Filene just released an interesting study called “Who’s Joining Credit Unions.” Of particular interest is data that suggests a paradox between how people feel about branches and how they actually use them.

While credit union members think they need a branch nearby, the data tells a different story. According to the report, the majority of credit union members use a branch once a month or less.

Despite their low usage of branches, they want more of them. When asked what would improve their experience with their credit union, members’ #1 answer was “More ATMs.” The #2 answer: “More branches.”

Key Question: What the heck is going on here?

Branch and ATM convenience can’t be the only way to win deposits…can it?

Do people only want the perception of convenience?

To take a trip to a branch once a month (or less) doesn’t seem like that big an ordeal, even if it’s over five miles. There are plenty of people who drive further than that to go to Home Depot or Costco once a month. Heck, there are plenty of folks who drive five or more miles to get a coffee from Starbucks.

Key Question: Does branch and ATM convenience apply to people looking for loans? Or does it only apply to depositors and transactors?

Perhaps the problem lies in the type of question we — as financial researchers — pose to people. Give them a choice and they seem to say, “Hey, it doesn’t cost me any money when you build more branches, so go for it. Give me some more.”

What do you think? What’s going on here? Can you explain it?

Key Takeaway: If you don’t have a large branch presence — and most financial institutions don’t — your marketing needs to stress your delivery-channel alternatives to branches and ATMs.

Other insights from the Filene report:

• Credit unions look to have the most success targeting families with household incomes between $70,000 and $130,000.
• Friends and family continue to be the #1 way in which people hear about a credit union. Essentially, one-if-three new members come from the referral of a friend of family member.
• For credit unions with an open charter, one-in-16 new members are enticed by a newspaper ad. Around one-in-ten people learn about their credit union by driving by. One-in-100 come from the internet.

You can download the entire report from Filene here (registration required).

With the christening of its latest branch, Augusta Metro Credit Union, introduced a new retail prototype boasting a more open and spacious floor plans and a wide range of the latest features.
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When BankWest in Australia expanded to the East Coast, they redesigned their branch prototype and gave it a total makeover. To tout their new retail stores, the bank put a neat, interactive flash tour on its website.

The tour includes 11 different “hot spots.” Pause your mouse on a hotspot and it reveals some little tidbit about the branch.

These stores should fit nicely with BankWest’s brand theme, “Happy Banking” (previous coverage from The Financial Brand here). If you haven’t seen their outrageous TV spots, you should definitely go check them out.

To give you an idea of how far BankWest takes “happy,” they are the “Official Happy Partner” for the 2008 Australian Olympics.

Also supporting their “Happy Banking” theme is a novelty microsite that defies explanation. It must be seen to be believed. (Hint: Singing kittens are involved.)

Now the bank has a branch model that fits right in. While the branches don’t ooze “happy” as much as the rest of the brand, there is a general perky cheer to the design.

They should put out Skittles in candy dishes for customers. They could call them “happy pills.”

:60 seconds on BankWest’s new East Coast retail stores:

• BankWest ditched traditional teller bays in lieu of cash recyclers, which allow more freedom of movement within the store for both staff and customers.
• BankWest refers to its new branches as “stores” as they will be retailing non-financial merchandise such as money boxes and financial books.
• Meeting spaces have been designed with movable walls so that more space can be created in the store for customer seminars.
• Traditional bank branches are often quite masculine, sterile places. The new design incorporates more earthy tones with wood and cork flooring and feature lighting. Or, as the interactive tour puts it, “Warm, friendly colors, not traditional bank colors.”

Source: The Bank Channel

Here’s another creative marketing effort from the folks at Arizona State Credit Union. (If you missed The Financial Brand’s previous coverage, check out their LOL Cats poster here.)

With around $100 in supplies, the credit union made this merchandising display to promote its financing for construction projects:

They also made wood blocks that were displayed on desks of member service reps and teller stations:

“Merchandising is a retailer’s tool. Just visit the grocery store or Macy’s. Even Walgreens does it. You just don’t see it in a financial institution.”
– Paul Stull, SVP/Marketing
Arizona State Credit Union

This campaign ran in branches only. No other media was used to support the promotion.

