A New Take on ‘Access’
Money these days is becoming all about “access.” Get to it anytime and anywhere. Hence the growth of features like remote deposit capture, mobile bill pay, personal financial managment, and P2P payments. Retail Banking branch transactions and visits have been consistently declining since the early 2000’s. It seems the only people that go into the bank these days are commercial clients and…well, people my Mom and Dad’s age. I avoid going into a bank like its my wife’s OBGYN.
VirginAir Lounge at Gatwick Airport. Maybe the bank lounges will look like this?
Virgin Money may get me to change my ways with their new Virgin Money Lounges they are unveiling on High Streets in London, Edinburgh, Norwich, and Manchester. According to a Virgin Money spokesman, the lounges will be open to existing customers, who will be invited to use them to relax and enjoy free coffee, wi-fi, and gadget such as iPads. The aim is to make people “want to stay” and engage with the Virgin Money brand. Virgin Money also intends to open 70 bank branches over the next five-year period, with each following a similar informal model to the lounges.
At first glance this seems a risky proposition to be opening this many branches when so many banks around the world are closing branches. Though, the more I got to thinking about it, the more it starts to make sense. Virgin is offering a higher level of “access.” Its what I call emotional access. Vigin gets that its not about the transaction, but an experience that goes beyond customer service that now could steal marketshare from Starbucks and others. They are taking a declining asset and reimaging it into something that offers more utility and adding in-kind customer value. Once a financial institution starts to go down this road, the possibilities could be endless. They could create business centers such as a FedEx/Kinkos location, temporary office/meeting space, and why not charge cost for a latte?
Banks are on notice, I think its time to start re-thinking the retail experience.
