COLUMBUS, Ohio-Education First CU here has launched what it believes to be the nation's smallest full-service credit union branch.
The $86-million, 18,000-member credit union recently opened a 12-foot by 19-foot (228 square foot) SmartBRANCH using the video banking system and Personal Teller Machine from uGenius.
"What impressed us about uGenius is the ability to carry out a dynamic, face-to-face personal relationship with our members, and to be able to do it in a small amount of space," said CEO Dick Maslyk. "The big advantage is because the footprint is so small, we don't have to look at a brick-and-mortar branch that has been customary and standard in our industry. We can look for space similar to a grocery store-type environment, only less space than that."
Education First members can perform nearly any transaction at the branch-including deposits and withdrawals down to the penny-which utilizes video-conferencing technology to allow members to interact with the CU's member service representatives in another location. Maslyk said that mortgage applications are just about the only type of transaction that can't be done at the SmartBRANCH.
Simple transactions can be done via the personal teller machine, and transactions such as loan applications can be completed in the privacy of a glassed-off room with the video banking system. One benefit to the credit union, said Maslyk, is that member service representatives working the personal teller machines can operate two machines simultaneously, which in the long run helps speed up member service and keeps staffing costs down.
Upstairs, Downstairs
Aside from its small size, another of the SmartBRANCH's unique elements is that it is located on the first floor of a three-story building-the upper two floors of which house a school. "This is an interesting model for what's happening in the world of education," said Maslyk. "In essence they've built a three-story high school and leased out the first floor to retail. So retail in effect is paying for the high school so the rest of the school district doesn't have to pay the operating expenses or taxes to run that particular operation."
In addition to the EFCU branch, that space also includes a career center and a YMCA, among other things.
The credit union currently has one employee staffing the SmartBRANCH to assist members with the new system, and Education First is working with the local school district to find retired administrators to staff the branch once more people become familiar with it.
Maslyk added that because Education First has a statewide charter, the uGenius system makes the prospect of expansion significantly easier because of the small amount of space required, the quick start-up time and the staffing flexibility. "Even in a new location, we can still provide the high level of personal service, along with fast, face-to-face attention, regardless of the distance from our service center," he said.
Education First plans to roll out more SmartBRANCHes with the uGenius system, starting with a pair of colleges and community colleges in central Ohio.
Maslyk said that start-up costs for the SmartBRANCH-including all equipment and a dividing wall-were "a little over $100,000." The credit union also pays rent at the space and has ongoing maintenance costs to maintain the technology. Still, Maslyk said that was cheaper than when the CU last looked at building a free-standing brick-and-mortar facility in 2009. That would've cost upwards of $1 million and, while it was for a significantly larger facility, it would have also required staffing costs that the SmartBRANCH does not.
