Santander Bank on Wednesday announced the introduction of Financial Centers, a new banking format that provides customers with in-person support and assistance on digital transactions. The format responds to customer preferences for a digital-first experience with enhanced onsite personal engagement.
One of these first-ever centers is located in Hoboken, along with four other cities (Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Providence, Rhode Island).
With more customers choosing to bank with Santander online and through mobile apps, these evolving preferences have fueled the bank’s journey to meet them where they are. This new format is being offered as part of Santander’s multiyear strategy to transform into a digital bank with branches.
At these centers, team members are focused on offering side-by-side assistance when utilizing mobile and ATM capabilities for everyday deposits and withdrawals, spending more time providing customers with personal assistance and guidance.
“We have prioritized the regional bank’s modernization in the Northeast, while investing in our digital capabilities, simplifying our processes and integrating new tools and resources,” Yajaira Lopez, head of branch banking at Santander, said. “More customers are choosing to bank with us online and through mobile apps, which has fueled our journey to meet them where they are.”
According to Santander’s recent Paths to Prosperity research, 92% of middle-income Americans said being able to control when, where and how they access their bank accounts and services is important to them, and 86% of middle-income Americans are completing at least half their banking transactions digitally.
“We continue to better understand our customers’ evolving needs every day to help our team reimagine how we serve them,” Lopez added. “The work we are doing in our physical locations to educate customers on taking advantage of all we offer, including the digital channels that allow them to engage with us more efficiently, is critically important.”
