If you run a big retail chain, chances are at some point someone will come to you and suggest you set up an in-store radio station.  You can see why it’s tempting to do so.  Companies like TeamTalk will transmit a radio station tailor-made for your chain to all your stores.  You get a wide variety of music as well as all your latest promotions regularly plugged directly to your customers.  Fantastic!

Sometimes it can be really effective.  Supermarkets like Asda have frequently changing offers and getting Barbara the checkout supervisor to read them all out over the PA in her Scouse drawl is nowhere near as appealing as having a professional radio jock reading them out over the latest Scouting For Girls hit.  In fact in-store radio works in most shops.  Where it doesn’t work though, is banks.

Back when I was a wee nipper in the 80s I remember banks being huge, soulless halls where the sound of cheques being stamped echoed around the marble walls and the bank manager was a stern looking old man feared by all.  Banks have long since learned to put on a friendlier face with comfy chairs, bright lights and carpets.  The manger’s nicer too.

My bank has recently gone one step further – they’ve launched in-store radio.  Yes, branches now rock to the sound of MOR radio hits and cheesy DJs promoting accounts and services.  They’ve even gone and plumbed it into their phone system so that instead of the traditional hold music you get to listen to their radio station while you wait to speak to someone.

Banks, despite their friendly faces, can be scary and stressful places at times.  If I was phoning up to beg for an extension on my overdraft, or if I was visiting the branch to explain why I was behind on my mortgage payments, some chirpy chappy describing the benefits of a premium bank account really wouldn’t help me feel at ease.  Even if I was highly affluent I think in-store radio would drive me away.  While I understand banks need to promote their products, I feel the ‘nagging sell’ of in-store radio doesn’t suit the financial sector.

Banks should, in my opinion, regain some of their austere air of old.  While I can understand that they want to be ‘customer-facing’ in order to appeal to as many people as possible, I think people would actually like their banks to be a bit more serious.  Who would you prefer to entrust your savings with; a bank that plays pop music and has an in-branch coffee bar or one with a stern face, a pinstripe suit and a firm handshake?