In an interview with The Financial Brand, Paul Stull, SVP/Marketing for Arizona State CU, said, traditional media has its place, “but doing something simple with big impact has more power with members who are right there in front of your sales team. It starts conversations and drives sales.”

“It was fresh, unique and made our point at a low cost,” he added.

Arizona State Credit Union has $1.1 billion in assets.

Bottom Line: The $5,563 campaign helped the bring in $2.3 million in new loans in four months. That’s a return of over 40,000%.

In recognition of the promotion’s phenomenal results, the Credit Union Executive Society bestowed this year’s GMA Golden Shoestring Award to Arizona State CU.

Key Takeaway: You don’t need big bucks to generate big results when you have a good idea.

The FBI just released its fourth-quarter robbery data for banks and credit unions. Rather than wait for the FBI to tabulate four quarters and publish its findings, The Financial Brand added it all up and broke it all down for you.

Here’s the raw data for 2007, quarter-by-quarter:
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | TOTALS

Total bank and credit union robberies down 11.4%

2006 – 6,675
2007 – 5,917

Bank robberies down 11%

2006 – 6,154
2007 – 5,468

Credit union robberies down 14%

2006 – 521
2007 – 449

Injuries occur in 1.3% of all robberies

2006 – 94 incidents
2007 – 74 incidents

Employees are the most likely to be injured

2006 – 75 employees injured
2007 – 49 employees injured

Number of robberies in which deaths occurred

2006 – 13
2007 – 16

Robber is the most likely one to die

2006 – 10 robbers of 13 people killed
2007 – 12 robbers of 18 people killed

The data serves as a reminder that there are ways to engineer safe branch environments without creating “fortresses.” In the comments of The Financial Brand’s previous coverage of the FBI’s 2006 robbery data, Brett Conway of EHS Design suggested checking out SafeCatch, a branch design solution that minimizes risk of robbery. If your branches have security features like bullet-proof glass, you should definitely give it a look.

SafeCatch gets into robber psychology, recommending that front doors should not be visible from the transaction area because robbers always want to keep an eye on their exits. Good point.

The downloadable PDF includes a sample floor plan.

Every now and then, there’s a bank that really understands the importance of having an integrated brand supporting a narrow focus on a specific audience.

Goldwater Bank, targeting upscale residents in the posh retirement mecca of Scottsdale, Arizona, is such a bank. Their website is a visually lush and stunning reflection of the bank’s equally-impressive in-branch experience.

When you pull up to their prestigious location on Scottsdale’s ritzy waterfront, you can have the Goldwater valet park your car for you. Then, when you’re inside, you can help yourself to a cold drink from the refrigerator and check your email on a new Apple Macintosh. There are no tellers, just private, sit-down transaction pods.

Everything about them is refined, sophisticated. Even the name is on-brand.

They call it “Lifestyle Banking,” and it’s built on what they refer to as “The Five C’s:”

• Common sense
• Courtesy
• Customization
• Concierge
• Courier

It’s the last two C’s – the concierge and courier – that really stand out. Yep. That’s right. They have a courier. If you’re too busy to make it to the bank, don’t worry. You can use Goldwater’s door-to-door banking services.

That’s not all. Their concierge will help you with everything from taking care of your pets to picking up your mail. They’ll also help you with such things as buying flowers, arranging dinners, booking exotic trips, getting tickets to exclusive events, and all that other stuff the rich don’t have time to do themselves.

Luxury banking with swanky pampering. Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it?

Surprisingly, this bank isn’t just for the super-rich and mega-famous. The minimum required to open a checking account is $25,000. Maintain an average balance above that and you qualify as a member of their Elite Status program.

The only downside to the website is its music track. It gets old pretty quickly. And forgets that your preference was “no music” when you reload the site.

Key Takeaway: When you focus on a specific audience and their unique needs, it’s much easier to align every aspect of your organization around a cohesive brand — what you do, what you offer and how you offer it.

Source: Cashcow.in (thanks!)

