MIDLANDS BUSINESS JOURNAL BY RICHARD D. BROWN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM SCHOLZ
THE NEW 5,000 SQUARE FOOT NORTHWEST BANK LOCATION AT 168TH & BEDFORD STREETS MERGES TRADITIONAL AND MODERN BANKING BY ELIMINATING TELLER LANES, ADDING COMMUNICATION PODS AND INTERACTIVE TELLER MACHINES.
Focused on community
NORTHWEST BANK’S NEW LOCATION TAKES INNOVATIVE APPROACH
Each of the 20 branches of Northwest Bank benefit from the ability to do largely autonomous, community-based decision-making. Veteran banker and Omaha Region President John Bothof said measured decisions have been crucial to the performance of the institution with more than 400 employees which at present is just shy of $2 billion in assets. “We’re not focused first on growth but rather our 25-year strategic plan and good sound thinking in each of our markets,” Bothof said of the family-owned entity based in Spencer, Iowa.
Adapting for the Future Northwest Bank’s operational territory broadly follows from Sioux Falls to Lincoln and across Southern Iowa to Indianola and north of the I-35 and I-90 rectangle. The institution opened in Omaha in 1998 in an approximately 6,000-squarefoot building at 14320 Arbor St. A Sarpy County branch is located in a shared building at 9719 Giles Rd. in La Vista. Earlier this year work began on a 5,000-square-foot structure in fast-growing Northwest Omaha at 168th & Bedford streets. About $3.25 million is being invested in land acquisition, construction and technology for the venture. Seven employees will be assigned to the facility, that was slated to open this month. “It will reflect a change in the expectations of our customers and it is a transitional facility for us,” Bothof said. “It will not have traditional teller lines but will accommodate millennials who tell us they wish to bank on the phone or on the computer.”
Customers can use customer communication pods, engage with cash dispensing machines, but also know that customer-service personnel nearby can offer assistance. Bothof, whose father ran a sale barn and auction facility in Slayton, Minnesota, said Northwest Bank owners Neal and Dwight Conover are investing heavily in technology. Important to the new Omaha facility, as well as remodels within their branch network, is the use of interactive teller machine (ITM) technology. Each unit costs about $35,000. “It allows customers to visit with a live banker and that person is a Northwest Bank employee,” he said. Common transactions include deposit of checks, check cashing, and a myriad of questions from users. It also provides for customer transactions to be made from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. ITM technology will be added to the Arbor Street and La Vista facilities by the end of the year. Earlier this year about $12 million was invested in a new Northwest Bank operations center in Spencer, Iowa. Consumer banking enhancements include online capabilities for mortgage applications, car loans and deposits. Venmo and Zelle transfers are receiving increased usage. Business banking enhancements include remote deposit capture, online banking and automatic clearinghouse of wire transfers, among others. Bothof said Northwest Bank — while expanding its reach to customers with technology — gives strong emphasis to safeguarding its “tens of millions of dollars investment over the past 10 years” from security breaches.
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