Worcester Business Journal

F OC U S T E C H N O L O G Y Central Mass. bank branches are in high demand, but banks are over- hauling to better provide what customers want from brick and mortar Servicing tech-savvy customers 12 Worcester Business Journal | May 29, 2017 | wbjournal.com P ractically any bank customer can have paychecks automati- cally deposited into an account, withdraw from an ATM, or even deposit or transfer money by phone. Even if there are fewer reasons than ever to walk into a bank, that hasn't meant branches are closing. Instead, banks are renovating their spaces, going smaller and more informal, and train- ing branch employees to do more of everything a customer may need. "It's been a trend from transaction to expertise," said Bryan Christensen, the director of community banking for Natick-based Middlesex Savings Bank. Middlesex has seen the number of its online and mobile banking customers rise by one-fourth in the past three years alone. The bank has seen a steady 2- to 4-percent drop each year in the rate of customers using branches for traditional deposits or withdrawals in recent years, Christensen said, but it has also found proximity to a branch BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor remains a major factor in someone deciding where to bank. In response, Middlesex's 30 branches have been rebooted with standalone stations where a customer can make deposits or withdrawals with an employee who is trained to also help with more complex financial requests a customer might have, like getting a loan. Middlesex Bank's moves reflect what is happening in the state and nationally. The number of customers using mobile and online services is spiking, but so are the number of bank branches: Massachusetts is currently at an all-time high of 1,325 branches since the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. started keeping track in 1934, while the 82,000 branches nationally is down only 2 percent from its all-time high set in 2012. More branches, different services In Central Massachusetts, banks are following trends toward smaller branches looking little like they might have a generation ago, centered around a rope line leading to a teller window. Whitinsville-based UniBank, which has 13 locations, designs new branches to be about 1,500 square feet, said Chris Foley, the bank's director of con- sumer banking. Not long ago, branch- es were more often 2,500 to 3,200 square feet, he said. UniBank has demonstration iPhones, iPads and Android phones to show cus- tomers how to bank online, and several branches no longer have tellers separat- ed from customers. The days of thick glass separating employee from cus- tomer are largely long gone. "It's breaking that traditional 'You're there, I'm here,'" said Paulo DeOliveira, the relationship branch manager at UniBank's branch on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester, a five- year-old branch with all of the compa- ny's new features. Berkshire Bank last month announced plans to buy Worcester- based Commerce Bank as part of its plans to become a major Northeast banking institution, but Berkshire plans to do that largely without a branch expansion. Berkshire uses "live banker areas," with employees not tied to a particular location. At one of its Boston branch- es, Berkshire uses interactive teller machines – known as ITMs – self-ser- vice kiosks that work like advanced ATMs, with a person available to help by video if needed. Berkshire plans to convert more of its branch ATMs into ITMs. "Traditional retail branch models were designed before the internet and mobile banking. Times and branches have changed," Tami Gunsch, Berkshire's executive vice president for retail banking. "Brick-and-mortar branches are not going away. They are Less banks, more branches Despite more consolidation among banks, branch locations are on the rise, with the number in Massachusetts hitting an all-time high and the number nationally just slightly off its 2012 peak. UniBank's branch on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester features a comfortable seating area, and more informal teller desks. 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 200 600 1,000 1,400 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 Number of MASS. BANKS Number of MASS. BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 Number of NATIONAL BANKS Number of NATIONAL BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 35 21 1,083 1,325 7,523 5,340 73,604 82,046 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 200 600 1,000 1,400 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 Number of MASS. BANKS Number of MASS. BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 Number of NATIONAL BANKS Number of NATIONAL BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 35 21 1,083 1,325 7,523 5,340 73,604 82,046 Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 200 600 1,000 1,400 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 Number of MASS. BANKS Number of MASS. BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 Number of NATIONAL BANKS Number of NATIONAL BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 35 21 1,083 1,325 7,523 5,340 73,604 82,046 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 200 600 1,000 1,400 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 Number of MASS. BANKS Number of MASS. BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 Number of NATIONAL BANKS Number of NATIONAL BRANCHES '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 35 21 1,083 1,325 7,523 5,340 73,604 82,046 P H O T O S / E D D C O T E

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