Does your Bank have The Branch of the Future?

It is quite shocking that nearly 60% (or sometimes even more) of traditional banking products are still being sold in the branch. That being said, it is rather hard to argue that the brick-and-mortar network still doesn’t play a significant role in the retail financial industry.

Nearly 60% of traditional banking products are still sold in the branch.

Take as an example the United States, where you can still find over 60.000 branches today that are more than 15 years old. These numbers are huge (!), even for such a big nation as Americans.

Therefore, one can easily note that branches are still essential for financial institutions. This is basically due to the fact that they provide a crucial avenue for people to interact with a financial institution’s brand (assuming that it has one).

However, times are changing, and technological advancement nowadays is far beyond what one could have imagined 5 or 10 years ago. Thus, consumers’ expectations regarding when and where they should be able to access bank services has changed as well.

Consumers’ expectations in terms of when and where they should be able to access bank services has changed as well.

With a smartphone in their hands, people expect to be able to connect with their financial information anytime, anywhere. And as seamless as possible. This means that current branches must evolve to add increasing value and provide experiential retail to consumers. If someone can easily transfer money on their mobile device, what will motive them to visit a branch in the first place?

In response to this shift, future bank branches will take the form of modern retail spaces that showcase the various technologies and products available to consumers.

According to Mark Weber, President/CEO of Weber Marketing Group, future bank branches should focus on 3 key things in case they still want to be relevant:

1. Increase Meaningful Conversations and Valued Relationships. Engage relevant and helpful interactions that can help clients get ahead. Personalize interactions and choices, personalize everything. Increase satisfaction — NPS and satisfaction scores, and the resulting referrals.
2. Enhance Talent and Build an Engaged Culture. Acquire exceptional people skills and talent. Help members/customers accelerate their financial goals. Design a superior work environment people want to work in. This in turn would lead to customers wanting to hold money within your bank.
3. Simplify and Adaptive Experience. Design user-intuitive spaces that are easy to navigate and learn in. Ensure every mobile, tablet, and online banking touch point is simple and seamless. Develop flexibility and adaptivity in design as technologies shift.

To conclude, we can stress that visits to a bank branch are not going to disappear. However, they will be less and less frequent. As everything shifts towards being mobile, only large value transactions might require consultation in a branch. Hence, to win them – banks need to redesign themselves.