Like many other parts of the credit union business, the branchmodel is rapidly abandoning traditional practices, opting insteadfor innovative, new strategies that can satisfy members who are busier, choosier and more tech-savvy thanever before.

Many of those strategies are more experimental than practical,but experts say the best forward-thinking credit unions areembracing five key must-haves to keep their branchescompetitive.

1. Small footprints. Branches are still animportant part of the member experience – 43% of people visit themat least 10 times a year, according to a recent survey of more than2,000 consumers by scheduling firm TimeTrade. Branches areshrinking, however.

The average branch is 2,116 square feet, according to a recent study by the Louisville, Ky.-based digital marketingfirm Codigo. But Mark Charette, CEO of the Bloomfield, Conn.-basedSolidus, which specializes in branch construction, said many of theprojects his firm is seeing these days are 800 to 1,500 squarefeet. Private offices are often gone in new branches, he said, asis much of the room traditionally reserved for back-officeoperations, which is streamlining and consolidating as well. Muchof the shrinkage is driven by a desire to save money, Charettenoted.

John Smith, CEO of the Chandler, Ariz.-based DBSI, which alsospecializes in branch construction, said his firm is designinglocations as small as 400 square feet – a hair bigger than theaverage hotel room. Cash isn't the only motivation, though.

“If you’re needing 4,000 square feet or 4,500 square feet, guesswhat? You’re not going to get close to the consumer,” he explained.“You’re going to need a big chunk of land. You’re going to need acorner spot. Become more like Starbucks and just build 1,500-,1,900-square-foot locations. Get closer to the consumer.”

2. Touchscreens. Paper brochures are dead. Forward-thinking credit union branches use touch screens tomake members aware of all they have to offer, experts said.

“The way most people think you’re going to discover how a creditunion can help you through life's journey is you have some staticposts on the wall that talk about a rate,” Smith explained. “Youhave brochures that I’m only going to go look at if I have a needalready. And then you get some frontline folks that are supposed toprobe to a need while you’re doing a transaction, and then outlinesolutions to meet that need. All of those different methodologiesdon't work. No one looks at a brochure. The stuff on the wallsbecomes static. The people at the frontline, they don't want to askany questions. They think they’re butting into the privacy of themember.”

Smith said from a design perspective, information typicallyincluded in brochures is best offered on screens that are front andcenter in the branch. Screens near waiting areas should highlightthe credit union's mission, what it's doing for the community, andhow it can make the member's life easier, because that's where new,onboarding members often sit.

Touch screens aren't just appearing in large credit unions. TheLaramie, Wyo.-based UniWyo Federal Credit Union, which has $271million in assets and about 24,000 members, recently made the movewhen it took over a 20-year-old former bank space. UniWyo extensively renovated the place, which included purging paperbrochures from the lobby, Vice President of Marketing MindyUitterdyk explained.

“At each of the teller pods we have a large vertical screen thatisn't interactive and rotates through different advertisements,”she said. “Then, at each of the pods we also have a tablet so youcan click through all of the brochures.”

Members can email themselves the brochures too, Uitterdyksaid.

3. No more velvetropes. Shuttling everybody into a roped-off teller line iswhat old fashioned branches do, experts said. Modern branches ditch the line and pigeon-holed work roles,opting for greeters and universal bankers instead. Nearly allof the new branches Solidus now builds for clients have dialoguetowers, pods and/or advanced terminals.

“Consumers are, for the most part, uncaring about whether or nota bank branch has a cafe-style environment and report it hasno influence on their decision of where they bank,” TimeTradesaid in its report.

But they do care about whether they have to stand in line – 64%of respondents said they’re only willing to wait less than 10minutes at a branch, the study said.

For UniWyo, traditional teller lines were among the first thingsto go during its renovation. Pods now stand underneath an atriumarea.

“Our employees can stand up and take care of a transaction, orif they need to do something more intensive with a member, they cansit down right there,” Uitterdyk said, adding that private meetingstake place in corner glass offices.

4. Shortertransactions. Modern branches do everything they can tomake simple transactions take as little time as possible. TheMarlborough, Mass.-based Digital Federal Credit Union, for example,is streamlining transactions with e-teller technology that scanschecks at the time of deposit rather than keying it in. Thedecision was part of the $6.8 billion, 545,000-member creditunion's effort to transform its branch footprint, according toRegional/Branch Operations Manager Michael Caissey.

“We really want our frontline staff, specifically our tellers,to have a little bit more conversation with our members,” he said.“One of our primary goals is to see different ways that we can saveour members money. By not having to manually put in informationfrom the checks and having to do all that data entry piece of it,by just scanning and doing a couple of clicks, that frees open theconversation to talk about other things.”

5. Long-term thinking. “We read a lot ofdifferent articles about how the branches are kind of fading away, thatmembers aren't really coming to a branch to do things,” Caisseysaid. “That is not in our experience at all. In fact, if anything,our transactions continue to climb.”

The number of credit union branches in the United Statesmay indeed be falling and the number of transactions done atthose that remain may be dropping, but forward-thinking creditunions aren't putting their branches in hospice care; they’ve giventhem a job to do. To Mark Charette, branches are an antidote toautomation and a manifestation of a commitment to humanrelationships.