The branch isn't going away, but the way it works has to change. Fewer than 8,200 community institutions remain, down from more than 14,000 a decade ago. Acquisition costs keep climbing, frontline turnover is outpacing the rest of financial services, and members expect more from every visit. At the same time, the people still walking through your doors are often there for the moments that matter most: opening an account, talking through a loan, or looking for advice they can't get from an app.
The Branch Performance Brief brings together FMSI's industry research, branch economics analysis, and a five-year deployment case study to show what that shift looks like, and what it's worth to get it right.
The 2027 Agenda: Ten Strategic Issues. From consolidation and margin pressure to talent retention and the evolution of transactions, explore the ten issues community banks and credit unions are carrying into the 2027 planning cycle, each paired with the number that defines it. You'll also see why most of them come back to the same place: the branch operating model.
From Walk-In to Planned: Triangle Credit Union. See five years of real appointment and lobby data from Triangle Credit Union, where appointments booked grew 334% from 2020 through 2025, 86% of lobby visits are now scheduled in advance, and 88.5% of appointments come through a self-service widget on their own website. It's a clear answer to the question every leadership team asks: does adoption actually last?
The Branch Value Gap. Follow one member visit through six stages, from scheduling and wait times to cross-sell, follow-up, and retention. Compare a typical branch journey with an optimized one side by side, and see exactly where value is lost in wasted labor, missed conversations, and preventable attrition, along with what it takes to recover it.
Whether you're building next year's plan or looking for a smarter way to staff, serve, and grow, this brief gives you the numbers to start the conversation.
Download the brief and see where your branches stand.
