National Bank of Greece takes an unconventional approach

Not every banking branch offers customers the option of speaking with call-centre employees via video link, let alone a collection of touch-screen consoles to access online banking services. Factor in an amphitheatre, virtual sky, free wifi and a vertical garden and you can be fairly sure you’re looking at something rather unusual.

But then with no tellers or cash, this is not a branch in the conventional sense of the word. Rather, it’s National Bank of Greece’s (NBG's) attempt to combat the country’s incredibly low level of uptake in electronic banking services by giving them a physical home. This recently opened flagship 'i-bank store' in Athens allows customers to access online, phone and mobile banking channels - as well as ATMs and an automated payment service terminal for bill payments and cash deposits – with the support of NBG staff.

“We thought we should do something to promote electronic banking services, but not only through internet marketing and online campaigns,” says Nelly Tzakou, general manager, group head of operations and global transaction services at NBG. “Instead we wanted to give anyone who came into the store the opportunity to really explore the electronic channels, familiarise themselves with the technology, and find out how to do their daily banking transactions from a mobile device or personal computer.”

Staying offline

Greek banks and their customers are not known for embracing the latest in financial technology. At just 5%, online banking uptake is woefully low when compared with adoption rates of between 35% and 54% among core European countries, according to a 2010 Deutsche Bank report. In northern European countries, the figure is as high as 77%.

Some of the blame for this can be pinned on relatively low levels of internet access in Greece, but that alone does not explain such startlingly poor uptake, especially when the percentage of Greek businesses taking advantage of online banking services is much closer to the European average. In fact, among NBG’s large or medium-sized corporate customers, internet banking registration is very close to 100%, says Ms Tzakou. Meanwhile, only 150,000 of the bank’s 4 million-plus retail customers use its internet banking services in an average month.

Appealing to new customer segments is a key theme for the new branch, and it is intended to attract new customer groups to the bank’s electronic services, rather than just tech-savvy younger generations. “We don’t want to appeal only to people who are comfortable with new technologies," says Ms Tzakou. “We particularly want to target consumers who have not used technology for banking transactions before.”

Rapid response

From initial planning to opening of the first i-bank store in February took less than 12 months. The majority of this time was spent in the design and planning stage, which lasted from March to September 2010. However, once the construction process was under way, it took just 82 days, says Ms Tazakou. This was in part due to the efforts of interior design firm Allen International, which worked with NBG on the project.

The biggest challenges posed by the project were sourcing and coordinating the right kinds of technology and construction specialists to realise the bank’s rather unusual plans, says Ms Tazakou. “Digital equipment and other special constructions hosted in the i-bank store – both separately and combined – were unique both for NBG and for the Greek banking sector,” she adds.

Ms Tzakou stresses that the branch is designed to educate both customers and non-customers alike. The inbuilt amphitheatre, for example, plays host to workshops, seminars and presentations on everything from the latest tablet computing device to how to write a blog.

Building a template

The store’s location in Greece’s largest shopping mall has also been an advantage in attracting a range of visitors. More than 25,000 people had visited it within less than a month of operation. But the flagship store may be the first of many, says Ms Tazakou. NBG plans to roll out two more branches this year in Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki – one standalone, and one within an existing outlet.

The latter could be a model for operations in some of NBG’s 500 other branches. “We are giving a lot of thought to the 'shop-in-shop' idea. Some of our branches are quite spacious, and we plan eventually to have specific i-bank corners there to give our existing customers the same opportunities to familiarise themselves with electronic banking channels that we offer in the flagship store,” says Ms Tzakou.

An unorthodox approach, but drastic steps will be needed to gain traction in the online banking world. NBG has been increasing active internet banking customers at an annual rate of 25% over past few years. But even at that seemingly healthy rate of growth, it will still take many years to draw level with even the lowest current levels of online banking penetration in western Europe, and other banks will not stand still in the interim.