More Banks

Washington Mutual Inc., the Seattle based financial institution whose store-like banks aim for contemporary design and customer comfort, has announced that it will add up to 40 new sites within the next year in the greater New York/New Jersey area, 11 in Manhattan. The units will feature the bank's new “Occasio” retail brand of banking.

The Occasio concept (taken from a Latin noun for “favorable opportunity”) includes open, welcoming environments, high-tech information signage on plasma screens and contemporary furniture. (The concept was featured in the March issue of VM+SD, “Screen Play” on page 26.)

Occasio stores feature casually dressed “concierges” who greet people and escort them to the appropriate service area. A circular design removes the traditional bank barriers between customers and employees, replacing teller windows with “teller towers.” Small tables and comfortable chairs are located to the side of the teller towers, available to customers who want an in-depth and private conversation. Touch screens provide the option of independently researching services. And a store sells personal financial books, kids'items centered on saving money and Washington Mutual Action Teller dolls.

“We're setting a new standard in retail banking by combining WaMu's proven sales and service culture with a contemporary retail look and feel,” said Karen Curtin, svp and manager of planning and franchise development. “By uniting our customer friendly service with innovative technology and design elements, we're able to provide something banks have never consistently delivered: an inviting customer experience.”

To date, Washington Mutual has signed leases in Manhattan for space on 13th Street and Broadway, 31st Street and Park Avenue, 37th Street and Seventh Avenue, 40th Street and Lexington Avenue, Broadway and Chambers Street, 75th Street and Broadway, 45th Street and Lexington Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.