Here is the FBI’s official data on robberies of financial institutions, including injuries and deaths for 2006.

TOTAL NUMBER OF ROBBERIES: 6,985

• Bank robberies: 6,154 (88%)
• Credit union robberies: 521 (7%)
• Other (e.g., check cashing): 372 (5%)

INJURIES:

• Number of incidents in which injuries occurred: 94 (1.3%)
• Customer: 17
• Employee: 75
• Employee Family: 0
• Perpetrator: 17
• Law Officer: 8
• Guard: 5
• Other: 7

DEATHS:

• Number of incidents in which deaths occurred: 13 (0.2%)
• Customer: 0
• Employee: 1
• Employee Family: 0
• Perpetrator: 10
• Law Officer: 1
• Guard: 1
• Other: 0

Credit unions aren’t robbers favorite targets. Small branches with no or small vaults lack the significant stockpiles of cash that tantalize robbers. Also, many CU branches are off the beaten path, and robbers prefer easy access to main roads, thoroughfares and freeways – the quick, easy getaway.

CUs can probably also thank their image for fewer robberies. Robbers may not see CUs as big, lucrative “scores” for the same reasons many people struggle to see CUs as full-service financial providers.

Unfortunately, the FBI either does not publish or doesn’t have data comparing robberies and injuries/deaths vs. various security measures vs. branch size/designs vs. cash handling systems.

As a financial institution responsible for your staff’s safety, it likely that your fears of employee injury and death exceed the reality. Only 1.5% of all robberies result in the injury or death of an employee – and that’s assuming you get robbed in the first place. Applying this ratio to CU robberies means that only five credit union employees are injured every year across the country from robberies. And only one credit union employee is killed every five years in the course of a robbery.

Statistically speaking, working in a CU is probably safer than working in a bar, night club or gas station. And it has to be a lot safer than working in construction jobs.

Reality Check #1: Just because you are in a cash-intensive business doesn’t mean you need to build your branches like fortresses.

When you wall your employees off behind bullet-proof glass, you’re erecting a barrier between you and the people you serve – physically, visually and aurally. This is a literal roadblock to building relationships.

Reality Check #2: You can’t have bullet-proof “bandit barriers” if you’re going to say you’re “all about warm, friendly, personal service.”

Do people really feel comfortable discussing sensitive financial subjects through a four-inch hole in an inch-thick sheet of acrylic?

Employee safety wouldn’t be an issue if your branches didn’t get robbed. Bullet-proof glass is a treatment for a symptom, not the root problem, and there are other things you can do to deter robbers.

For starters, you can move your teller lines as far away from the entrance as possible, and cutoff sightlines between the transaction zone and any exits. Robbers get uneasy with each step they take further into a branch, and they get really uncomfortable when they can’t see an exit at the height of the robbery.

Simply saying “hi” to a robber when he comes in to scope the branch is often enough to scare him off (hint: “greeters”).

Reality Check #3: Your average architect doesn’t know how to design “robbery-resistant branches.” Most local architects will design branches that look just like everyone else’s…because “that’s what branches are supposed to look like, right?”

Bottom Line:

• Building branches like Fort Knox makes you look just like everyone else.
• You can reduce your risk of robbery with careful branch design and how you manage your in-branch experience.
• A well-engineered branch not only mitigates risk of robbery, it also builds your brand and helps cultivate relationships

The much-admired Umpqua Bank has created this fascinating video depicting one possible vision of the (very near?) future of financial services. Take a look:

What’s particularly interesting about the video is the absence of narration. It gives the viewer credit, and lets us fill in any missing pieces with our imagination. The video engages you by making you think, “What is she doing?”

Reality Check: The most brilliant innovations don’t require explanation.

Everything the video depicts doesn’t require some far-fetched technology that’s yet to be invented. Everything shown utilizes stuff that’s available today.

Very imaginative. Very cool. Very plausible. In fact (considering Umpqua’s history of innovation), it’s something we’ll likely see very soon.

