HH – Abendblatt: Rethinking Banks

The Hamburger Abendblatt talks to Syndicate about the financial experience of the future

Traditional bank branches have long been a concept of the past; much of the banking takes place digitally in the comfort of your own living room.

The role and significance that the bank of the future would like to play in the lives of its customers is the subject of discussion between Syndicate Board Member Heiko Hinrichs, Creative Director Robert Lettau, Project Manager Jens Tarnowski and Volker Mester, the Business Editor of the Hamburger Abendblatt.

The project of the Hamburger Sparkasse (HASPA) to develop a modernized design and new usage possibilities for its branches was a positive challenge for us. “Anyone in Europe who is rethinking banking will not be able to get past us,” says Board Member Heiko Hinrichs. In essence, it is about creating an experience that is remembered and anchored in people’s hearts, adds Robert Lettau.

Through a comprehensive re-design, the HASPA branches became open, bright rooms for meetings and consultation. The concept as a “neighbourhood meeting place” and modernised bank branch hit the mark and so we managed to prevail against five other (also international) agencies in the race for the HASPA contract.

Heiko Hinrichs has further ideas for the use of bank premises: he could imagine integrating cafés and co-working spaces as well, thus interweaving the bank with the everyday life of its customers (cf. Mester 2020: p.7).

We would like to thank the Hamburger Abendblatt and Volker Mester for the pleasant conversation and the resulting appreciation of our work.

Further information and insights on the HASPA project

Read the full article (For Hamburger Abendblatt Plus readers)

Source: Mester, Volker (2020) in: Hamburger Abendblatt 15.06.2020, edition 154.00, Hamburg.