Future Bank

Future Bank

For a big bank, it was a big change, in describing the plan to enact “Future Bank." A different vision of retail banking, John Georgius, president of First Union Bank said, “This is massive. This is a huge fundamental change to what we do“. Georgius’s points of comparison come from presiding over other “massive” changes at First Union. Largely, banks were required by law to operate in just one state of the United States before the industry was deregulated in the mid - I980’s. After interstate banking laws were changed First Union took full advantage buying 70 banks in IO years. First Union grew from being the third largest bank in Charlotte, North Carolina into the sixth largest bank in the United States by I998. The biggest acquisition was in November I997, buying Philadelphia—based CoreStates for $16.5 billion, history's largest bank merger at that time. In I998, First Union decided to challenge banking tradition by turning the retail bank branch on its head with the Future Bank concept. The point was to get bankers out of the branch and selling—developing an aggressive, sales-oriented culture at First Union. Bankers will be changed from salaried decision makers sitting behind a desk to a commission - only sales force that cold calls customers. First Union's product line also escaped the bounds of traditional banking products to include products such as mutual funds and insurance. The plan to reach customers through a variety of methods does not include the large, monolithic, marble-hall downtown bank branches of old. Its methods combined internet banking, mini-branches, and a call center two—thirds the size of the Pentagon. “Future Bank" was set on an expedited timetable to achieve company-wide implementation by January I999. The stock price responded highly favorably to the changes, increasing 151% from January 1995 to March 1998. As to infrastructure, the Future Bank integrates the back—office functions into the branch. Job duties in the branches...