Update: Future Banking

Future Banking integrates design, technology and creative ideas into the environment of regular banks, turning them into innovation labs.

Trend Description:
CScout already reported about different examples of Future banking (Please read our Trendblog-entry Future Banking). All of them present themselves with a stylish and user-friendly atmosphere, offering customers of any income level a more fun approach to dealing with their finances. Concepts include open spaces for art, state of the art technology to make banking more independent and flexible, free seminars for first-time customers and a fun atmosphere to meet and learn about the money market.

Cases:
Umpqua:
Umpqua’s new branch in the South Waterfront district of Portland, Oregon, presents itself as Innovation lab, even though it functions like a regular bank branch. The intention is to use it to determine which ideas/implementations are successful and can be rolled out to other Umpqua store locations.

Highlights of the store are:

The Information Wall: Prominently located this 6 foot by 4 foot touch screen display allows customers to explore four money-market scenarios: personal investing, small business advice, and mortgages. It is the first thing customers see when entering the branch.

The Community Wall - On a side wall of the store is another large touch screen display which shows information and photos of local events and interesting locations. It also serves as an electronic community space for local residents, who can post personal photos, event information, and more.

Two specialist desktops allow customers to connect with product specialists of the bank (including the affiliated brokerage Strand Atkinson) via Video Conferencing. The computers can also be used to display more information for the customer, for example to review his/her mortgage application.

The Internet Café: Next to the Community wall customers can socialize on a café-like setting of chairs and round tables. Each table top folds back to reveal a laptop with a pull-out keyboard.

With the Local Merchants – concept Umpqua offers local merchants to display their products and services at the center of the store.

Trend Impact:

Umpqua shows that a bank can be much more than just a place to save or lend money. Especially in the times of financial crisis and mortgage foreclosures it is important for banks to win back the trust of the customers and to show that banking is not just about money, but also about people. Future banking makes banking not only more flexible and easy, but also more pleasant and personal. Some of the ideas of Umpqua’s Innovation Lab branch, especially the ones integrating new technology are already being rolled out to new branches the bank will be opening in the near future.

Umpqua

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