Santander opens 'showroom' branch on Kensington High Street

Santander's third ‘showroom' branch in the UK opened on London's Kensington High Street on Thursday 8 September after a full redevelopment designed to enhance customers' experience in the branch.

The modern and bright interior of the refurbished branch features plasma television screens displaying news and information for customers around a new curved queuing system devised to improve a customer's visit to the branch.  The counter areas also offer more privacy to customers when talking to branch staff.

To help reduce queuing times, new digital ATMs have been installed which allow customers to carry out a range of transactions including moving money between accounts, as well as withdrawing and depositing money.

And out of normal opening hours the Kensington High Street branch has a new 24 hour lobby to provide customers with convenient and secure access to digital ATMs.

The opening of this third showroom branch is part of a pilot by Santander to help understand and improve the impression customers get when they visit bank branches.  Learnings from the pilot will be used by Santander to inform the development and roll out of refurbished and improved branches across the UK during 2012 and into the future.

Alan Mathewson, Santander's managing director - branch distribution, said:  "The reopening of our showroom branch on Kensington High Street marks another stage in the delivery of a number of initiatives by Santander to improve our relationships with customers.

"We've have recently returned our overseas call centres to the UK and hired 500 extra people to handle calls, plus a further 600 additional retail banking branch staff.  Over the past year we've also opened up 150 new branch counter positions in our branches across the UK."