Branch Delivery System Is Cornerstone of Retail Banking.

During the late 1990s, many assumed that people would flock to the Internet for banking services and that branch banking would quietly fade away. But, increasingly, the retail banking industry is realizing that assumption was wrong. While a growing number of people use on-line banking services, most customers continue to use the branch on a regular basis.

Banks recognize the branch infrastructure gives them a competitive edge over nonbank institutions attempting to encroach on their business. The face-to-face interaction that branches offer is proving to be essenti