LEAN RETAIL BANKING
Since the heydays of investment banking seem to be over, attention is again turning to the retail side of banking to deliver steady profits and stable funding that banks need to regain the support of investors. It seems that the timing for retail banking is right to regain attention, since consumers are evidently changing their ways of interaction with retail banks through the use of mobile technology. Yet a central discussion point remains: the future of the bank branch. Will branches, who have been prematurely reported dead several times over the last decades, join the same fate as book stores, music stores and travel agents which keep on disappearing from high streets globally? Or is trust still paramount in retail banking, where people will leave their savings only with banks that have a vast network of branches symbolising their stability?