The Future of the Branch in an E-World: As Technology and Customer Expectations Change, So Does the Outlook for Bank Branches
2012; American Bankers Association; Volume: 104; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0194-5947
Autores Tópico(s)Banking Systems and Strategies
ResumoTom Auer tells the story of a colleague who began working at Newground, the bank design and building company where Auer is senior vice-president of architecture. new hire's mother, Auer says, was aghast to learn about her son's career choice, pointing out that there already was a bank branch on every corner and clearly no market for more. A reasonable response, except for one small detail: Auer's coworker joined the company 40 years ago. Clearly there was still room for, and interest in, more branches then. But is there now? Given the rapid advances in technology, even bankers now wonder about the future of the branch. believe branches soon will be obsolete. Others predict they will survive, must evolve. Almost no one believes that the traditional model will remain, and warn that those refusing to change will become the banks of the past. You've got two doors to go through in banking--grow it or kill it. is no Door No. 3, says Ray Davis, president and CEO of Umpqua Bank, the $11.6 billion-asset institution headquartered in Roseburg, Ore. Some bankers think Door No. 3 is to stay the same, he says, but you can't. So those institutions are going to have a difficult future.... Two principal factors drive the concern about branches. One is technology. With the prevalence of smartphones and tablets that can conduct laptops and other computers that enable online and remote deposit capture devices that allow merchants to make deposits from their businesses, customers rarely, if ever, need to step inside a bank branch. David Rom, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Platinum Bank, estimates that more than 90% of transactions at his $150 million-asset bank are done remotely or electronically, and that about 50% of Platinum Bank's customers have never been inside the bank. Both are startling figures. other factor affecting the future of branches is demographics. The younger generation doesn't ever want to come into the bank, says Rom. They are 100% Platinum Bank is keeping pace with technological change, Rom is banking on the fact that some things will stay the same. There will be more virtual options for banking, he says, but there always will be the need for a human connection. In some cases, bankers may need to convince customers that a real connection is better than virtual. Build relationships Applying that reasoning, Platinum Bank functions almost entirely as a place to discuss business rather than conduct it. Where we get a real bang for our buck on the branch is we have a ten-to-one ratio of meetings versus transactions, says Rom. There might be three or four hours in the day when we won't have a transaction, we might have five meetings with customers to talk about their business. To survive and thrive, he says, branches must be used less as delivery channels and more as relationship-building channels. That's the wrong view of the world, counters the blunt-spoken Brett King, author and founder of online bank Movenbank (in alpha test). Determining the value and relevance of branches is a simple matter of following the numbers, he says. In 1995, customers visited the branch an average of 28 times a By 2010 that number had fallen to just over three times a By contrast, customers use mobile banking an average of 20 times each month and internet banking seven to ten times monthly. You can't have a relationship with a customer who's walking into your bank three times a year, maintains King, author most recently of Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow, but you can have a relationship with someone who's speaking to you 300 times a year. King argues that online relationships can be more personal than greeting customers in branches because electronic communications can be individualized. An online bank can email a customer about a specific payment coming due, for instance. …
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