Half an Hour to Open a Checking Account

Atlthough Bank One Arizona has dramatically reengineered its branch network, don't expect to see fewer Bank One branches in that state. decided we would never have fewer banking points for our customers than we currently have today, and in fact we would always try to have more banking points available, says David J. Renke, executive vice-president of retail banking at the Phoenix-based bank. But each facility will be more efficient, in a more customer-intensive location, and faster. We're on a huge simplification campaign, he says. Frankly, we've taken an enormously simple business [retail banking] and made it enormously complicated. What we're trying to do is reverse that trend. One result of the reengineering is that by the end of this year the bank will have closed or consolidated 30 of its 200 fullservice branches, and opened about 50 Express Offices, which are small facilities where people are encouraged to use machines rather than tellers. Cutbacks came first Bank One Arizona is the first unit of Banc One Corp., Columbus, to reengineer its branches, and its new network is considered a prototype for the other banks in the system to emulate. Before it embarked on this initiative, the Arizona bank set an example for the others in shedding some of the operational fat Banc One has been criticized for. Over the last three years, Chairman Richard J. Lehmann (who was recently named president and CEO of Banc One Corp.) had been consolidating back office operations, pulling as much as we possibly can out of the field sales offices into the backroom so we can let customer-contact people worry about the customer, not the forms they fill out, what files they put them in, and so Renke says. Once the back office had been tightened up, the bank brought in Coopers and Lybrand consultants Kenneth A. Mathis and Christopher M. Formant to help reconfigure the branch system. effort began with a look at all the processes that go on in the branches, to see what could be streamlined and eliminated to save money and time. Some of these steps we don't need to take any more, says Renke. The only reason we do things this way is that we've been doing them this way since the Earth cooled. It turned out that about 92 processes could be eliminated or shortened. One was account opening. Pretty much anywhere you go, if you open a checking account it will take you 20 to 35 minutes, says Renke. By redesigning the job flow, we now do it in five to ten minutes. customer still walks out with his book of checks, his ATM card, and his PIN number. That change lets the bank get customers in and out quicker, says Renke, plus you get the cost benefit of not using as many resources to serve customers. No new technology One unusual aspect of Bank One's reengineering is that core technology was left alone. Early on, we said anything that requires a systems change was not going to be part of this redesign effort, Renke says. didn't want to get bogged down into a technological block. We've found that when you try to use technology to become more efficient, all you end up doing is automating the path. You never redesign the business. We wanted to redesign the way we do things, then we can automate them in the future. Welcome to the faster branch Bank employees and consultants Formant and Mathis are still in the process of transforming Bank One Arizona's retail delivery system from a network of full-service branches to a combination of full-service, express service, and self-service channels. …