Organic Vegetables and Meat Appear in Banks: Gimmick or Crowd-Puller?

More and more community banks are launching lifestyle services and taking a differentiated route

“Crossover” is no stranger to most people, but recently a newly opened community financial convenience store in Shunde New Town has attracted considerable attention. This newly opened community bank took a different approach, cooperating with a food supermarket and opening up an area inside the store to sell fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and groceries. In fact, the reporter learned that in recent years, more and more local banks, in addition to providing financial services, have become more involved in lifestyle services, such as setting up counters in banks for gold, children's clothing, tobacco and alcohol, tea, and so on. In this regard, industry insiders in the banking sector said that in order to adapt to increasingly fierce competition within the banking industry, the trend of local banks or small and medium-sized banks attracting customers by providing differentiated and refined services will become more obvious.

Fresh: Banks start selling organic vegetables and meat

The day before yesterday, the reporter visited this newly opened community financial convenience store to learn about the situation. The outlet is located next to a large community in Daliang. Unlike traditional bank counters, there is no glass counter separating customers and staff as in traditional outlets; instead, there are two warmly arranged consultation areas.

In this community bank, besides handling services such as deposit deductions and gas top-ups, residents can also buy organic food and enjoy a healthy life. On the right-hand side upon entering is a convenience store. In this mini supermarket of about 10 sq m, meat, vegetables, alcohol, seasonings, and other daily necessities are all available, truly “small but complete”. The reporter noticed that the vegetables in the store basically come from the areas of Hunan, Guangxi, and Hubei.

According to the store staff, these foods all have QR codes for their sources, and the source of the food can be learned by scanning the QR code.

With meat and vegetables being sold inside a bank, do residents actually buy it? Regarding the bank's “unorthodox” approach, most residents expressed approval. According to reports, after learning that the community financial convenience store had opened, many residents came over to join the fun. Aunt Li, a resident living nearby, said that in the past, going to a nearby supermarket to buy things took quite a bit of time, but now she can buy them right downstairs, which is much more convenient. “They are all organic vegetables supplied to Hong Kong, China, with QR code traceability, so it feels much safer to eat.”

Bank: Crossover cooperation provides lifestyle services for residents

The reporter learned that the bank selling meat and vegetables is the first community bank opened by a local bank in Shunde. A relevant person in charge of the bank said that building an organic vegetable purchasing platform is a beneficial attempt at crossover cooperation. The purpose is to bring the bank's services closer to customers' actual needs, provide residents with more diverse and thoughtful lifestyle services through service innovation, and also satisfy customers' financial and lifestyle needs at the same time.

“The agricultural enterprise we cooperate with is a high-tech agricultural enterprise aiming at a green ecological planting and breeding model. At present, the meat and vegetables in the store are all foods independently produced by the company.” said the relevant person in charge of the bank.

According to reports, the bank will also jointly launch attractive discount plans with its partners, such as enjoying double points when using the bank's bank card for consumption in the supermarket, and even receiving free vegetable ingredients when handling financial business in the community bank and reaching a certain standard. Customers within two kilometers of the bank outlet can also enjoy a dish-ordering and home delivery service.

According to reports, the bank intends to promote this model and launch more than 20 community convenience stores with similar functions next year.

Experts: Adapting to fierce competition by offering “differentiated” services is a trend

The reporter learned that before local banks launched businesses such as “selling vegetables and meat”, another bank had already launched a “full-service” model as early as last year, that is, through the extended business hours of the bank's night banking, providing community residents and small, medium and micro enterprises with personalized and differentiated nighttime specialty services.

According to reports, the night market bank outlets will be equipped with product display areas or sample display cabinets, such as gold counters, children's clothing counters, tobacco and alcohol counters, tea counters, and so on, and will regularly hold “famous and high-quality product display weeks”.

Regarding more and more banks being “unorthodox”, an industry insider in Foshan's banking sector said that in order to adapt to increasingly fierce competition within the banking industry, the practice of local banks or small and medium-sized banks attracting consumers by providing differentiated and refined services will become more and more obvious. “However, whether it is merely an eye-catching gimmick or can truly play a role in which ‘1+1’ is greater than 2 and achieve a win-win effect with partners remains to be seen.” The banking industry insider said that before launching such new business formats, banks should have sufficient understanding of the consumption characteristics and shopping needs of residents in the community where the outlet is located. At the same time, because they have launched diversified businesses such as selling meat and vegetables, banks must also bear corresponding risks and responsibilities, and should be especially careful in choosing partners. “For example, is the quality of the goods sold up to standard? If problems and complaints arise, the bank's image and reputation will also be affected.”