Traditional financial institutions and investment platforms have changed their positioning to adapt to the increasingly competitive high-income market with the goal of maintaining (or increasing) their share in this segment.
This effort goes beyond internal changes and is reflected in a physical change aligned with this wealthier public. No traditional bank branches; the trend now is to promote customer experiences.
The traditional service space is being replaced by new layouts, which serve much more to promote the relationship between the institution and customers than to carry out transactions. This replacement is justified by the ambition of offering a different experience from competitors and also by advancing technology.
With the digitalization of money and contracts, traditional bank branches have rapidly lost relevance. The lack of need to go to a physical space and the ease of opening accounts at different financial institutions make the competition for customers increasingly intense.
The Broadcast report visited four spaces in Faria Lima, Brazil’s main financial center, to get to know these places, understand their proposals and differences and how they can impact the institutions’ business. The spaces visited were, in alphabetical order: Bradesco Principal, Espaço XP, Flagship Santander Select and Investment Center of Itaú Personnalité.
Understanding the strategies
The director of Bradesco Principal, Daniela de Castro, explains that the creation of this new segment of the bank – which serves customers with income above R$25,000 or investments from R$300,000 to R$10 million – came with the idea of making Bradesco the main institution for these clients.
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“We had many customers classified within the target that we created as Bradesco Principal. However, when we analyzed it, we realized that we were not the main choice of these customers. They maintained accounts with us, but still carried out a lot of business with other competitors. Therefore, we had neither the principality nor the market share that we would like to have, Bradesco Principal emerged to serve this audience” explains Castro.
In a note, Itaú informs that the Itaú Personnalité Investment Center has established itself as a strategic space for relationships with high-income clients, combining specialized financial services with exclusive experiences.
Thiago Mendonça, leader of the Select Santander network, says that the Santander Select Flagships, which were created in mid-2023, aim to symbolize the institution’s entire growth plan. Mendonça also comments that one of the objectives of the space is to bring people to the bank without it being a traditional bureaucratic environment.
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“There is a story that says that the customer is never too happy to go to the bank. However, this type of environment makes the customer happy to come, interact and talk to the managers.” says the leader of the Select Santander network.
Regarding XP Spaces, Claudia Deberaldine, partner and Regional Executive at XP, comments that the institution, which was born entirely digitally, found physical spaces a way to increase proximity to customers.
“We need to expand our horizons. The growth of our company (XP) depends on us growing in all regions of the country. There are a lot of people, a lot of wealth, a lot of opportunities and a lot of business happening across the country. There is also a great opportunity to capture a greater market share.”
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Events
Events at the four institutions are only for guests selected by internal teams. The meetings are periodic and are used to discuss financial topics, such as investments, pensions and insurance, or even lifestyle. One example is the Father’s Day event at the Investment Center, where participants took a cooking class and were able to bring their children to participate.
The leader of the Select Santander network states that lifestyle events are always a success. “This type of event helps us position the brand and show the customer our value offer, in addition to the financial aspect”, explains the leader.
The only space that does not yet hold events with themes other than financial ones is Bradesco Principal. According to the director responsible, this type of event is already on the radar and should start soon. XP is the only one that has an external space (rooftop) to hold its meetings.
