Page 27 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

BANC ONE: USING NO LLDVNI3DC13 3A1 1VAO NN I 3H 1

CREATIVITY TO PROSPER

The banking industry has undergone a massive
amount of change. Indeed, it is no longer really
just the banking industry but the financial services
industry. Commercial banks, savings banks, and
credit unions now offer services in brokerage, in-
surance, and financial planning. And because of the trend toward
diversification, a "commercial bank" offering a full line of services,
such as Banc One, finds itself in competition with domestic rivals
such as Sears, American Express, and Merrill Lynch, as well as
with global banks and insurance firms. Banks now have to think
of themselves as retailers. They have to create visual excitement,
and sell to their customers when they come into the bank. Com-
petition is increasing and the rate of change in the industry is
accelerating.

Banc One's operation in upper Arlington, Ohio looks a lot more
like a small shopping mall than it does a bank these days. It
incorporates several small boutiques, an insurance agency, a real
estate office, a travel agency, and a discount stock brokerage (prod-
uct innovations). Across from these boutiques, at the bank itself,
are three tellers, an automated teller machine, and a new-accounts
desk. The impact of a high-tech decor is heightened by large, bright
informational banners (marketing innovations). "This is a sur-
vival issue," says John F. Fisher, senior vice president of Banc One
Corporation, Banc One's parent company. "Our old branches don't
work for what we need them for today, we must learn to compete
with Sears and K-Mart [which offers banking at some stores] in all
the things they do."

Banc One uses several techniques to maintain its creative edge. It
works hard to develop new products. For example, in 1993, 400
branches opened personal investment centers where customers
can receive investment counseling (product innovation). But, it
innovates not only in products but in processes, marketing, and
management as well. One of its principal strategies for success is
bringing its unique version of tight controls to the banks it ac-
quires. Yet, unlike other acquisition oriented banks, it doesn't fire

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