Blog: The New Role of Branches as Resilience Hubs

So, what is the next step for financial institutions on the roadmap to maintaining customer intimacy? Creating ‘resilience hubs’ could be the answer. 

Stepping out of the mainstream
We are all familiar with how the rationalization of branches has evolved over recent years, but what are the most practical next steps right now, and how can financial institutions stand out from the crowd? If we step away from the often-binary opinions of closing branches versus bringing branches back, the role of hybrid customer touchpoints could be significant.

As part of the delivery mix, branches can become more than just physical touchpoints – they can take on the role of resilience hubs. Instead of simply providing services, branches can spearhead a financial institution’s journey to becoming a financial wellbeing advisor, delivering a more meaningful offering to the consumer.

Removing the nostalgic lens
For branches to effectively deliver this role, we need to strategically reframe their purpose. The nostalgia of traditional branches is not a practical reality for many financial institutions. Therefore, carefully crafted physical networks are crucial — moving branches beyond faceless interactions or basic sales channels.

These reimagined resilience hubs need to connect with the consumer at a deeper level, demonstrating an effort to truly guide and support their financial needs. As part of branch refresh and reallocation programs, the physical touchpoints should be considered a fundamental part of the CX offering, not just simply a distribution channel.

This could be supporting education and protecting customers around security and fraud topics, or helping them to anticipate money-based issues before they arise to safeguard long-term financial well-being. Protecting the vulnerable is also a critical part of an organization’s financial well-being advisor role, ensuring inclusivity and fair access to services for all.

Financial service providers already provide these services to customers in varying forms. The critical element of having a physical branch or touchpoint as a resilience hub is ensuring they are ‘packaged’ together in an easy-to-consume and consumer-focused manner.

This is not about fundamentally changing the design and locations of branches but ensuring an optimized flow of services and a mindset shift around the purpose of the physical network – delivering high impact as part of an optimized cost model.

A brick-by-brick foundation of trust
The ultimate purpose of delivering ‘resilience’ offerings is to maintain customer intimacy. Building a trust agenda is crucial as financial services continue to become further ingrained in our daily lives. A well-executed physical presence can also provide a trust signal in unpredictable and volatile markets. It is human nature to seek familiarity during times of change, underscoring the criticality of resilience as part of the consumer journey.

It is all about showing the customer you are listening. The need to meet product P&Ls should not block meaningful customer outcomes. In essence, the focus should always be on financial health and not just financial products as part of the branch network. Shifting the branch from a sales and service outlet to anticipating needs and protecting customers for the long-term, but as part of a cost-effective model.

Physical networks will continue to evolve in every country in line with consumer trends and the economics of that geography. Change will continue to flow, and the format of branches will continue to adapt.  What is important is that branches are high-impact human touchpoints. These physical outlets serve as a unique chance to demonstrate resilience as a financial services provider and to support financial resilience for every consumer.

Originally published in Global  Business and Business Review.