Smart Branches: pioneering a comfortable and personalized banking experience

People still want to visit a physical bank branch, but they expect the experience to be useful, simple, and comfortable. They already manage many transactions via an app, but they seek a personal touch and a tailored experience for the less routine operations. The smart branch is here to stay.

Not yet familiar with smart branches? You've probably seen a smart branch in your city. These are bank branches... that don't look anything like traditional bank branches. They are more comfortable, functional spaces with fewer psychological barriers and less of a hierarchy. A new trend in banking that combines technology with an increasingly personalized customer service experience that reflects the changes in how users interact with their bank and how they want to manage their finances and businesses today. 
 
Digitalization has enabled most banking to be done from an app or a phone, so branches are changing rapidly, reflecting the major paradigm shift that is taking place in banking and other sectors, affecting the function, form and substance of traditional bank branches.  
 
New times require new spaces that are adapted to the needs of customers. Customers who, in addition to being able to interact with the bank through digital channels, can always rely, whenever they need it, on their trusted advisor to make the best financial decisions. And do so both remotely and in person.
 
In fact, branches nowadays are increasingly more like advice centers where people get solutions to some of the most pressing issues in their lives, such as taking out mortgage loans or negotiating financing to start a business. The new smart branch concept places more emphasis on their expertise with in-person service.

Switzerland, a winning formula

Switzerland has the perfect recipe to stay on the podium as a financial capital - and to go further. The tradition, innovation and sophistication of its private banking attracts investment.
BBVA is putting this concept into practice and already has a new type of branch in place, namely Commercial Banking Centres (CBC), which offer highly specialized services in innovative and sustainable spaces. These branches usually have state-of-the-art ATMs to do all the usual banking activity, both cash deposits and withdrawals, as well as operations involving bills, transfers, mobile top-ups and inquiries. They also have meeting rooms for customers to handle personal affairs with their advisors, and informal rooms for transactions that require less privacy. 
 
These branches usually work through appointments, which saves time and improves the experience of customers, who are increasingly connected and informed, and who are guided at all times by an advisor who can provide help and advice on what may be needed in relation to managing their accounts and other bank services. Another feature of smart branches is that advisors have a shared work area in order to work collaboratively while sharing knowledge and thus offering a better service to customers.
 
In addition, in the case of BBVA branches, they were very much designed with sustainability in mind, since they feature energy efficiency systems, with no individual filing cabinets or trash cans, the goal being to transition to paperless spaces and waste sorting.
 
Smart branches, which are normally found in strategic locations such as central streets, shopping centers and business centers, are transforming traditional banking and are expected to continue to be a trend that is seemingly unstoppable.