Credit Suisse is planning an investment to blend digital services and personal touch

This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence Banking subscribers. To receive the full story plus other insights each morning, click here.
Credit Suisse will invest hundreds of millions of francs in digital services and other parts of its Swiss division by the end of 2021 and feels that it no longer needs a bigger branch network in its home market than rivals, Reuters reports.

The bank is creating a new business area, dubbed Direct Banking, for retail and commercial clients, while its Swiss investment banking operations will become a separately managed unit. Specific investment goals include: elevating the Swiss unit’s digital offering, hiring client advisors, providing increased telephone advisory services, and offering personal advice in regional branches.

While the bank doesn’t believe it needs to grow its branch footprint, it does have plans for a new branch concept. More details about the branch concept will be released in the first half of 2020, but Credit Suisse might do well to take cues from some of the other banks that have debuted new customer-centric branch concepts recently.

One such bank is Nationwide Building Society, which is opening a new concept branch that aims to move away from a traditional counter service approach to combine new technology with a human touch. For example, it offers iPads for viewing account information and access to a high-definition video service to communicate with advisors, and has associates greet customers and offer guidance and support, per Finextra.

If Credit Suisse can create the same blend of technological advancement with a personal touch, it may be able to simultaneously satisfy retail banking customers visiting branches with minor needs and wealth management clients that need more up-close and personal service.

A further sign of Credit Suisse’s blended investment approach is its plan to increase telephone advisory services. Offering customer service via phone is a sterling example of a banking service that falls between traditional and digital offerings: While the customer doesn’t have to physically visit the branch, they still get tailored real-time service.

For that reason, a greater investment in such a service fits squarely within Credit Suisse’s middle-of-the-road strategy. And that strategy could help Credit Suisse stand out among the many European banks shuttering branches and reducing headcount in an effort to reduce operational costs and boost their bottom lines.

Interested in getting the full story? Here are two ways to get access:

Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the Banking Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you’ll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now
Current subscribers can read the full briefing here.