Branches and Self-Service

When customer loyalty is tenuous, as it is today in banking, selling is especially challenging and requires more sophisticated approaches involving both management and sales staff.

For all that has been written about branches succumbing to the digital onslaught, it seems clear that banks will be clinging to the majority of their street corner outlets for some time to come.

What to do about low-volume branches, or LVBs, which weigh down the profitability of nearly every financial institution? We define these underperformers as branches that process fewer than 3,000 transactions per month.

Ever since cash dispensers became automated teller machines (ATMs), pundits have regularly said that the large retail banks are going to have to change their core systems or they will lose their customers.

Whatever the format – traditional, in-store or mini – the branch is still the primary channel where consumer sales and referrals originate.

As we head into the second half of the decade, most retail bank managers recognize that the survival of their institution is tied, at least in part, to redefining branches as sales and service hubs.

When considering a branch transformation, is it better for a financial institution to operate one 5,000-square-foot branch or two 2,500-square-foot branches? Not sure? Good.

A branch distribution executive recently described exactly what it’s like trying to keep up in a “next-gen” era: “It’s a race without a finish line,” she said.

As an increasing number of consumers use digital channels to handle basic banking transactions, the look and feel of bank branches needs to change – for community banks as well as for larger institutions.

Financial institutions of all sizes are facing challenges to their retail branch system.