Branches Are Back. Is This Banking's Big Break?

Holly Sraeel ( Bank Technology News ), December 2003

Each year banking has a different technology theme. Ten years ago it was the thin client phenomenon. That was followed by data warehousing, middleware, the Internet and customer relationship management. This, in turn, ushered in the pursuit of "open" systems, multi-channel delivery, ROI, check imaging and Web services. In 2004, it will be "refreshing" the branch.

Financially exhausted and strategically adrift by the willy-nilly spending of the past few years, bankers have finally realized that branches matter-perhaps now more than ever as the number of merger deals is expected to increase, creating bigger banks that aren't necessarily customer friendly.

What customers experience at branches, similar to how they perceive retail outings, is critical to deepening their loyalty and increasing the amount of business they conduct with the bank. And that can mean greater profitability per customer, not to mention happier customers who are more than willing to spread the word to friends.

The concept of rethinking branches has been gaining momentum for a couple of years. The industry quickly aborted Internet cafe- and investment lounge-style branches (a short-lived experiment) and is once again looking at more traditional, yet compelling and efficient branch design and staffing.

Why did branches get, well, bungled? Distraction from the long-term goal, to put it succinctly. It's obvious what customers want from their banks: shorter wait times on teller lines (and smarter tellers); more self-service and electronic options for less complex transactions; help on non-traditional bank products when desired; and access to branch management.

The biggest obstacle to achieving this: Banks do not have a complete view of customer activity. Most banks do not observe what customers actually do when they enter the branch.

That could all change with Atlanta-based Brickstream, a 20-month-old, venture-capital-backed private company whose analytical modeling is fed by anonymous people-tracking video technology.

The technology enables banks to model customer activity by plotting their movement in a branch, determining, for example, how long they stand in line for teller service, which are the busiest areas of the branch, how long it takes to complete a transaction and which marketing displays actually prompt customers to stop and take interest (or not).

By integrating this information with other data types, banks can also understand why some tellers are more efficient than others. Is it the nature of the transaction or the ability of the teller? Banks can also ascertain whether branches are designed and configured to enhance the customer's experience.

Brickstream's ability to bring real-time customer intelligence to brick-and-mortar banking has made believers out of Bank of America, RBC Financial Group, SunTrust, Lloyds TSB and Wells Fargo, all of which hope its use will lead to greater customer satisfaction and retention, as well as increased profitability.

Not a bad roster for a technology company less than two years old. Brickstream's ability to bring real-time customer intelligence to brick-and-mortar banking has made believers out of Bank of America, RBC Financial Group, SunTrust, Lloyds TSB and Wells Fargo, all of which hope its use will lead to greater customer satisfaction and retention, as well as increased profitability.

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