With more customers migrating from branches to the Web, bank’s Web sites are gradually becoming the heart of the customer relationship. Despite this, many banks’ multichannel strategies are still branch-centric.

As a medium-size retail bank with ambitious growth plans, SNS Bank in the Netherlands has developed an innovative multichannel banking strategy that clearly puts the Web at the center of the customer relationship.

It launched an integrated public and secure site with state-of-the-art functionality; reorganized its branches into a network of lean, cashless banking shops where customers can buy simple products from the bank’s Web site; introduced a mobile sales force that specializes in selling complex products from both the bank itself and other providers; and implemented a state-of-the-art cross-channel marketing campaign management platform.

With this new strategy, SNS Bank has adapted to changing channel behavior, eliminated channel conflict, and increased marketing effectiveness.

Those of you who are Forrester clients can read more about SNS Bank’s new channel strategy in my Case Study which was published earlier this week.

Alexander