Production Note: The video is a digital composite using footage shot in Umpqua’s flagship prototype in Portland’s Pearl District. If you think their “branch of the future” looks cool, that’s because their starting point — the real branch that they’ve already developed — is already cool. They don’t have a long way to go to realize their vision.

Tip of the Hat: To Ray Davis, CEO of Umpqua Bank, for having the unique combination of courage, commitment and capital to pull off some of the most exciting things happening in the financial industry.

Source: Banktastic.com

“PNC has more certified green buildings than any company on Earth.”
– PNC website

Here’s something interesting you might not have heard. Late last fall, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office approved a federal trademark application from PNC Financial Services for the term ‘green branch.’

Reality Check: People are going to use the term “green branch” like people use Kleenex. Policing this term will be next to impossible. Fail to enforce a trademark — even once — and the USPTO may declare it null and void.

“Consumers want to do business with socially responsible companies and PNC is leading the way.”
– Neil Hall,
Head of PNC Retail

Just the same, someone at Wachovia better pay attention. They plan to build only “green” financial centers by the end of this year, including 300 new “green branches” by 2010. This PNC trademark might force them to call their green branches something else, which would actually be a good thing from a branding perspective.

With over 40 LEED certified green branches, PNC is a long way ahead of Chase, who just built its first green branch last summer.

30 seconds on PNC’s green branches:

• PNC claims to be the first U.S. bank to apply green building standards to all newly constructed or renovated retail branch offices.
• PNC built the financial services industry’s first LEED Gold green building.
• With 1,500 employees, PNC’s Pittsburgh operations center was the largest LEED-certified green building in the world when it opened in 2000
• PNC says employee retention and satisfaction is as much as 50 percent better than traditional facilities.
• Compared to traditional branches, energy usage is reduced 50 percent or more and water usage is reduced by 6,200 gallons a year.
• PNC has a special page on its website celebrating the way the bank differentiates itself with green branches.

Key Takeaway:

• Only play the green card if you are truly leading the way in some category (as PNC does).

The latest branch for Delta Community Credit Union, its tenth, features an open floor plan starring a greeter station in the middle of all the action. The branch’s operational model is similar to the one used in many Bank of America locations.

The credit union will occupy 10,000 of the building’s 100,000 square feet and lease another 80,000 as medical offices. A 10,000-square-foot atrium in the middle of the building connects the credit union with a restaurant and medical offices.

Other features of the branch include:

• High, sweeping ceilings
• Few enclosed offices
• Floor-to-ceiling windows
• Lots of white space with bursts of bold retail graphics
• 4 drive-through lanes

Occupancy in the three-story building is expected in May 2008.

Delta Community is the largest credit union in Georgia, with more than 166,000 members and more than $2.5 billion in assets. The credit union just recently completed a rebranding effort (previous coverage from The Financial Brand here).

Level5, also based in Georgia, was the design-build firm on the project.

“Nothing will sour a member’s experience more quickly than waiting in line for a service you provide in another part of your branch.”
— Greg Gray, IBT

An article on branch design from CUNA’s Credit Union Magazine offers these very practical insights on shaping your brand experience:

• Experiences don’t just happen — you must plan them
• To create a true experience, you must incorporate physical and emotional aspects
• Concierge stations provide a friendly, personal, and informative interaction point
• You can give people the information they need without creating the “hard sell”
• Use vibrant, informational wall graphics and semi-private seating areas to create sales areas

The article also reminds readers about the importance of exterior signage, ample parking, and especially retail merchandising.

“Too often credit unions take for granted that members are aware of and understand what products are available,” says Greg Gray, the article’s author.

The article includes a number of suggestions for features such as kids areas and branded refreshments.

Read the whole article here.

Teller transactions at Erie General Electric FCU’s newest branch will be conducted “at ‘teller pods,’ where members and employees can communicate openly without the barrier of a counter,” according to the CU Times.

Other branch features:

• Two stories
• 18,000 square feet
• Flat screen TVs
• Electronic sign-in pad
• Full children’s play area with video game systems
• Fireplace
• Refreshment station

In an illustration on the credit union’s website, you can see the member lounge featuring a fireplace and large, flat screen TV. A recessed ceiling in the waiting area helps visually define the space, while a protruded ‘soffit‘ helps define the welcome desk.

