Comments on: Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow

By: Introducing MobiBranch « Mobilearth

Introducing MobiBranch « Mobilearth — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 23:37:28 +0000

[...] http://thefinancialbrand.com/22151/brett-king-branch-today-gone-tomorrow-book/ [...]

By: factchecker

factchecker — Mon, 28 May 2012 20:53:54 +0000

The author ignores a few facts, many customers don’t have bank accounts period, and two , up to a third of many small businesses in a location, are “cash only” such as restaurants,
of course the growth of online banking, check image processing,
etc has almost eliminated the need for a branch, at you have the atm, but it still is relevant,but what banks need to do, is refocus their efforts and why the branch is there, branches should not duplicate online or just exist , it should focus
on services that cannot be easily done online, many branches are still simple and don’t seem to have much technology, a super branch with tv’s and podcasts may help but it seems window dressing, in addition bank branch staff may not have specialist available in other bank sectors which defeats the purpose of being able to talk and banks always try to sell.

By: Nor

Nor — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:56:19 +0000

We have started launching ‘Banking Beyond Branches’ in Malaysia, an branchless banking concept by appointing agents from local people providing selected financial services such as deposit, withdrawal, bill payment and cashless payment to the rural areas.

Therefore we understand and foresee, King’s message on ‘Branch today, gone tomorrow’.

By: Matty Dee

Matty Dee — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:25:55 +0000

“‘My kids may never actually need to physically enter a branch by the time they are in college or in the workforce.”

True, King’s kids may never have to use a branch? But what if they choose to? Maybe there will always be some segment of the population who feels more comfortable discussing significant financial matters in person?”

My feeling while reading the entire post was exactly this. What about the people who are more comfortable walking into their local branch and handling some items? What about safe deposit boxes and their functionality? etc.

I agree that technology will change many things about banking, but to put forward the idea that all branches are soon to be shuttered as a result of a behavior change seems to go to far.

By: Brett King

Brett King — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:37:25 +0000

JP,

Thanks for a wonderful review, and glad you enjoyed the read. My objective with Branch Today was pretty clear – let’s stop trying to defend branch networks as essential and start working purely on working out the best ways to serve customers day-to-day. Often the pure scale of investment in branch networks biases retail FI brands to keep ‘propping-up’ the network, but if you look at behavior and the trends, that that’s a very risky and cost-laden strategy. A more balanced view is a must if FI brands are going to make an orderly transition to the next iteration of banking.

Once again, thanks for your feedback and support.

Brett King

By: Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:52:09 +0000

Jeffrey

Thank you for this post and citing Brett’s great book. As financial institutions continue to seek new revenue streams in a world with a smarter and more empowered consumer, not to mention more regulated, the delivery system must be re-evaluated. While I don’t go quite as far as Mr. King does and pretty much predict the complete demise of the bricks and mortar branch, I do think the branch will continue to decline in importance, and banks and credit unions must re-align their delivery system to be relevant to a different kind of consumer.

Bottom line is – financial insitutions must know their markets, their customers and how these have changed, and will continue to change. They will then be prepared to make some different strategic choices for how to serve their customers and remain relevant.

Thanks,

By: TheFinancialMarketer

TheFinancialMarketer — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:32:36 +0000

I know for me personally the introduction of technologies like remote deposit capture cut my in branch interactions to basically zilch.

On the flip side maybe smaller/local institutions could be able to gain an advantage by maintaining a reasonable physical presence and offering more personal service for loan products?