I continue the journey by presenting the output from the last group – Team #3 and their vision of the future of retail banking. Last week we explored the Financial Super Store concept. This week we will look at the complete opposite concept – what if coffee shops started to offer financial services? They decided to reframe the challenge and work from the following…
“By 2025, what will we expect from a retail bank in regards to New Services, Communication Channels and Personal Interactions?”
As with the other posts, we will explore the persona and then take a look at the thoughts and result from the group.
Building their persona on a busy mum, with travelling husband during the weeks
Jennifer (or Jenny as she prefers) lives in an affluent part of West London. She is in her late 
30’s, married with three kids ranging from seven to twenty (step daughter). Her husband is away in the weeks so she runs the family and their property rental business at the same time. She needs an effective way of combing a lot of different business activities, picking up and dropping the kids at school, while still finding time to relax for a moment. Most of her work and down time she spends in her mobile office, which is normally her favourite coffee shop. She manages the business and performs financial transactions in between catching up with her friends. She also feel that her stepdaughter needs financial support and is trying to build a relationship with her.
What if STARBUCKS was a bank…?
Financial advice and a cup of java at the same time. A coffee shop that can provide you with a relaxed atmosphere and offer you banking and financial advice. You can pop in and hope to see a financial advisor or pre-book your visit to ensure you have a slot to discuss you current affairs. The coffee shop would be the branch face of the bank. It would use high tech technology platform (maybe from NUBank) to bring all customer interactions into one place. Offering a highly developed app for day to day work as well as more advanced interactions and follow ups. Adding the ability for video conferencing your bank manager for when you are on the move or just request some help on specific topics through the app.
Personalisation in a public space
Jenny has a pre-booked appointment at her local coffee shop. When she arrives, she orders 
coffee and lets the advisor know where she sits via her app. She taps the table and pays for her coffee via her phone. The advisor gets a notification and has the ability to review the current situation and any outstanding questions or potential future actions. They are both up to date on current situation as well as the reason Jenny is there, and can start their interaction swiftly after a brief introduction. They both have access to the same information in the app, the advisor can link suitable products and services to the ever changing situation in the family. The advisor can also use the information to support future needs, cost savings proposals and financial strategies based on Jenny and her family needs. At the same time, she can ensure that the needs of the business is fulfilled as similar support exists for her small business.
The meeting brings new ideas to Jenny and they put together some conceptual plans. Jenny leaves the coffee shop and gets the update to her app, where she can review them with her husband in Nice over the weekend.
The concept was well received and potentially an attractive an informal way to bank. Main concerns from the test subject were security and privacy in an open place such as a café. Also – flipping the idea and let a trusted bank offering the same setup was proposed, but under more controlled forms.
In my next and final post we will look at some of the observations and predictions from the days.
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