CheBanca!
For the business innovation course project we were asked to design a Radical business Innovation of the banking retail Services of Che Banca, one of the biggest Italian innovating bank
• Innovation Strategy:
a meaning roadmap = a new meaning for Che Banca Retail Services and the innovation strategies to convey it
• Innovation Process:
embodiment of the innovation strategy through the Che Banca Retail Services Concept ideation and development
We started our journey in the financial sector trying to understand what was the most recent innovation of meaning in the banking industry and how this was conveyed in retail spaces and services. In a second moment, we tried to understand how some banks have transformed their retail spaces and among the ones we took into consideration we identified Intesa Sanpaolo as the last innovator, our enemy in this process of defining a new meaning for the industry.
Intesa Sanpaolo leads the approach with its slogan “Home from home”.
From that, our aim was to make our chosen bank, Che Banca!’s, retail services better than anything you can see in the field of finance today.
AUTHOR
Emma Teli, Manvi Aggarwal, Anna Buccarelli, Alessandro Ceccato,
Luca Ghezzi, Eline Håkonsen, Amalie Jensen
DATE
2019
FIELD
Business Innovation course, Product service system design
MY ROLE IN THE TEAM
Concept generation, service innovation, spatial design, visualizations
The research brought us to understand that nowadays the trend of banks was to make the customer feel relaxed and to welcome him/her in a multivocal space with plenty of different opportunities by which to be carried away (a way of mitigating the actual duties I’m there to carry out)
Basing ourselves on what we had learned in the previous research we tried to envision an extreme new meaning that could fit our industry and, in particular, Che Banca. We asked ourselves: what if the experience at the bank could actually become more engaging rather than relaxing? What if I as a customer went there just to discuss money issues and could save time by going directly to the point? These questions helped us to find our path towards the new meaning.
As a customer, I want to understand the processes I have to deal with and understand it from someone who is more prepared than I am and who I trust.
The bank becomes a place where I, as a customer, don’t need to be relaxed but to focus on money and to carry out the things I am there to do in a very quick and professional way.
The bank we imagine is an open space. We want to create a venue where everything is visible, a space where the customer enters and has the feeling of being in a lively indoor square, a place of exchange. Spatially speaking we imagine a branch where a great percentage of the space is occupied by an ARENA with terraces where customers can sit down and participate in lectures or take care of their business. Another consistent amount of space will be left for SELF-SERVICE SPOTS where customers can carry out small processes without the necessity lining up for a desk support. The goal is to make the permanence in the branch extremely productive and rapid. A third area will be reserved for more private matters such as consultancy or employees’ offices. The customers will have a digital personal area where a dedicated consultant will be able to take care of their issues and advise them. The consultant will suggest interesting lectures in different branches that could fit the customer ‘s specific needs or interests and eventually book appointments in the branches for further support. The customer will be able to interact also with other customers in a communal sharing platform, a forum in which to share doubts and insights. The aim of this service is the formation of the customers and the creation of a community of users who exchange problems and solutions.
The project aims to answer both the expectations that the people have about the field and the lack of knowledge about the procedures, the investments, and the management of personal finances. The customer journey within the branch has been figured as a series of stages that work in conjunction with the final objective: providing the customer the consciousness of what he does with the tools that the bank supplies. Ideally, they are services that cover at 360° the requirements of each client and for this reason, they are innately valuable even when taken into account individually. Out of them, the moment of meaning is identified within what happens inside the arena. We can say that the moment of meaning is a self-realization moment felt by the customer: a new state of mind introduced within the experience. This is actually a special concern for the person, because, out of the uncertainties, he mentally opens a direct channel to get knowledge. Bank as a service means to believe that what is really important to get is a condition for the customer, where he can find freedom, gladness, and satisfaction in what he does.
