There may be no physical institution as historically revered as a bank. Community centers and trusted destinations, the banks of our imaginations are cool and quiet spaces housed inside classical limestone buildings. Ceilings are high, floors are marble; words echo. Behind bronze-framed windows, tellers take money from trusting customers for safekeeping or direct them to comfortable chairs where they wait for a personal banker.
Nice try. Banks these days are hardly elegant or imposing. Most have shrunk in size thanks to rising costs of real estate, and many have disappeared entirely, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Chase reduced its branch presence by 190 locations, a 3.4 percent decline, from 2012 to 2016. Wells Fargo closed 98 branches, a 1.6 percent decline in the same period. Its peers are even more aggressive. Bank of America closed 243 branches (16 percent) in that period and Citi closed 302 (28.5 percent).
Branches are consolidating locations with lower servicing volume, opening in higher growth areas and renovating existing branches and ATMs. More importantly, they’re evolving into more compact, digitally oriented spaces that incorporate new technology and help branch employees focus on improving the customer experience.
Some end up looking more like Apple Genius Bars than banks.
More in Marketing
Behind Hoka’s bid to own the NYC marathon’s run-up period
Hoka’s been targeting runners training for the New York City marathon with the aim of creating more shoe evangelists.
Ad Tech Briefing: AI is changing programmatic buying faster than who controls it
As more decisions become automated, the value of a control depends on whether publishers can see its effects.
‘Not hiring’ entry-level talent: Industry acknowledges runaway crisis brought on by introducing AI to the workforce
Entry-level talent is challenged by AI in the workforce. What are some of the solutions for that cohort?