Chase
Human after all
Chase’s new banking strategy was to focus on high net worth and business customers, servicing the mass market customers through ATMs. Our design helped compensate for the loss of a human touch.
- Client:
Chase Manhattan Bank - Location:
Huntington, New York - Project:
New bank branch prototype - Objective:
Bring in human elements to offset bank's automation strategy - Disciplines:
- strategy
- environmental graphics
By investing in the latest technology the plan was to migrate customers from tellers to machines freeing up staff to better service the desired customer groups.
We voiced our concern that with so much automation they ran the risk of appearing sterile and faceless. With the bank in agreement, we set about designing a greater sense of humanity back into the branch. The overall branch design consisted of machines at the front leading up to a concierge desk with business and consumer banking areas on either side and a teller area at the back. Each banking area was identified by large graphics on curved walls designed to add a human touch. And instead of a sign we used a quote that described the area which was written in large handwriting rather than a typeface. Other signs around the branch intentionally included a human error you sometimes see on xeroxes.
The strategy was never fully tested as Chase merged with Chemical Bank shortly after this branch opened.