How Can Banks Ensure Their Branches Thrive After COVID-19?

brought to you by WBR Insights

Access the Report: Available December 2020

Between 2012 and 2017, consumer adoption of digital banking nearly doubled from 26% to 51%, the U.S. Federal Reserve reports. Meanwhile, almost half of all consumers did not bank at a physical branch in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has only accelerated digital adoption as social distancing put branches out of reach for most consumers—with long-term implications for future consumer habits. This places the onus on physical branches to transform how they engage consumers or risk becoming irrelevant.

As consumers increasingly use desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones to conduct financial transactions, banks are looking to optimize their branches to meet evolving consumer tastes and expectations. Fortunately, bank branches are still valuable to consumers, even those who use digital channels. As consumers increasingly seek out a ‘human touch’ for specific financial use cases, branches remain the dominant channel for consumers of all ages when opening new accounts and purchasing complex products, such as loans, according to Deloitte.

Now, financial institutions must identify the best technologies, training, use cases, and growth strategies that will align their physical branches for long-term success in the digital age. But they need answers on how they can not only remain relevant, but compete and grow amidst the evolving digital landscape.

Q4 2020 Report - The Future Branches Survival Guide: How the Branch Can Compete and Win in the Growing Digital Landscape

In this special 2020 Future Branches report, we explore the ways in which industry leaders are transforming the branch experience to accommodate digital natives, and a broader consumer base that increasingly favors digital for certain financial use cases. Through quantitative and qualitative questioning, we uncover how banks are improving the in-branch customer experience and creating new opportunities to connect with customers, even as consumer adoption of digital touchpoints increases. We identify which strategies are working, which are losing their appeal, and what company leaders envision for their future branch networks.

Finally, we explore the ‘soft value’ a new generation of bank branches can provide—trust, localization, and digitally enhanced person-to-person experiences.

Access the Report: Available December 2020