PNC Bank Opens Inaugural 'Pop-Up Branch'
ATLANTA -- PNC Bank, based in Pittsburgh, has opened its inaugural portable "pop-up branch" here. The branch brings financial services to consumers through a temporary site designed to generate new business.
The unique, steel-constructed, 20-by 8-foot structure is open seven days a week through mid-November at Atlantic Station, a mixed-use center built on the former brownfield site of the Atlantic Steel Mill.
The branch is staffed by financial services consultants who open new accounts and take applications for personal loans along with referrals for mortgages, investments, merchant services and other products.
The consultants use iPads to demonstrate online and mobile services such as the PNC Virtual Wallet and Cash Flow Insight for small businesses. For routine transactions, a "smart" ATM is available 24/7 where customers can withdraw cash, including $1 bills, cash checks and deposit checks and cash into their accounts.
"Branch convenience to home remains the No. 1 reason that consumers choose their primary bank, but they are using branches very differently today," says Todd Barnhart, PNC executive vice president of branch banking, in a prepared statement. "This pop-up branch is a creative way to bring banking to customers and help them experience the innovative solutions we offer."
The branch is in line with PNC's announcement earlier this year that its branch in downtown Niles, Ohio, will close and be combined with the McKinley branch as of 3 p.m. Aug. 16. At that time, officials said the bank is responding to requests for convenient electronic banking alternatives by adding online, mobile and tablet banking and advanced-function ATMs.
Given the site and its ability to track customer use, the three-month trial at Atlantic Station will help PNC determine whether a permanent branch is justified, Barnhart notes. As PNC redefines its retail banking business, he says, the bank is exploring other innovative branch concepts in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Among the features of the new pop-up branch:
- Open floor plan with PNC specialists to promote conversations instead of tellers behind counters.
- Video conferencing capabilities for more complex banking inquiries.
- Five "smart" ATMs.
- A "discovery table" with touch-screen computers and iPads for demonstrations of mobile deposit, Virtual Wallet and other PNC online services.
- 2,100 square feet (a little more than half the size of a traditional branch).
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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