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Bank branches, once thought to be possibly on their way out because of online and mobile innovations, are here to stay, industry executives say.
That is not to suggest that branches are not changing, in some cases dramatically. But many banks are focusing on customer service initiatives and face-to-face interaction between their employees and customers.
"Branch banking is very much alive and well," says James Carriero, Rochester market president for KeyBank NA.
KeyCorp built 38 new KeyBank branches across its footprint last year, its most ever in a single year, Chairman and CEO Henry Meyer HI told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in March.
The Cleveland-based company has renovated 160 branches over the last two years, Meyer said, and staffed 157 branches with employees with expertise in issues related to small business.
KeyCorp plans to add 40 branches this year and renovate 100. It is in the midst of adding six branches to its Buffalo market, and opened a new branch on Mt. Read Boulevard in Greece on May 23.
Carriero declines to say whether Rochester is targeted for additional branches but acknowledges that the company is scouting possible locations.
The 4,300-square-foot building in Greece features four teller stations, two work stations, three private offices, a conference room, a drive-through ATM and parking. Construction began last fall.
"I think we're going back to more-personal offices again," Carriero says. "We went through a phase where, at Key, there was an open platform.
"It didn't provide enough confidentiality. Now we've gone back to individual offices for our financial advisers and for our bankers and our mortgage representatives."
He adds: "We're trying to incorporate all the technologies that people want to use, but they still have come back to love the contact with human beings. That's the way we're trying to construct (branches) now. And because of that, privacy is a monumental issue."
Face time
The Greece office includes two financial advisers, a business banker and a mortgage representative.
"We're starting to hub more people," Carriero says. "When you build a new facility, it's your chance to put teams together. That's what we're trying to do more of."
The focus on branches is a change for Key, he concedes. Industry reports in the 1990s suggested that...