Why is it that when we go to a spa, we dont mind lying buck naked on the massage table and yet if were ever asked to expose anything about our personal finances we clam up and get all nervous?
If that question had been asked by anyone other than Chris Catliffs wife, thered be no story. But Catliff is the CEO of the North Shore Credit Union. Its his job to make people feel more comfortable about coming into one of the companys 12 branches to talk about their financial needs.
Think, therefore, of the credit unions newest branch on W. Broadway as a financial wellness spa. There is soft music to match the soft lighting, candles burning on the concierges desk, artful design elements with wood, stone and water. Everything and everyone has a calming effect. There is beauty all around yet the rock and steel also convey a sense of strength. Youll be asked if you want a freshly brewed cappuccino as you sit in a tastefully decorated lounge with one of the associates who will ascertain who can best help you.
Most banks try to be imposing the big and mighty Oz, Catliff says. In the old days, banks were designed to awe us with their sense of power. The tellers sat behind imposing counters that further separated us from the mysteries of money. Trust us, the banks architecture said. More recently, banks have almost become the fast-food outlets of financial institutions, designed to get us in and out as efficiently as possible.
The W. Broadway branch is designed to take the stress out of banking. The target market is people in their 30s to mid-50s who are earning a good income but feel overwhelmed by the task of figuring out how to plan for their future. With fewer people able to retire with a pension, the onus is on most of us to decide how to invest wisely. Its a huge responsibility, especially with the media full of so many financial doom and gloom stories.
Catliff says that all too often, however, going to a financial planner is an unpleasant experience. It was like going to the dentist and being told you hadnt flossed enough you havent saved enough.
It might seem counterintuitive for a financial institution to spend so much money on giving customers a Four Seasons banking experience. But in the three months since the branch opened, its already at year two of its target. People are responding to the invitation to having their anxieties massaged away.
The other surprising outcome of this type of design has been the reduction in robberies. The FBI even sent an investigator to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»to find out why the NSCU has had only one robbery in five years, well below the industry average.
It turns out there are several factors. First is all the eye contact that a customer receives, from the moment they are personally welcomed by the concierge and then walk past all the offices with their sliding Japanese shoji screen doors to the back of the branch where the smiling service representatives step out from behind the open pods to greet them.
Were putting in massive psychological barriers to theft, Catliff says. Branch manager Garry Hayes adds that given the design, many people dont realize its a credit union.
The W. Broadway branch might not be exactly what the Occupy protestors have in mind when they demand a devolution of power from the banks, but the credit union is benefitting from the movements anti-bank sentiment.
Catliff says that many banks have invested in the stocks that they are recommending to their clients and therefore have a direct interest in the clients choice. Profits are then funnelled to shareholders, with bank ownership turning over every year. Credit unions are owned by members and all profits are put back into services for members.
Were a circle not a line, says Catliff, adding Occupy started fighting against the one per cent. Credit unions arent part of the one per cent. They are supporting the 99 per cent.
