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![Grüezi Stettbach: On March 15th, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) opened a new branch at Stettbacher Bahnhof.]()
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Grüezi Stettbach: On March 15th, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) opened a new branch at Stettbacher Bahnhof.
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![The extraordinary: there is coffee from the piston machine and overall a modern coffee shop atmosphere.]()
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The extraordinary: there is coffee from the piston machine and overall a modern coffee shop atmosphere.
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![The consultations are held in cozy lounge corners. ZKB is not alone with this unusual branch.]()
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The consultations are held in cozy lounge corners. ZKB is not alone with this unusual branch.
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![The result: young people want to do their daily banking online.]()
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The result: young people want to do their daily banking online.
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AFP via Getty Images
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The advance of digital channels is changing the role of bank branches, confirms Cyrill Kiefer, banking advisor at Deloitte Switzerland: “Physical presence remains an important feature of trust, but the trend is clearly towards smaller branches with high visibility.”
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On March 15, the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) opened a new branch in Stettbach. There a tie-less bank employee brews a coffee using a piston machine before inviting you to the cozy lounge corner to chat about investment options. ZKB is not alone with this unusual offer.
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Other financial institutions are also trying out how their branches can be designed more individually. Raiffeisenbank in Zofingen AG has been a “parlor bench” since 2017 – its meeting rooms are furnished like cozy living rooms. And in the UBS pop-up in Winterthur ZH, students were able to use the coffee machine and study stations free of charge in addition to banking advice.
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Customers can handle fewer branches
Such new offers stand in contrast to the countless branch closures in recent years, and Corona has reinforced the trend: Credit Suisse, for example, announced that it will be closing around a quarter of its branches. Some were originally only supposed to be closed temporarily, but the banks have noticed that customers can also handle fewer branches.
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But those who stay open should appear more relaxed and focus on advice. The changed atmosphere is also influencing the talks, explains Dominik Reichlin, head of the Raiffeisen banks in the Zofingen region. Since the switch to the parlor bench, customers are more open, “because it is no longer this stiff banking environment”. Personal and like at home: That fits with Raiffeisen’s self-image.
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Young people want to do banking online
The UBS pop-up branch in Winterthur, which was open from autumn 2017 to spring 2018, was aimed specifically at students and start-ups – including a snack corner. The goal, however, was not to lure this group of customers back to bank branches: “We wanted to find out what young people want from their bank and present our digital offering,” says Kevin D’Armento, Head of UBS Winterthur.
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This is how they found out: The generation of tomorrow wants to conduct their daily banking business online. So the advance of digital channels must also change the role of branches. Cyrill Kiefer, banking advisor at Deloitte Switzerland, confirms: “Physical presence remains an important feature of trust, but the trend is clearly towards smaller branches with high visibility.”
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Modern bank branches are therefore figureheads with which financial institutions can differentiate themselves from the competition.
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Regardless of whether it comes as a parlor, café or a trendy place to study: the bank of tomorrow wants above all to be unique.
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–Published: 03/21/2021, 11:26 am
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