Gareth Gaston came to U.S. Bancorp from the hotel industry two years ago. Now he's executive vice president of omnichannel, which means he's in charge of making the bank's nonbranch retail customer experience work, and work together across the internet, mobile, call centers and physical branches. He spends a lot of time thinking about the future of banking. Based in San Francisco and overseeing 2,000 employees, he sat for an interview at the Star Tribune last week.
Q: What's the future of the bank branch?
A: Listen, we think the bank branch is still important, and what we see today in our numbers is that customers continue to use the bank branch. Other industries have had their debates about whether or not the physical location matters, and I think everyone now recognizes that physical branches, or stores, or whatever, are still a very important part of customers' lives.
Our philosophy on life is we want to be where the customer wants us to be. Branches are still a very important element of the overall channel mix. Of course we're always thinking, "Are the branches in the right place? Are they in the right format?"
Q: It surprises me that customers still want to go to a branch.
A: It depends on what your needs are. For day-to-day banking transactions, then yes, most of those will be mobile or on the web or a call or an ATM.
But there's a benefit in being able to go in and sit down and talk to somebody about your mortgage or your investments or, especially, your small business. I would say walk over to the IDS Center and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how busy the branch is.
Q: You're based in San Francisco. Why?