Banking With Style

Deposit, withdraw, sip, relax, lounge, learn, shop … wait, is this a bank? Patrons at Umpqua’s Oregon flagship “bank store,” savor Umpqua’s own coffee blend, lounge in leather chairs, buy financial self-help books, and, yeah, open a savings account or two. Umpqua even throws in free Friday night movies, yoga classes, and home-improvement workshops!
And don’t forget the customer service. Umpqua employees train under Ritz-Carlton’s elite customer service program. One business reviewer describes the whole shebang as “more like the love child of a W Hotel and a Sephora boutique than a financial institution”. Umpqua is striving to be the friendly neighborhood financial institution.
Let’s Get Down To Business…
Although Umpqua is not the only bank with a boutique-style and cushy service, the idea is a cool one. It emphasizes the importance of customers’ welfare and gives a better aesthetic appeal. Comfort and style is also incorporated to enhance their customers’ banking experience/process. This will definitely appeal to customers and help draw more customers with the appeal and also to maintain your current pool of customers. Also, by combining community access, it is also reaching out to a broader base of customers. Umpqua goes a step further beyond selling. It knows how to deliver on that – and that’s no small change.
Related Ideas & Trends
Banking on Comfort [Iconoculture]
Umpqua Bank adds Tualatin branch [Bizjournals]
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