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Natural disasters can damage or destroy banks鈥� physical branch locations. And beyond that, some of the impacted banks鈥� safe deposit boxes and their valuable contents may not have survived the fires, per American Banker. And, according to American Banker, climate change threatens to devalue up to 9% of global housing by 2050, amounting to $25 trillion in lost wealth.

Arkansas-based Southern Bancorp and Greater El Paso鈥檚 Credit Union provide free tax preparation services at their branches through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, per AMP news and their websites. Customers must meet certain income requirements.

They鈥檒l notice if they don鈥檛 see any young employees they can relate to at the branch, for example. And they鈥檙e twice as likely as other generations to consider DEI when choosing where to bank. Our take: Gen Zers鈥攚hen deciding on a bank鈥攎ay research which financial institutions once claimed to support DEI initiatives then later backed away.

Our take: These results don鈥檛 invalidate FIs鈥� competitive strategies involving expanding brick-and-mortar branches. Though most customers across all age groups prefer to bank digitally, many customers鈥攅ven younger ones鈥攙isit branches regularly to conduct banking transactions.

How banks have responded: Aside from multiple banks ensuring employee safety by temporarily closing branches located in the fire zone, per American Banker, financial institutions (FIs) with a local presence have focused on providing relief to their impacted customers. Here are some examples of how banks have responded so far:.

What this means for the UK market: Currently the fifth-largest bank in the UK, Santander has 14 million customers and 444 branches across the country, per The Times. If a competitor acquires its UK business, there would be significant consolidation in the industry.

While various technology CEOs extended an olive branch to the incoming administration, inevitable policy and regulatory changes are set to alter market dynamics. Big Tech鈥檚 proximity to power: Antitrust lawsuits against Google, Meta, and Amazon loom large. These companies may seek Trump鈥檚 favor to mitigate legal pressures, especially given the conservative majorities in Congress and the Supreme Court.

This was the shot in the arm that many advertisers needed to branch out into digital. They鈥檝e seen the benefits (scale, targeting, and measurability)鈥攁lthough there was a degree of normalization post-pandemic鈥攁nd have begun to invest at increasingly rapid rates. Retail media is particularly important to Germany鈥檚 digital ad ecosystem.

We're seeing this industry branch out and find new consumers to sell to. (01:50):. So Sky, why don't you kick us off by telling us how the beauty industry is venturing into these untapped markets. Sky Canaves (01:57):. So that's really been the great growth opportunity for the beauty industry. As you mentioned, it's hard to sell more products to the same consumers.

Tech CEOs extending an olive branch to the incoming president could go a long way in easing regulatory scrutiny, leading to a rise in investments and spurring M&A activity. Mergers steadily trended upward in 2024 for sectors like digital media and marketing in 2024, per Luma Partners.

Wells Fargo has seen growing unionization movement鈥攚ith employees at one branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, unionizing in 2023. And its conduct management investigators voted to unionize in December 2024, per Banking Dive. What this means for the industry: These union victories at banks and credit unions are likely to inspire other teams in the financial industry to follow suit.

Branches as differentiators: While many FIs closed branches this year, some took the opportunity to expand or focus their physical presence as a key differentiator. Bank of America鈥檚 鈥渓ocalization鈥� strategy incorporates aspects of local cultures into its 产谤补苍肠丑别蝉鈥� look and feel. BofA is also expanding the services offered at each location.

These factors may weigh even more heavily for SMBs in rural areas, who can be more isolated from national branches than their urban counterparts. 49% of rural SMBs bank with a local FI, while just 25% choose national banks. What鈥檚 preventing some from choosing local FIs? According to the study:.

October: A massive Bank of America outage disrupted digital services and in-branch operations for thousands of users. December: Another Microsoft outage affected Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive, raising questions about whether its data centers are overburdened.

Break down barriers that have prevented large parts of the population from participating in banking, such as high fees, distance to banking branches, and financial literacy issues. This will require time and dedication to rebuilding trust in financial institutions.

Retailers with multiple locations can use this chart to encourage individual branches or stores to develop their own marketing messaging or to encourage brands to invest more in specific locales. Related 蘑菇AV reports:. Out-of-Home Forecast and Trends 2024 (蘑菇AV subscription required). US CPG Industry Ad Spend 2024 (蘑菇AV subscription required).

Branches play the biggest part in getting Gen Zers to commit to a provider. Local branches were the top factor that convinced Gen Zers to buy a banking product or service, cited by 42.0%. They were also the top channel through which Gen Zers made a purchase. Almost 73% bought via a branch, while just 39.3% did so through an app, the runner-up option. Gen Zers aren鈥檛 going cashless just yet.

Gen X prefers banking at a branch over ATMs. What this means for banks: Baby boomers are willing to go digital when there鈥檚 added utility for switching over. That means the more user-friendly and useful (for their specific needs) FIs make their mobile banking platform, the more baby boomers could migrate over.

Branches remain instrumental to driving Gen Zers to buy. Physical branches (36.7%) were likelier to drive purchases among Gen Zers than was online banking (36.2%). Branches were also the top channel through which Gen Zers bought a bank鈥檚 product or service (70.0%). That鈥檚 a 19.4 percentage-point lead over the next option, i.e., apps on a smartphone or tablet.

And since baby boomers value in-person banking services more than younger generations, sending them an invitation for a meeting at the branch could be well-received. This article is part of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 client-only subscription Briefings鈥攄aily newsletters authored by industry analysts who are experts in marketing, advertising, media, and tech trends.

Since branches are a key differentiating factor, some of these customer stories should feature an FI鈥檚 customer service at the branch, if they have a local presence.

Tech CEOs鈥� olive branch could ease regulatory scrutiny, stall or dismiss existing antitrust cases, and amplify investments. Plus, M&A activity has already been trending upward for sectors like digital media and marketing, per Luma Partners. We think this can accelerate under the new administration and Big Tech鈥檚 alignment with it.

Just two months ago, a Bank of America (BofA) outage disrupted digital and in-branch services for thousands of users. API-related flaws jumped 21% from Q2 to Q3 2024, per a recent Wallarm report. Of those, 32% were linked to cloud-native applications and services.