VisualGPS Creative Trends Culture Remember In-Person Banking?

In our hyper‑digital age, physical bank branches are making a comeback. While it’s true that over 3,000 US bank branches closed in 2022,¹ 2023 saw the opening of net more physical bank branch locations in over a decade²—corroborating the sense that a new bank seems to be popping up on every corner in New York City. Not only that, but brands such as Capital One and Santander are even going a step further, opening physical amenities such as cafés and lounges as part of an effort to transform the experience of banking from a mere transaction to a holistic experience that accounts for wellbeing, both financial and human.³ This fits into a broader trend across industries, whereby marketers are seeing renewed returns from building meaningful, human connections at in‑person events;⁴ and in culture and society in general, where in‑person places and experiences have renewed value today.

There is a particular value in making consumers feel that their finances are grounded in the real world: Trust. Our VisualGPS consumer survey found that even though 77% of Americans use fintech products, 82% are still more likely to trust a financial institution with a physical bank branch. However, most financial brands are not yet taking advantage of this in their marketing visuals. While searches for “financial advisor”, “bank teller”, and “bank building” have remained in the top 1,000 on the Getty Images website through the rise of digital banking, just 26% of visuals used by the financial services industry to show the topic of banking showed a physical bank in 2024. Of that, just 12% show an ATM, and only 8% show a good old‑fashioned bank counter. Even in light of the digital products available today, there is still an opportunity for financial services brands to win the trust of consumers of all ages by visually highlighting the physicality of their offerings.

Digital finance products have introduced a new dimension of instant convenience, but modern brick‑and‑mortar banks offer an irreplaceable peace of mind. In 2023, two in three Americans said that they actually like seeing physical branches in their neighborhoods because it confirms the stability and availability of their bank, and in‑person meetings are still the preferred option when opening new financial products.⁵ Today many banks have given their branches facelifts, with more inviting color palettes, homey layouts, and amenities, in order to attract more advisory clients and create more opportunities to connect with customers directly. For example, Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Citibank have all redesigned some of their physical locations, with interiors that look more like Starbucks than the stuffy, grey‑carpeted institutions that we’re used to.⁶ 

Our VisualGPS research confirms that this may be a winning strategy, but it's not currently reflected in the visuals that financial brands are using. 83% of Americans prefer human financial advisors to AI‑powered robo‑advisors, but our visual analysis found that less than 8% of visuals showing financial advisors take place in an attractive, modern neighborhood bank building—most settings are bland, generic offices without much design sense or character. To keep up with consumer preference, financial brands can choose or create visuals that better reflect these modern spaces through creative interior design, fresh color palettes including oranges, purples, and bright blues, as well as the warmth of the human advisors that are there to help.

Our visual analysis shows a need to update finance visuals for our new hybrid world: Less than 1% show customers of any age using smartphones or digital finance products within a physical bank branch setting. This is important to consider when showing younger customers, because despite their digital prowess, younger generations still value a human touch when it comes to finance, too. It may be less surprising that our VisualGPS consumer survey found that Baby Boomers are five times more likely than younger generations to avoid fintech products altogether (39% vs 8%), but 24% of Gen Z and Millennials report that they actually prefer to do their banking in person, and 40% engage with a mix of both in‑person and digital services. Now that most of the financial services industry has gone online, there is renewed potential to win consumer trust by doubling down on the physical, in‑person services that legacy banks can offer—and an opportunity to get out ahead of the competition by picturing these spaces and offerings in marketing visuals.

Sources

[1] Kiplinger
[2] Yahoo Finance
[3] American Banker
[4] EMarketer
[5] Accenture via Forbes
[6] Bloomberg UK