Small community banking organisations are starting to think about how they can set themselves apart from the corporate giants and place themselves at the heart of the communities they support. Banking organisations in general face huge public scrutiny and must it would seem do more to satisfy the criticisms they have rightly faced over recent years following the banking crisis.
Any considerations to change have to be coupled with tight controls over budgets and continue to deliver high levels of service and value for money to the customers they serve. A small community bank in the US thinks it has found some of the answers and has started to develop some very radical thinking about delivering great banking services right in the heart of the community in which they operate. (Umpqua Bank)
At the core of their thinking is to up-skill all branch staff to deliver all of the services they provide. So gone are the days of specialist advisor roles and staff whose only role is to process transactions. Their staff could on the one hand deposit a cheque for you and then work to open an account or indeed discuss a lending proposal.
How can a community bank then make this decision and be sure that by investing in this strategy it will bring genuine benefits both to the customer and the bank. Bottom line, if this costs more money will it be sustainable and how would a bank make that choice. Verint Retail Financial Services Strategic Planner can build a ‘what if’ scenario which can look at the effect this kind of change will cost or save a business. It can calculate baseline staffing requirements across all branches and compare this against current benchmarks. Also determine the effect of such changes on the delivery of service standards. Most importantly it becomes a fact based decision, rather than a leap of faith.
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