Rick Spitler Featured at American Banker's Branch Banking Symposium, Speaks on Driving Branch Traffic

May 11 , 2006

CHICAGO – As free checking loses steam as a promotional vehicle, banks will need to develop a variety of different strengths to drive customer traffic, Rick Spitler today told attendees at American Banker's Branch Banking Symposium, an annual gathering of executive leaders and industry experts in retail branch banking.

"Free Checking was an innovative offering that fueled rapid growth for first movers," Spitler said, "but it can no longer be relied upon to strongly drive branch traffic."

A Managing Director at Novantas, Spitler led a discussion on "Driving Branch Traffic without Free Checking." The co-presenter for the session was Trevor Knott, a Senior Vice President at Citizens Bank, Providence, Rhode Island. Spitler and Knott shared strategies that will enable banks to drive branch traffic and sustain growth.

Spitler encouraged banks to go beyond giveaways, such as iPods and satellite radios, to attract customers. Instead, he said, banks should develop more strategic approaches that capitalize on the unique strengths of each organization.

In instances where banks have a dominant presence in local markets, there are opportunities to leverage mass-market advertising and powerful brands, Spitler said. In other situations, smaller and/or more specialized institutions can capitalize on distinctiveness, both to widen their geographic reach and to increase market penetration. A third major avenue for customer acquisition is to reach subsets of the local customer base through targeted advertising and direct channels, Spitler said.

Knott said it's important to understand major regional differences within the overall banking network, explaining that "since different regions have different strengths and competitors, different strategies must be taken into consideration for each region in order to gain traffic."

Novantas is the acknowledged leader in customer science and revenue strategy for the financial industries. The Firm specializes in applying advanced analytics and technologies to help clients make better decisions in marketing, product, pricing, customer management, and distribution.