The branch’s paths are carpeted, while the dwell zones are hardwood. Many financial institutions do the opposite: put hard surfaces in high-traffic areas, partly because they are easier to clean when they get dirty (as they will often).

Because hard surfaces reflect sound, carpet is commonly used to increase audio-absorbency in spaces requiring more privacy. Carpet is also more comfortable to stand on than hard surfaces, which can encourage prolonged engagement in sales and services zones.

FirstBank’s next branch won’t have a traditional teller line. Instead, the bank will have what is known in the financial industry as “teller pods.” Teller pods were introduced into the mainstream by WaMu (shown at right – click on image to enlarge).

When customers enter the bank, they will be greeted by a bank employee and taken to a “dialogue pod” (which is what FirstBank calls them), where they will conduct their business standing next to tellers.

“This is not your typical bank office. And that’s on purpose.” – Sam Jones, FirstBank President

The 4,200 square foot space leaves room for the bank to grow from one “dialogue pod” to two and add more offices.

In this podcast, FirstBank president Sam Jones says the pods give the bank’s lobby an open feel and removes the barriers between customers and tellers.

“The concept is very customer friendly,” Mr. Jones said. “It has been the trend in consumer banking for the last three to five years.”

The bank’s interior will be colored in earth tones with large plasma TVs in the lobby.

“Fifteen years ago the trend was closing branches. Now we see branches being built again.” – Britin Boatright, FirstBank President of Metropolitan Banks

This will be the bank’s 44th location.

The bank also plans to open a second branch this spring in a former Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union building on Hamilton Place Boulevard. That branch also will have the new pod-style lobby design.

Bottom Line:

• Teller pods create an open, welcoming environment.
• Interactions at teller pods are much more personal and intimate – in stark contrast to the feeling conveyed by bullet-proof glass.
• The risk of robbery can be minimized by using cash recyclers in teller pods.
• If a you promise a “personal service experience,” teller pods are one way to maximize your brand in branches.

First National Bank of Omaha has unveiled a new retail prototype at its new Shadow Lake Towne Center branch. Features include a “virtual Koi pond” that directs customers to interactive kiosks where they can conduct transactions or get information on products and services.

The interactive floor display seems to be based off of technology from Reactrix (previous coverage here).

“This is destination banking – the first of its kind in the country.” – Rajive Johri, President

Other features of the branch prototype include:

• Iris-scanning for safe deposit box access
• Wi-Fi capability throughout the branch
• Dedicated business center for small business customers
• “Super ATM” that scans and prints images deposited checks
• Coin counter for kids
• Concierge
• Scooters™ gourmet coffee bar

The bank will be evaluating various aspects of the prototype for their suitability in future locations.

Reality Check: The “virtual Koi pond” is cool and creative, but not very practical (note how dim the ambient lighting is in the first photo). People may play with it at first, but how many will really use it?

All things considered, this bank’s prototype probably doesn’t qualify as “the first of its kind,” but it is a good-looking, and well-engineered branch.

Bottom Line: Interesting features set in an open space will create an enjoyable experience appropriate for a bank that serves both consumers and small businesses.

Navy Federal Credit Union is attributing its ‘green’ corporate campus for dropping employee turnover from 60% annually to 17%, a 43% reduction.

According to an article on the new space, Navy Federal stumbled onto sustainable architecture in an attempt to improve the work environment for employees.

Ebb Ebbesen, SVP of construction and process improvements at Navy FCU, is quoted as saying, “We were looking for a building where employees are pleased to come to work in the morning and still smiling when they leave at night.”

The new facility is home to 3,000 employees and has more than 500,000 square feet of office space—all of it “LEED rated.”

Key Question: Did Navy FCU actually receive LEED certification, or did it just use “the LEED template for discipline,” as SVP Ebbesen phrased it?

