NORTHAMPTON — The building which formerly housed King Street Eats at 225 King St. is being renovated for use by the UMassFive College Federal Credit Union.
Jon Reske, vice president of marketing for the credit union, said it will move from the Potpourri Plaza at 243 King St. and into the newly renovated building in September.
“The reason why we’ve made that move is that we really want to have more exposure on King Street,” said Reske. “And this will allow us to do that in a free-standing building.”
Reske said banking has changed a lot in the past decade, and the move will allow the credit union to build in new technology.
“It’s a complete renovation,” said Reske. “It’s not going to look at all as it does now — we’re keeping the four walls … but for the most part everything is going.”
Reske said demolition started last week.
“They’re gutting the building,” he said, and “even the roof line is being changed.”
Reske said the building is being outfitted with “teller pods,” which bank tellers will use instead of cash drawers. These automated machines will count and dispense outgoing and incoming cash from an internal safe.
“It’s safer — you can’t get the money out of the machine,” he said. “And it’s more efficient.”
He said the branch will also have a touch-screen “solutions wall,” where customers can turn for a variety of financial literacy information.
“Interior signage will all be digital, which is what we’re doing with all of our branches,” said Reske.
At the building’s drive-up window, tellers from the Hadley branch will telecommunicate with customers, he said. “That helps us by handling a couple of different locations from one location.”
He said the walk-up ATM will also be outfitted with video capabilities.
“If you need to speak with a teller during business hours, you can actually hit a button and speak with a teller via video,” said Reske.
Reske said the branch will also be able to issue new debit cards on-site, and a coin machine will help customers with all their fuel for parking meters.
All of the new automation is intended to save staff time so they can have more in-depth conversations with customers in need of financial help and advice, Reske said.
“Our branch traffic is going down a little bit because people are doing online and mobile banking,” said Reske, adding that when people do come in, it’s more frequently for larger needs than simple exchanges that can be done on a phone.
“For things like depositing checks, you no longer need to come in,” he said. “You can deposit by phone, which frees up a staff person to talk to you about your mortgage or whatever financial need you might have that requires a person.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazette-net.com.