Is the ‘Branch of the Future’ Here?
by DARYL JONES
“The person who doesn’t scatter the morning dew will not comb grey hairs.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
When we think about the future and what technology will bring, many of us experience a hailstorm of uncertainty coupled with higher expectations than those of a man lining up an eagle putt. If we let our imaginations run free, we might envision seamlessly integrated systems requiring no maintenance … marketing that hunts down customers like a wolf in the night … and hordes of self-servicing customers – exactly the sorts of things that immediately confirm we are no longer in 1984.
There’s no doubt that when these visions become reality (note I said when, and not if), they will attack the predictable branch model prevalent in most organizations today. Branches are getting so much attention that the daily influx of articles spewing about threatens to exceed what most I.T. managers allow an inbox to handle. And yet, something is causing executive teams across the country to throw a lazy eye at one another during stalemate discussions about the fate of the branch network.
Ready or not, we are at a turning point that will define the future of branches for some time to come. The big piñata that everyone is trying to beat with a billy club is the squeeze on revenue mingled with a need to drive down expenses. Further adding to the debacle is the already diminished retail staff as nearly every over-manned teller line in the nation has already been whittled to nil. And let’s not forget the massive mental hurdle the vast majority of financial institutions need to jump over to break away from the traditional branch model. From online banking to remote deposit capture to mobile banking and teller terminals, the delivery landscape has been forever altered. Considering the shift in expectations and behavior among today’s customer base, there’s no denying the growth in these channels will continue.
So if there is such a thing as a “branch of the future,” what does it look like? Smell like? Would it make customers wonder why no one had thought of it before? Below is a discussion of the three biggest emerging branch trends and some considerations of each.