People are visual and you only get one chance to make a first impression. If you were to walk into a bank to open an account and it was plain and boring, with no design interest, you may think that the bank is not doing well and may not be there tomorrow...Design is important in almost everything.

I think design should be even more important to a bank, given the importance of its service and the sensitivity of information it handles regularly. With online banking, for instance, it's important for a bank's Website to be impeccably designed -- definitely more so than Nike's Website...or even Nike's shoes.

Absolutely, less we forget we are all consumers. Banks like any other business are in business to sell their products.

Absolutely! Look at trendsetters like Umpqua Bank on the West Coast, who have revolutionized what a banking experience can function like for its audiences, with retail locations that function more like coffee houses than drab bank lobbies.

Duh! Can you imagine a Starck/Schrager joint venture in a bank lobby? That would certainly make me feel better about paying atm fees.

Banks are depressingly decorated. Companies like Target recognized the popularity and ROI of good design long ago.

The online experience could use some help too. The user experience should be well thought out and designed to make me want to go to the site and check it out.

Frank,

I totally agree with you. I don't know where and how the idea came that you should feel welcome in a place where you give your money to someone who sits above you behind a desk after you have waited in a slaughter-house-style line for 10 or 15 minutes.

There is a reason I do all my banking online...

Of course. Sadly that's not the reality. That's why I avoid it as much as I can and do online banking. Not that's designed any better.

ING Direct is so clean and easy to use, I think many people stick to using them even though they no longer offer the most competitive interest rates. Banks with clunky web sites and confusing interfaces make something already stressful, namely money, that much worse to manage. People will select a bank for the "emotional security" a well-designed financial service experience can afford.

The core of all successful marketing plans for banks should be focused on loyalty, strength, and a sense of commitment. Thus branding is most important aspect of banking, I mean banks want people to give them their savings, is branding is off, people will go elsewhere.

Design is much more than a visual experience. The entire user experience can benefit from good design - not just the physical location, website and other collateral. How about designing innovative products? Designing innovative services? A bank that can push the envelope in creating a new overall experience that benefits the consumer is definitely one that understands the value of design.