Bottom Line: Navy FCU justifies its investment in the facility by looking at costs over a 30-year period:

• 92% of costs goes to employees
• 6% goes to maintenance and operation
• 2% of costs are represented by the initial construction investment

The architect on the project was ASD out of Atlanta, Georgia. The Resolve furniture system is from Herman Miller.

University of Illinois Employees Credit Union, a $157 million financial institution, has a new branch in Urbana. The 6,500 square foot facility cost $2 million to build and will employ 20.

According to this article, branch features include:

• A giant photo of UI’s Foellinger Auditorium covering the wall behind tellers
• A band of orange surrounds the walls, punctuated with images of familiar local sites
• Curved orange and blue acrylic panels are suspended above the reception desk
• A complimentary coffee bar, a children’s activity center and a tech center in the lobby

Greg S. Anderson, interim President of the credit union and its former EVP, said the credit union tried to follow Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ‘green building’ standards (LEED) in designing the new office:

• Landscaping was designed to reduce water usage
• Heating and lighting was planned with energy efficiency in mind
• 75%of the building space gets daylight
• Nonsolvent-based paints, adhesives and carpets were used to reduce off-gassing (smells and air contaminants left behind be new interior floors, glues and finishes)

The design/build partner overseeing the project is DEI Incorporated, Cincinnati.

North Island Credit Union in San Diego has taken interactive advertising a step further. Two steps, actually.

With your feet.

This isn’t your typical “interactive advertising” (as in the “online” kind). The credit union has teamed up with Reactrix, a company specializing in interactive video floor displays.

Reactrix produces “highly entertaining branding displays that respond to the physical movements of the audience.”

The display created by Reactrix for the credit union is centered around a branded illustration the credit union has used since the late 90’s. The credit union has a simulation of the interactive display on its website.

Similar to dragging a mouse, the elements of “Island Paradise” are highlighted and a narrative of each pops up to reveal the story of the landmark and its importance to the San Diego and Riverside communities.

Earlier this year, North Island Credit Union updated its signature mural artwork to reflect 20 new landmarks and sites from San Diego to Riverside. The original artwork, known as the “Polymorphous Paradise,” was created in the 90’s and has been used in North Island’s advertising and marketing programs. The new “Island Paradise” artwork will be incorporated into the credit union’s print, collateral and affinity items over the next few months.

According to this press release, the Reactrix installation for North Island can be seen at numerous venues throughout San Diego.

There are a number of YouTube videos showing people interacting with Reactrix displays at various locations throughout the country, and this very good 3:30 news piece.

Reactrix calls this technology “brand play.” On its corporate website, the company holds no punches when comparing its brand-building potential to that of traditional media options such as print, TV and outdoor. There’s also a good video showcasing the system at the Reactrix website. The company seems to get a lot of press coverage, with many articles in the last 90 days.

Bottom Line: It’s cool. And fun. If you want people to come to your branch who would never do so otherwise, install one of these things. But be prepared for sticker shock. This can’t be cheap.

I first saw this technology at Global Shop in Chicago a few years ago. It’s sticky. I couldn’t stop playing with it. After 30 minutes of kicking virtual ‘things’ around the floor, I started thinking of financial institutions. The range of in-branch applications is pretty exciting (think: kids area, for starters).

Tip of the Hat: To North Island Credit Union for having the courage to embrace a new and exciting medium.

Another Tip of the Hat: To Reactrix, for having a killer product, but more importantly, for understanding the importance of branding. And not just their customers’ brands…their OWN brand. They GET it. They are telling their story very well. Even better, there are thousands (millions, counting consumers) of people – including me – spreading their story for them.

A high school sophomore won a $50 prize for coming up with the new name for the St. Vrain Valley Credit Union’s student-run branch at a local high school.

In this article, the winning student said she thought a long time about a name and eventually imagined that “all the students are little eaglets coming to their mom for money all the time.” In her school setting, the credit union branch serves the same purpose as the mom, she said, so she came up with the Falcons Nest.

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Two New Jersey banks merge assets over $1 billion and become ‘Avidia.’

The bank says the name is a combination of the words “avid” and “idea.” It may not look like it means anything, but at least it doesn’t look like it will get them in trademark trouble.