By adding coffee bars, Internet kiosks, and art exhibits to some of its branches, Umpqua Bank in Portland, Ore., has sought to create an atmosphere that customers are in no rush to leave. Ideally, someone might hang around long enough to apply for a loan or open an account.
Now the $5 billion-asset bank is giving customers even more reason to linger.
Last week Umpqua unveiled Discover Local Music at its branch in Portland's trendy Pearl district. The program lets people use computers in the branch's Internet cafe to download recordings by artists from the area and create 10-song compact discs.
The program is free to new customers or existing customers that open additional accounts. Other Umpqua customers can make a CD anytime for $8.
Umpqua hopes that Discover Local Music will boost account openings 20% a month, said Lani Hayward, Umpqua's executive vice president of creative strategies. The program, aimed mainly at 18- to 25-year-olds, will be monitored for three months, and if it is successful Umpqua will consider extending it to some of its other branches, Ms. Hayward said.
Umpqua started installing coffee bars (serving Umpqua-branded coffee) in some branches nearly a decade ago. Since then it has added Internet stations, flat-screen televisions that broadcast financial news, and art exhibits.
In a press release, Umpqua Holdings Corp. chief executive Ray Davis called the music program "a way for Umpqua Bank to showcase and support local artists while interacting with customers and the community on an entirely new level."
