Story highlights High-tech banks look to boutique retail stores for inspiration

Focusing on design and consumer interaction, banks hope to be community hubs

Banks are incorporating features such as luxurious lounges and touch-screen walls

Face-to-face interaction will still be key

Future Finance showcases future trends related to the global financial system.

(CNN) How would you describe your local bank? Is it small, gray and drab? Are the opening hours short and inconvenient? Does it almost always seem to be low on staff?

The banks of the future are looking to inject new life into their outlets -- transforming formally dull environments into efficient, modern, tech-savvy destinations.

Long lines and dated designs are being replaced with luxurious lounge areas, tailored service offerings and even robots. Banks, it seems, are about to become a whole lot cooler.

Groundbreaking design

"The bank branch of the future must be designed around customer engagement," says Martin Shires, branch transformation manager at NCR , a consumer transaction technology company. "Banks need to make customers feel welcome from the moment they walk in the doors."