The Banking Experience

Last week, Johnnie Moore posted a story on the ING Direct Cafe.

The place is staffed by Barrista-Bankers. They can serve you coffee and cake and/or can get you a mortgage. Customers can surf the net, sip their coffee and - if they like - do some banking.

I really liked this idea. This is not just adding a coffee pot to the banking hall, this is a fairly radical rethink of what a retail bank should look like. And it takes a primarily internet bank to think of it.

I've always wondered why bankers are so stuck in the traditional thinking of what a bank should be, since it seems to me there are so many opportunities to create an interesting and compelling experience around money. For instance, I can't understand why banks would allow the "piggy bank" experience to remain in the home, rather than in a bank. Many kids have piggy banks, and we parents enjoy giving them change to help them learn about saving. My son has one on a shelf right in his room -- which means the whole experience of learning to save never has to have a single thing to do with a financial institution.

If a bank was smart, it would create a really cool, brightly colored savings bank within its four walls just for kids. Do you know how often I'd go to a bank's retail outlet if my son had a key to his own kid-sized "safe deposit box" where he could keep his change, savings bonds and other similar things? Not every day, of course, but let's say at least once a quarter, which is four times more than I go into a bank now. And don't bankers make more money off of us when we're with them face to face, and they're able to sell us things like IRA accounts and college loans? Just a thought.

Tag: marketing

Comments

[Heath Row]

Further information about ING Direct -- http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/68/ing.html

[Alex]

I lived in downtown Philadelphia until recently and one of the first ING Cafes was about 3 blocks from my apartment. I had gone in a few times - there were several tables with bright, orange chairs, and perhaps 6 PCs with LCD screens situated on small tables, with 2 screens placed back-to-back to save space, so surfers faced each other.

The coffee was ok - Starbucks was around the corner and infinitely better tasting! But I'm a coffee snob... the staff were friendly, never pushy, and I think the whole experience was tastfully handled but many people no doubt were asking "What or who is ING?".

Still, I like the concept and salute ING for at least trying to break the mold. Sure beats Citizens Bank's pathetic attempts at customer (dis)service.

[Zane]

WOW!. That idea of a kids area in a bank, brightly colored, with their own safe deposit box....that is EXCELLENT! That's the best idea I've heard in a long time. Thanks!

[Robert Davis]

You ought also to take a look at Citizen's Bank. They're based in Providence, RI (and owned by Royal Bank of Scotland) and are rolling out bank branches with very different and approachable experiences. (In the old days, they had lollipops for the kids and biscuits for your dog.) Now they have branches that don't feel like branches, and the doors have a big lowercase "hello" which is just the beginning of their friendly banking experience.

[Mr. Umpqua]

Have you ever heard of Leptodekaphobia? It is the fear of 10 minute increments. Come into Umpqua Bank and we will help you overcome your fear and open your account in 10 minutes