Friday, January 20, 2023 – In her recent appearance on the Financial Brand’s Banking Transformed podcast, Adrenaline’s Chief Experience Officer Gina Bleedorn shares her insights on the current state of retail banking and how financial institutions can deliver on consumer demand through a balance of right-sized branches. “There is growth and there is savings, and everyone is on a spectrum,” she says to host Jim Marous. “But for the most part, what I continue to see when I ask, ‘Are you really trying to save and take cost out or invest in your network?’ I find most of them are on the side of growth.”
With growth as the primary goal for financial institutions, both large and small, leaders must make decisions around investment into their physical channel and network of branches. “So, they are taking cost out, but a lot of that [savings] is so they can reinvest the money back into branch delivery and retail delivery,” Gina shares. Despite assumptions that the branch channel would fade away, she says now there is widespread agreement that there is a real value in the physical channel, but it just needs to change. “What I find is they’re wanting to invest, but they’re also wanting to save so they invest in the right way.”
To make those smart investments, FIs need to leverage the right data. “I continue to see real estate brokers saying ‘we should go here’ and a market president who says ‘you definitely need one there,’” shares Gina. “Those are inputs that matter, but having good data and a good interpretation of what that data means” is what counts. Describing the launch of Adrenaline’s analytics practice, Gina says, “I felt very strongly about making it immediately actionable.” With so much data sitting on shelves gathering dust at financial institutions, she says people may crave data, but “98 times out of a hundred they don’t want data; they just want the answers.”
To hear all of Gina’s insights, tune in to the Financial Brand’s Banking Transformed podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Hosted by banking and fintech influencer, Jim Marous, Banking Transformed is a leading podcast in retail banking. With weekly episodes, the podcast highlights leadership and cultural challenges facing the industry and features the brightest minds in banking and business.
To learn more about optimizing the branch channel for growth or to speak with one of Adrenaline’s brand strategy experts, contact us at info@adrenalinex.com. Be sure to stay tuned in to Believe in Banking as it spotlights industry information and insights for banking leaders and Adrenaline’s Insights channel featuring bank and credit union strategies for success.
Adrenaline is an end-to-end brand experience company serving the financial industry. We move brands and businesses ahead by delivering on every aspect of their experience across digital and physical channels, from strategy through implementation. Our multi-disciplinary team works with leadership to advise on purpose, position, culture, and retail growth strategies. We create brands people love and engage audiences from employees to customers with story-led design and insights-driven marketing; and we design transformative brand experiences across branch networks, leading the construction and implementation of physical spaces that drive business advantage and make the brand experience real.
