MultiBank: An NCR Case Study

The customer

Polish retail banking is a cash-based environment dominated by traditional branches and conventional counter-orientated services. Queuing and long wait times are endemic as self-service banking is still in its infancy.

Against this background BRE Bank, one of Poland’s leading commercial and retail banks, decided to create a network of innovative new branches under the brand name of MultiBank. Their aim was to combine state-of-the-art self-service technologies with the highest level of personal service, delivered in cutting-edge branch locations. The good news was that with no legacy branch estate or technology infrastructure to hold them back, MultiBank was free to create a truly unique solution from scratch.

The challenge

MultiBank knew they needed a fresh approach to banking that would meet the many demands of a relatively new customer segment— the growing Polish middle class. They also knew that in order to attract these important customers away from the competition their new approach had to be nothing short of extraordinary.

MultiBank already understood from extensive market research that the new branches needed to be contemporary without being futuristic and to use modern technologies without being impersonal. They also had to be easy to use, friendly and right up to date. At the same time MultiBank wanted an approach to service, products and marketing that was equally innovative.

They understood the importance of customer education, convenience and ease of use. What they needed was a way of combining electronic and staffed channels with strong, informed face-to-face and remote support.

Just as importantly, MultiBank also needed an adaptable and modular design that could be scaled to accommodate different branch sizes, new technologies and the latest products. Individual elements needed to be reusable in a wide variety of contexts, so flexibility was essential. At the same time the branches had to reinforce the MultiBank brand and provide integrated methods to promote all marketing and merchandizing strategies. The question, of course, was how to deliver all this.