U.S. Bank Debuts New Style Banking

By Jondi Gumz

Customers at the new U.S. Bank branch in Aptos will use a pass code to get in and use the ATM for deposits or withdrawals or to pay accounts. Bankers inside will have mobile tablets to assist customers and a customer support station provides space for one-on-one conversations, but don’t come at noon, because the bank closes for lunch until 1 p.m.

“We have no teller line for transactions,” said. Heather Kesner, senior vice president for consumer and business banking, San Francisco Bay, at U.S. Bank. “We’ve replaced that concept with a number of comfortable meeting spaces where we can have more in-depth conversations with our customers about their financial needs, with cash transactions handled exclusively via our ATM.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the U.S. Bank in Aptos took place Tuesday, Oct. 5, at the Rancho Del Shopping Center, 96 Rancho Del Mar, with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.

U.S. Bank is donating $4,000 to Aptos-based California FarmLink, whose mission is to invest in the prosperity of farmers and ranchers via lending and access to land, and $4,000 to Friends of Santa Cruz Public Libraries, earmarked to support the Aptos Library rebuild.

The branch manager is Ana Alvarez.

The Aptos branch serves as a hub for wealth questions with a full-time wealth advisor and business banking specialist on-site.

Aptos customers can take advantage of U.S. Bank’s award-winning mobile app and online banking include features such as personalized insights to make managing money easier, the U.S. Bank Smart Assistant to make getting what you need a few words away, co-browse with live video to see the banker you are speaking with, and more.

“Many traditional day-to-day transactions can be handled through our new digital tools,” Kesner said, “so we can focus our interactions with our customers on identifying and providing solutions for their financial needs.”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the branch incorporates design changes such as Plexiglass barriers and anti-microbial surfaces, and signage to encourage social distancing.

Four more remodels are planned for the San Francisco Bay Area through 2022.

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U.S. Bank reports nearly 70,000 employees and $553 billion in assets as of March 31. According to the FDIC, U.S. Bank had $47 million in deposits in the Aptos ZIP code in June 2019 — less then 6 percent of total deposits before the Aptos branch was closed, Presumably bank staff will be working to get those deposits back.