With the world of banking getting more and more digital every day, financial institutions need to be creative with physical branches to ensure they are efficient, but still able to successfully generate foot traffic.
Rocky Hill-based Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union took this approach to heart when it opened its new Milford branch in June that also houses one of the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles express centers.
In the branch, DMV customers can renew, duplicate or change information on licenses or ID cards – Nutmeg members do this for free, while non-members pay a $5 fee that is expected to go up to $8 as a result of a state law change.
At the same time, customers can also take advantage of Nutmeg’s state-of-the-art kiosks to complete core banking functions such as digital account transfers, loan payments, deposits and withdrawals, obtaining or replacing a debit or credit card and applying for a loan.
“We still need branch traffic so we can build a business,” John Holt, president and CEO of Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union, told The Commercial Record. “We want the traffic [from the DMV] so we can convert people to bank with Nutmeg.”
The DMV initially had an agreement with AAA at its Milford location, but after it ended the state put out a request for proposal; Holt and his team approached the DMV and came to terms. All employees at the new branch work for Nutmeg but have been trained by the DMV to handle license and ID renewals, among other services.
“Innovations like these not only help strengthen our credit unions in the state but allow them to grow and thrive,” Connecticut’s Department of Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez said in a statement. “Here government and industry worked together not only for the benefit of Nutmeg’s members, but all Connecticut residents.”
The new kiosks offer a check-in system for DMV customers, which people can use to schedule a return time later in the day or hold their place in line. According to Holt, wait times have been no longer than 15 minutes.
DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra said it is too soon to tell just how effective the express centers have been, but told the Connecticut Mirror that he thinks they “will have a positive impact on reducing the congestion in our branches.”
The technology powering the new kiosks in the branch came out of Nutmeg’s credit union service provider, which are state-regulated entities that allow credit unions to partner with other member-owned credit cooperatives and vendors to provide certain services.
Nutmeg’s CUSO recently acquired the Colorado data firm DaLand Solutions that helped develop the software for the kiosks, and Holt said he hopes to see more branches like this in the not-too-distant future.
“We believe no other credit union has this technology and we’d be surprised if any other bank is using it like this,” he said. “Our strategy is to drive traffic to educate people on what banking is and what a credit union is.”
