Banks score with 'high touch' service |
|
|
|
It also landed Umpqua the 13th spot on Fortune
magazine's 2008 "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, which doesn't hurt retention in an industry plagued by turnover.
The culture change has had the intended effect of bringing customers in the door.
"Our stores have evolved into community centers in a lot of ways," Hayward says. "This open platform is very inviting to come in
and do more than banking.
"Why do we want them to do that? So they can have an experience that is pleasurable and something that they want to bring somebody
else in to enjoy, for an event or just even to see what their bank is like. It's that good."
Robbery target or deterrent?
However, not everyone is giddy about high-touch lobbies. In 2005, New York City police said Commerce Bank's open platform made it the choice of
discerning bank robbers. The bank said its extended hours were more likely to blame.
McSweeney says WaMu's Occasio design probably deters as many bank heists as it invites.
"Initially at least, it probably confused bank robbers who didn't know where to go," she says. "There are no drawers, no big safe
in the back of the room that you see in older style banks."
Relationship banking
Rabatin says "relationship banking" is clearly aimed at the older baby boom demographic.
"Somebody in the 25- to 30-year-old bracket may not actually want to enter a bank," he points out. "They don't want to do any of
that; they want a lot of it online."
Rabatin doesn't predict a barista and fireplace in every bank; far from it. Still, for some financial institutions in locally
competitive markets, high-touch may be the only game that still makes sense.
"Clearly, banks are looking at their delivery channels to try to figure out ways to be more competitive, because if you're
sitting still, in most industries that's not a good strategy for staying independent over a long period of time. There is no competitive advantage
in that."
|
Carfind
