Texas Bank SWARMs over Customers

In this time of intense competition, earnings pressure, customer attrition and declining branch traffic, how can banks truly reengineer the customer experience? $1.2 billion Extraco Banks, Temple, Texas, is a great example of how a financial institution can transform its retail operations and culture from top to bottom.

One of its tactics, profiled by BAI Banking Strategies, is adopting a SWARM customer service methodology (patent pending) focused on customer interaction.

Not content with just fancy branch coffee kiosks, plush couches or a fancy new sales program, Extraco went all out to redesign its entire retail delivery process, including staffing, technology and training. 

More than that, they cut out a ton of red tape and administrative work, enabling “swarms” of expert relationship bankers to work the branch floor (away from desks and offices), greeting customers within seconds of arrival, approving loans, and streamlining the experience to be anything but a long, painful wait in a teller line.

Extraco leaders firmly support the branch as a delivery channel, so they spent years focusing on making that experience better and cost-effective. Is the investment paying off?

The BAI article says the bank has reduced staff by one-and-a-half to three full-time employees per branch because of the automation and process streamlining. They’ve also seen an 18% increase in deposits over a two-year period.

Some people may find it surprising to see innovation like this from a community bank. Extraco execs cite its former chairman’s motto as a driving force:  “You can move forward and you can move backwards, but you can’t just sit still.” 

With SWARM as its new customer experience modus operandi, there’s literally no sitting still at this bank.