BofA’s got an interesting (and public) relationship with MIT’s Media Lab called the Center for Future Banking where they can experiment with the shape of banking as we are yet to know it.

On a recommendation by David Phillips, a Senior Designer on BofA’s Innovation Enablement Team, I took a stroll over to a special BofA branch over at the Epicenter in Uptown where two Microsoft Surface units are installed.  Phillips mentioned how their development teams ultimately hope to use them to prototype interfaces and mini applications.  In fact, the entire branch is meant to be a test lab of sorts, allowing the bank to test different service concepts within a real-life space.  I even saw Xit poll stations (photo inset) to collect data about your experience.

There’s another Surface installation in a branch in Bryant Park in NYC.  Catch a video of the action here.

photo via foamee

There’s plenty of talk in the financial services world about the future of mobile banking and the ongoing development of contactless payment technologies (I’m dying for the day I can just wave my phone to pay for stuff so I no longer have to carry a purse.)  But as California turned to the old-fashioned IOU to mitigate its budget crisis, it made me think of a few stories I came across about informal economies that were worth sharing.  These are often found in poorer countries where traditional financial instruments and government support of banks is limited.  We’re all familiar with checking accounts and credit cards, and maybe even the additional bartering going on thanks to the economy, but perhaps you’d like to learn about:

• ROSCAs (rotating savings and credit associations) where groups of people contribute to a common fund and take turns receiving a big payment from it.  NPR’s Planet Money covered how some cultures use this vehicle to help pay for extremely expensive burials
• Susu account – similar to a ROSCA, these are individual savings accounts maintained by roving collectors, mostly in Ghana
• Second Market – a new business looking to help recipients of California’s new IOUs get  cash now by connecting them with more liquid investors looking for a small return.
• Bank of Happiness – trading favors for karma in Estonia

click image for larger screenshot

I’m assuming B of A’s legal department installed a disclaimer after a customer saw an idea that was similar to one they had submitted through their account mail box.  A quick Google search on “Unsolicited Idea Submission Policy” turned up Apple, Fruit of the Loom, and Intego (virus software) with similar caveats.

Crowdsourcing, or the ability for outsiders to influence the product development process, has slowly become popular with companies to engage their customers (or even internal employees not involved with the product or service.)  It becomes an opportunity to leverage the collective wisdom of a user base.  But I guess without a structured way for folks to submit their ideas (a la Black & Decker or Starbucks,) you rely on whatever way you have to reach someone at the company.

BusinessWeek’s Innovation and Design section examines the future of crowdsourcing, which includes issues with underpaying inventors or hairy legal issues like the one above.