Where’s the data for branch transformation?
“Branch of the Future” or “Branch Transformation” – however you term it – the concept continues to build across the industry. As more customers migrate to mobile technologies for every day transactions, such as check deposits and pill pay, financial institutions are investing heavily to increase branch services while downsizing the physical footprint of the branch.
The New York Times recently published an article highlighting the efforts of banking giants like JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup as they invest heavily in new ways to evolve their branch models which reflect the changing behaviors of their customers. The article focused on three main characteristics of this transformation concept: The reduction in overall branch size; a heavy investment in banking technologies; and transitioning how branch employees approach their visitors. As these mega-banks pave the way, the rest of the industry is watching closely as to how they attack this opportunity.
In addition to watching these mega-banks, smaller community banks and credit unions are also waiting patiently for hard evidence that this trend actually pays dividends. They’re waiting to know if a smaller branch footprint, more technology, and a relationship-centric sales approach will actually drive people to the branch. Will it result in better customer engagement and how will it affect branch profitability? To this point, there has been very little hard data to prove any of these methods actually provide monetary results. A plethora of anecdotal, customer feedback has led financial institutions to believe their customer’s are enjoying the new branch models. However, without the data that proves its success, there’s really no roadmap to guide financial institutions during this remarkable transition in the industry.
Codigo is currently involved with many branch transformation projects. We’ve been working with customers and others in the industry to help bring to light the impact branch transformation is having on the industry, and how branch visitors are taking to the new concept. In part, we are conducting a multi-phase study which is aimed at three different aspects of this trend – (1) How many financial institutions are planning, or are currently, either transforming existing or adding new branches. (2) The strategies that are being implemented during this process. (3) And, what results have been derived from these strategies.
If you would like to be a part of our study into branch transformation, please click here and take a few minutes to complete a simple survey. Codigo plans to share the hard data and information derived from this study to help answer some of the questions institutions are facing today.
