The flagship branch that Citibank opened in Union Square today is a bit different from banks in its other locations.
Instead of picking up a paper brochure, patrons can use one of the six interactive sales walls with touchscreen capabilities to learn more about bank services. Instead of using deposit envelopes, they can use enhanced-image ATMs to deposit checks without them. And instead of waiting for business hours to speak with a customer service representative, customers can use a 24/7 video chat station in the ATM lobby.
The digital components of the 9,700-square-foot branch are based on technologies pioneered by Citibanks in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Some features of the new bank seem more suited for a cafe or a airport lounge than a bank. Customers can access free Wi-Fi (in a private seating lounge if they are Citigold customers), and “media walls” display news, weather, and information about Citibank. Atmosphere Proximity, Citi’s digital agency, also designed a chip with the bank’s social media team that accesses a special Foursquare feed. Whenever a certain amount of people check in to the branch, an “internal marketing screen” shows which users are inside the branch at that very moment.
“We want this branch to be more than just a bank,” Brad Dinsmore, Citigroup’s head of retail banking in North America, said in a speech at the opening ceremony. “We want this branch to be a place where customers view it as a hub, a center of the community, if you will. A place where they feel warm and welcome, that they can come in and experience our free Wi-Fi access.”
Citi plans to open other branches that emulate the Union Square experience in other key U.S. markets, including San Francisco, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago.
