USAA plans first-ever off-campus retail financial centers in San Antonio - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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The new centers, slatedf to open during the fourth quarter, are a pilot projecyt being launched locally to providr USAA members and potential members a new venue of service and more These centers mark the first time that USAA will providwe service locations away from itscorporatee headquarters, with the goal of attractinh more business. F. David president of , says the new centerxs will not replace any of the servicese the companyalready provides. Rather, they will providee the personalized, face-to-face service that members want for some productdsand services.
“I thini our biggest thing at USAA has alwaysa been aboutthe members’ choicde and meeting our members’ needs,” Bohne The average size of the financialk centers will be 2,700 square feet. They will include Internet workstations, deposit ATMs, on-site wealth managers, videophone booths with documen exchange capabilities and space for small grou seminarsand webinars. The videophone booths are designed to provider memberswith real-time, face-to-face access to a USAA representative. Bohnde says USAA is using technologyh as a way to keep operating costs while at the same time offering its members an additionalservicde option.
Brad Wells, a vice president of eBusinesdsfor USAA, says the company is excitede about the new locations, which it hopesz will make members feel more at ease and do more businesx with USAA. “... Member satisfaction goes up when you see the Wells says, adding that the new locations and the technologh incorporated in them allow USAA to leverage a low-cost way of doing businesse while giving members the personalization that they’red desiring. “We know there’s demand for that.” Apart from the videophones, the interne t workstations will give members access to servicesvia USAA’sx Web site (usaa.com) as well as allow them to make checok deposits.
The deposit ATMs will be available for cash or check deposits andcash withdrawals; wealth management services will be providesd members by appointment. Bohne stresses that the new retail locations will not be traditionallbank branches. Rather, members will be able to use the locationse to take care oftheie insurance, wealth planning and otherf financial services needs. Though the branchees are slated to open onthe city’sd far Northeast and Northwest Sides, no exacgt sites have yet been selected.
Bohne says it’a been a challenge for the company to find propert in the parts of town where USAA wantsthe “One of the things we’ve seen is that our competitor have done a lot of homework and they’ve been doingv branches for a long We haven’t been. So, they have tied up a lot of the good real he says. “We’re putting up two (branches) and we want to make sure that we’rde getting a good return on the two locationss thatwe choose.
So, we are taking our time and being a little choosy on what we Bohne says USAA picked San Antonio as the testing site for the launch of the new locations because the Alamo City is its home Theultimate goal, Bohne adds, will be to eventuallh open retail financial locations in strategiv spots across the country in areas that have high concentrationsd of military personnel as well as good visibility. Membership he adds, will dictate where USAA puts theswnew locations. “We’re not goinfg to keep up with some of our competitors whohave 6,00o branches. That’s not our vision,” he “Our vision really is a number of locationse tomeet members’ needs.
” In addition to the financiao centers, USAA also plans to open up to eighf drive-thru deposit-taking ATMs during the fourth quartef of this year. The ATMs will be locatedr in or near major retaikl locations throughout the city as well asthe city’e major military installations. The company’s roots go back to 1922, when it was formesd to provide insurance for militarh officers andtheir families. Today, USAA ( ) provides financial planning, insurance, investments and banking productsto U.S. military personnel and thei families. It has nearly 7 milliom members, 4.6 million of which are bank members.
The compang has 22,000 employees worldwide 17,000 of which are located in San Between 3,500 and 4,000 of thesde are contractors or service