have a great job,'' Block said.

When the iPhone was unveiled a year ago, Block and his group thought the device was going to change the way people interact with mobile phones. As a result, they refined their planning.

But Diebold also has to think about bank customers who don't own iPhones or a mobile phone of any kind. Banks cannot be limited to a product or service based on a technology, Block said.

The job of Block's group is to anticipate technology.

''And where we should go,'' Block said. ''Two years ago, we created the (Exploration Center) platform and we just keep refreshing it.''

The work is vital to Diebold's well-being, particularly regarding software that makes banking technology come to life, Swidarski said.

Historically, Diebold has been focused on hardware, he said.

But that is changing.

''Who owns the software space is more important than who owns the hardware space,'' Swidarski said. ''And for Diebold, that's a shift, software and services. It really becomes the foundational bed of where we're driving the company.''

The Exploration Center and related work done by the advanced technology group tell banks that Diebold is thinking about their future, Swidarski said.

''We're going to bounce ideas off you,'' Swidarski said. ''Some may stick, some you may not like, some might think we're absolutely crazy. But they know we're thinking about those things and we're investing time and energy and linking tomorrow with today. And giving people paths to get there. Whether they choose them or not is up to them.''