Royal Bank of Scotland
Envisioning the 2020 branch experience
In July 2015 I did a three-month internship at Royal Bank of Scotland on several projects on of which included to reenvision the branch experience for 2020.
After shadowing customer advisors in two branches we observed that the number of under 25's coming into the branch was very low, thus shaping the direction of our further research towards the 16-25 demographic.
Customer advisor helping a customer to open a saving account
The concepts
Guided by our problem statement of
“How can RBS improve their outreach to 18 - 25's in a way that is meaningful to their lifestyles in order to better prepare them for their financial future?”
we began to ideate conceptual services which followed RBS's design principle to begin having "unbank like conversations" to start connecting and supporting their customers in ways that are more relevant to their lives. We choose our three strongest concepts to visualise and take forward to present to the director of Personal & Business Banking, the solutions design lead for branches, and creative director.
Concept 1: Adventures
Local branches will host meet ups where young people who have been travelling will hold short talks to share their travelling experiences and be on hand to answer any questions. At the event RBS staff will make attendees aware of the new adventures app. The app helps the user to plan their itinerary, activities, budget and set savings goals. Allowing the user to plan their dream trip while also building a relationship with the bank in a way that is relevant to their lifestyle.
Concept 2: Driving academy
The bank will assist young people to find driving instructors they can trust, understand all the financial commitments owning a car involves and learn how driving behaviour can directly impact finances all through an app. Driving instructors will provide the additional service of relevant financial advice such as opening a savings account, ISAs, credit cards and how to improve credit rating.
Concept 3: Reach
Local branches will host networking nights where young people will have the opportunity to hear from start-up founders and entrepreneurs. After the talks there will be networking opportunities to allow attendees to form mentor & mentee relationships. Mentors will help mentees to develop their own business and RBS will support by offering working spaces and financial advice.
