News TD Can Bank on Brick & Mortar

If you listen to certain media outlets, they’d tell you that the retail apocalypse has extended to the world of retail banking. Don’t buy it.

Yes, it’s true that thousands of retail bank branches have shuttered in the decade since the financial crisis. Many of these closures have come as a result of industry consolidation. Most often, mergers make financial sense when there is an overlapping footprint. This overlap allows  banks to achieve financial efficiencies through closures. And yes, like everything else in our lives, digital and mobile technology has evolved to allow customers to complete many transactions that used to require a visit to a branch. So that makes the bank branch obsolete, right? Not so fast.

While deposits are a key indicator of bank activity, profitability is really determined based on the lending and service products these institutions can offer to their customers. Many of these products are advisory in nature and are best serviced in-person, in real time, in a branch. In a recent McKinsey study, an overwhelming 80% of customers in the US stated they prefer to use a bank branch for at least some of their banking activities, including getting financial advice, and better explaining products and services. More than half of those surveyed said they prefer a physical bank branch for all of their banking needs. Clearly, there is still a need for a traditional bank branch, even if what’s inside that branch is evolving to meet a digital age.

In Florida, an Atlantic client is at the leading edge of that growth.

TD Bank believes its branches are at the core of its business

TD Bank has long believed that its branches serve as the hub of its multi-channel customer strategy. In both Canada and the US, TD stresses that it’s branches are vital to a more personalized, human, form of banking. In Canada, TD found that face-to-face interactions, for customers of all ages, are the preferred vehicle for receiving financial advice on complex product offerings. Even with 80% of transactions occurring digitally, 70% of TD’s customers have visited a branch in the last 90 days meaning that branches will continue to be central to how TD interacts with its customers.

Furthering TD’s goals, Atlantic has recently completed transactions for eight new branch locations across Florida. The new locations span both coasts and reach into central Florida as well, reaffirming the bank’s commitment to grow in the Sunshine State. Showcasing TD’s flexibility to enter markets, these deals are a combination of the traditional free-standing branches as well as existing space deals in convenience-oriented shopping centers. TD is the 9th largest bank in Florida by branch locations and will continue to grow market share with the addition of these new sites.

Ideal site selection is the key to successful branches

At Atlantic, we’ve been privileged to work with TD Bank since their initial market entry following the acquisition of Commerce Bank. We are now adapting our site selection strategy as they evolve in a market where they have grown to a top-10 operator. For TD, prominent and convenient sites are key to a successful growth plan. Our philosophy on site selection is driven by the real estate, not the availability. In each case, our teams on the ground have devised strategies to identify and create availabilities at ideal locations and executed on those plans with efficient and sustained growth. We look forward to participating in the evolution of banking and TD’s continued expansion across Florida.