THE banks’ efforts to better engage with their customers has taken another step with the opening of Westpac’s new retail branch in Cottesloe.
THE banks’ efforts to better engage with their customers has taken another step with the opening of Westpac’s new retail branch in Cottesloe.
Increasingly, banks are moving to optimise their branch networks through the relocation and upgrade of branches and by opting for innovations such as kiosks and owner-manager style branches.
Westpac Cottesloe is the newest in a network of 110 Westpac branches in Western Australia. It is the seventh branch to open during the past 24 months.
State general manager retail and regional banking, Mark Stafford, had a very straightforward explanation for the opening of new branches.
“Customers want to deal with us face-to-face, and they prefer to do that in a branch,” Mr Stafford said.
Westpac also has plans for new branches in Butler and Malaga.
The remaining top tier banks are also expanding their retail branches or ‘stores’.
NAB has invested almost $15 million in its store network in WA over the past two years, which includes the opening of six new stores and kiosks. NAB currently has 75 stores and three kiosks across WA.
The Commonwealth Bank has 76 branches across the state, including four new branches during the past 24 months. The bank is working on two new sites in WA for the near future.
Bankwest has 87 stores in WA, with three new stores opening during the past two years. This month, Bankwest is launching its first inter-active kiosk in WA at Karrinyup Shopping Centre.
Bankwest head of retail stores, Phillipa Bartlett, said the kiosk was designed to provide a more customer-friendly and interactive experience.
“We have an ATM set up and customers can still open a home loan, credit card or transaction account onsite,” she said.
Bankwest plans to open a branch in Ellenbrook later this year.
ANZ has 85 WA branches, although no new branch openings took place during the past two years.
Some of the second-tier banks have also been expanding.
Suncorp has 10 branches in WA, including four that opened during the past two years.
It plans to open a further seven branches over the next two to three years, with three of these set to open in the first half of 2011.
Bendigo Bank has 43 branches and eight agents in WA. Like Suncorp, Bendigo has opened four new branches during the past two years.
Bendigo’s Dunsborough branch is scheduled to open its doors in July, while the Busselton branch is due by the end of 2011.
Bank of Queensland has not added to its 30 WA branches over the past two years. However, in the first half of 2009, BOQ converted branches in six WA suburbs to the owner-manager branch model and now has owner-managers running each of these branches as their own business.
Locally owned and operated Police and Nurses Credit Society has 16 branches in WA.
In the first half of 2011, PNCS will open a new branch at the Innaloo Shopping Centre.
