Bank-on-the-London-Fintech-Podcast.jpg">Bank-on-the-London-Fintech-Podcast.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="309">Metro Bank are well known for being the first new UK high street bank in some time but that fails to uncover how radically different there concept is.

Riseborough.jpg">Riseborough-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150">In this episode Chief Commercial Officer Paul Riseborough joins us to describe how different they are and how the integration of physical and digital can lead to a better outcome for customers.

Not only that but their apparently contrarian strategy of opening new branches whilst the main players are in a race to close as many as possible.

Topics discussed on the show include: 

• Paul’s work as a trustee for the Making The Leap charity helping kids improve social mobility
• his recent appointment as a fellow at the Aspen Insititute and how that connects Finance to Social Purpose
• what the Aspen Institute is
• Metro Bank was set up to be part of the high street it was trying to server
• Paul’s career from aspirations to be a tennis pro to where he is today
• Metro has 56 “stores” (not branches) open 7 days a week a “service and convenience” ethos
• 1.5 million customers of all types inc business as well as now being an active lender
• stable bank only leverage 7-8x and don’t access wholesale markets for funding
• not trying to push product but to serve the customer
• each branch manager needs to understand their local community – a rare thing in the modern world
• the average Big High Street bank has thousands of branches; retrenching from an oldskool approach to banking and from too many branches after mergers etc; some banks have branches within as close as 0.6 miles to the next one
• Metro are aiming for tops 200-250 stores for the whole of the UK, with large hub stores they can cover most of the UK with a reasonable radius to your nearest
• as they are ~”always open” their productivity is 2, 3, 4x as good as the old high street banks
• communities losing their last bank in town has real social consequences – eg lending falls markedly in that area (even though in principle it can be done online)
• the benefits of real life support when virtual support is a pain
• the main purpose of a branch these days is not transactions but to have face to face conversations – “rethinking what a branch is for”
• “accountability and trust” – “most people like to solve an issue face to face”
• what happens when AppBank X has a problem and stops working – where do you physically go and complain?
• “we can create a really interesting experience by blending physical and digital together”
• eg come into a branch, open an account, have your cards printed on the spot and get given a merchant services device and be trading that day – that is a different experience!
• “you can order a new card on your phone, walk round the corner and print it off”
• cf Amazons new high tech stores, cf Starbucks with ability to order ahead via your phone
• “Controversial statement – the best thing Monzo could do is open a store!”
• we had a phase of thinking all tech is phone etc but plenty of real world 21stC tech and improved interaction virtual and physical
• other sexy ideas of real world physical banking tech
• stores as community hubs too, events, charities
• digital isolation, screen addiction
• Metro’s different banking experience spreads principally by word to word; “we don’t believe in spending millions of pounds on TV Ads”
• outreach programs into schools
• “a large number of Fintechs are customers of Metro, we get accounts opened very very quickly.”
• “don’t believe physical banking is over, it’s here to stay”
• next store opening on Jul20 in Southampton
• another ten or so opening this year
• order of million(s) of pounds a year to have a bank branch
• “we think of ourselves as a retail business”
• check out Paul’s book – “Naked Banking – The Truth About Banks And You“

And much much more

Share and enjoy!