Plan Draws Customers Back to Tellers
For the past decade or so, the strategy for most banks was to push customers out of its branches to the ATMs, limiting the time tellers had to interact with them.
But bankers at Washington Mutual are turning that supposed cost-cutting method on its head with their new branch concept called “occasio,” Latin for “favorable opportunity.”
“We’re taking banking in a totally different direction,” said Mark Crowley, Washington Mutual’s regional branch manager.
Rather than subtly pushing customers out the door, Washington Mutual’s first occasio branch in City Heights will greet visitors with a concierge. The person greets customers, finds out what their business is, and then directs them to the most appropriate employee.
That isn’t the only difference. The office is configured in a circular fashion with a series of smaller tables, called “teller towers,” which hold computer monitors and a mini-cash dispensing machine.
Once a transaction is complete, customers get their cash from the dispensing machine below the table. Bank employees don’t touch the cash, ensuring there won’t be any shortfalls at the end of the day.
The office design is certain to shock customers of inner-city branches. Gone are the high Plexiglas “bandit barriers” that tellers used to sit behind.
Crowley refuted the notion the layout will make it easier for robbers. The money is provided through a machine that can’t be accessed quickly; deposits are inserted into a small container beneath the table.
There have been no robberies at the 18 new branches operating in Las Vegas for the past year, he said.
Among other novel features of the new design is a children’s play area to keep youngsters occupied while customers get a loan; a Washington Mutual store that provides interactive touch-screen information on other products and services; and a site where customers can conduct transactions online.
The branch resembles a coffeehouse more than a bank , a stylistic bow to Starbucks, which like Washington Mutual is based in Seattle. The whole idea behind occasio is to break down the dividing line that usually exists between bankers and customers.
“We want customers to feel comfortable with their banking. We want them to feel that bankers are approachable, not intimidating, and that they can have conversations with real, live people,” Crowley said.
Washington Mutual also wants customers to buy more services from them, something that has happened in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas branches where Washington Mutual did its beta testing on the concept showed deposits grew three times faster than average while checking accounts grew twice as fast, Crowley said.
While he hadn’t actually seen the new design, Ron Kendrick, group head for Union Bank of California said the concept sounded exciting.
“Anything that drives people into a branch helps you improve your sales capability,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick and another banker said the one thing the concept may lack is a degree of privacy in discussing personal finances.
“It’s probably a good move for them and for the client base they have,” said Chris Crockett, senior vice president for San Diego National Bank. “But for our primarily business clients, they need more face-to-face assistance and more privacy.”
The City Heights branch, which opens July 23, is the first of 10 occasio branches planned for San Diego, but eventually the bank expects to revamp its entire network of more than 2,300 offices.
Washington Mutual, which has been in California since 1997, developed occasio over two years of extensive focus group interviews, fine tuning an initial concept in Vegas and also in Phoenix this year.
With about $220 billion in assets, it’s the largest savings and loan in the nation, having acquired formerly Los Angeles-based Home Savings. It has 547 offices in California, including 65 in San Diego County. Its market share in the county is $4.5 billion in deposits, making it No. 2 behind Bank of America.
Crowley said the innovative branch models are about 20 percent cheaper to build. One of the biggest expenses, a large vault, is not part of the structure; the smaller vault costs much less, Crowley said.
As befits an office that encourages casual, branch employees won’t be wearing jackets, ties or dresses. The uniform consists of khaki sport shirts, slacks and cotton dresses with the bank’s logo.
During the peak hours when staff members are occupied with other customers, the concierge hands out small beepers enabling waiting customers to browse or walk around the new mall where the branch is located.
