BankWest today unveiled the first of its new look stores in Brighton Western Australia giving customers the ability to do their banking in a relaxed, café style banking environment.
The new styled stores, which are already on the east coast, are a first for Western Australia and change the perception of how banking is done allowing customers to have a coffee, browse books and other merchandise, surf the internet in a relaxed environment.
The Western Australian store expansion is a part of BankWest's wider national expansion strategy that has seen the bank move from strength to strength with the opening of more than 160 branches on the east coast over the next three years.
BankWest Chief Executive of Retail Ian Corfield said the new BankWest stores were redefining how customers viewed banking.
"Our new BankWest stores make banking easier for our customers," he said. "How a bank looks and feels will change fairly radically over the next five years and we are showing this by blurring the line between banking and retailing."
The new BankWest stores break the traditional banking mould, ditching bland design in favour of comfortable and inviting open-plan spaces.
Customers can help themselves to a cup of freshly brewed coffee, browse books and other merchandise, surf the internet, listen to music, relax in lounge-style seating and keep the kids entertained with toys and DVDs - in addition to doing their banking.
The new concept BankWest stores have already been well received on the east coast.
"We are excited to be able to bring these stores to the bank's home state in Western Australia," Mr Corfield said. "Similar to how Ikea changed our perception on how we shop for furniture, these new BankWest stores will change people's perception on how they do their banking."
"Until now, banking has been seen by most Australians as a tedious chore to be completed as quickly as possible. BankWest is changing all that and making banking a convenient and enjoyable experience."
Mr Corfield said the Brighton area (part of the suburb of Butler) was chosen due to its rapidly expanding community and the demographic of mainly young couples and families which made it ideal for BankWest's new style of banking.
The Brighton BankWest store will also sell a range of non-financial products. The range includes popular books on personal finance, property and investing, as well as home and office accessories such as money education tools for kids, wallets, address books, writing pads, business card-holders, key-rings and even piggy banks.
BankWest is also offering customers further convenience by offering extended trade over the coming months in a number of branches in Perth including Brighton, Fremantle, Whitfords, Willeton, Maddington and Cannington.
BankWest's new Western Australian stores will complement its existing 86 strong branch network.
BankWest announced in June last year it would commence a major branch expansion in Western Australia to bring the number of full service BankWest branches to 100 and the total number of retail branches and neighbourhood banks to about 130.
The Brighton store is located at Shop 7/8, Kingsbridge Blvd, Butler and is open for extended trade on Saturday from 9 to 1pm.
