Page 9 - Savings Institute Bank & Trust Case Study

Evolving Roles & Priorities

“Having opened the Financial Solutions Center in Tolland,” says Wood, “the Savings Institute
leadership placed great emphasis on growing the loan portfolio in this new marketplace. We
made a priority of investing in equipment and training that enables the universal bankers to

discover customer needs. We also transformed the branch manager into a relationship
manager, free to make business calls to hunt for new opportunities. Achieving loan portfolio
growth was extremely important, and implementing the universal banker model allowed the
branch manager to deliver many business services and resources to our financial clients.

Leading the Changes in Branch Banking

Jonathan Wood exemplifies the type of thought leader that is driving the revolution in retail
banking. When asked about setting the transition process in motion, he said, “Progressive
executives leave a legacy of having brought the future to their bank, having secured the bank’s
future with their vision. They’re making a statement to the world that their organization gets it.
Whether they’ve been there for 30 years or 3 years doesn’t matter. It’s about having the

courage to embrace change.

“More than half the branches in New England will be gone in 10-15 years because the existing
delivery system does not match the needs and behaviors of our customer base.”

Wood has learned from first-hand experience the all-important relationship between staffing
models, branch design, and banking equipment. “It’s imperative that banks migrate to the

technology and embrace new forms of customer interaction,” he says. “One of the hardest
things to do right now is hire qualified people. Millennials won’t work for a teller’s wage; they
expect $50k per year. Teller positions have to evolve into the universal banker role, so they can
take on more responsibilities, be valuable and be paid more. Automating the cash transaction
piece is one way of tackling that problem, because it leads to bringing people on board with
greater talent and gifts in learning the industry. You can then start paying someone a universal
banker’s wage, and create great career opportunities, which is more attractive to millennials.
The most important aspect of all this is that if a financial institution fails to migrate to this new
way of delivering services over the next few years they won’t attract new talent or customers,

and will eventually become obsolete.”