Buffalo, NY
- BankOnBuffalo provided the first look inside what will be its newest office – BankOnWheels -- an innovative new banking experience, making full-service banking accessible to more consumers and small businesses, particularly those in underserved communities.
The first of its kind operated by any financial institution in Western New York, BankOnWheels is a full-service, yet fully mobile bank branch, which will enable the bank to deliver essential banking services to communities with little or no access to such services today.
This week, BankOnWheels will begin to serve three communities through its deployment at the following locations:
• Renovation Church at 567 Hertel Ave. in Buffalo;
• Peter Machnica Community Center at 1799 Clinton St. in Buffalo; and
• Doris Jones Community Resource Center at 3001 Ninth St. in Niagara Falls.
Customers will not only be able to open bank accounts, but they can conduct all regular banking transactions such as making deposits, withdrawals, loan applications, and disbursement receipts.
“We see the need, and we’re eager to get the BankOnWheels rolling across our community,” said Michael Noah, BankOnBuffalo president. “Even with the rapid rise of technology allowing so much banking to be done remotely, research tells us that consumers and business owners still greatly value branches, where they can have face-to-face conversations with a banker - get answers to their questions and the assistance they need with transactions, loan applications and account openings. Yet in some communities, access to this level of personal service is very limited or non-existent. That’s where BankOnWheels can fill the void.”
BankOnWheels, a 34-foot recreational vehicle, includes a walk-up ATM and two exterior teller windows, where transactions can be performed. Inside, it has most of the features of a traditional bank – a lobby, an office for private conversations with a BankOnBuffalo associate, and a teller window.
“BankOnWheels will be a full-service bank in every sense of the term,” Noah said. “In it, our customers will be able to do everything they can do in any of our other 12 BankOnBuffalo offices.”
The BankOnWheels unit will be deployed initially on a weekly schedule at the Renovation Church and the Peter Machnica Community Center sites in the City of Buffalo and the Doris Jones Community Resource Center in Niagara Falls. Then, based on input gathered from the community, other sites will likely be added to the list in the future.
BankOnBuffalo began as a start-up division of CNB Bank with a loan origination office, and in February 2017, opened a full-service bank on the first floor of the Electric Tower in downtown Buffalo. In addition to BankOnWheels,
BankOnBuffalo operates 12 offices in Buffalo, Orchard Park, Amherst, Williamsville, Clarence, Clarence Center, Akron, Lancaster, Niagara Falls, and Wilson, as well as a wealth management solution called 1865 Wealth Advisors.