Glenfed to Test Branches in Kinko’s

Small-business owners and others can soon take care of their copying and capital needs under the same roof, under a plan announced Tuesday by Glendale Federal Bank to provide banking services inside Kinko’s stores in California.

In a first for a savings and loan institution, Glenfed will open three experimental branches in Kinko’s stores in Simi Valley, Ventura and Costa Mesa in the next three months. The thrift will have the option of expanding its services, which will include automated teller machines and checking and loan operations, into 20 Kinko’s locations.

The companies will evaluate the arrangement after 18 months to determine if banking services should be offered in any of the other 150 California locations of Ventura-based Kinko’s.

The move is part of an effort by Glenfed, known for its aggressive advertising, to lure small-business owners away from other banks. Amid a wave of bank mergers in California, the thrift has made it a priority to capture customers who are disgruntled with other major banks.

The marriage of banking offices and printing services is the latest in a round of relationships forged between companies such as Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and McDonald’s and Chevron, to share space, costs and access to customers.

Among banks in California, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have been among the most aggressive in opening branches within supermarkets.

Glenfed executives hope their Kinko’s agreement will help the thrift in its battle for customers with Wells Fargo, which has 488 locations in California grocery stores.

The arrangement may help Glenfed overcome some of the shortcomings inherent to supermarket banking branches, said Edward Carpenter, chairman of Carpenter & Co., a banking consulting firm in Irvine.

“While these branches are good for consumer transactions, they are not a good place for business transactions,” Carpenter said. “A person doesn’t want to be discussing their business needs and their inventory levels while a woman with a baby next to them is reaching for a box of dog biscuits.”

Glenfed executives say a year-old marketing effort has increased the number of small businesses the company signs on each month from 200 to more than 2,000, making small-business banking the company’s fastest-growing segment.

Banking services will also be convenient for Kinko’s customers, who often have free time in the store while they are waiting for their projects to be processed, said Bill Birch, Glenfed’s executive vice president of retail banking.

“This is a good time to meet the customer to do high-end profiling and selling,” Birch said.

Although college students and consumers make up a large portion of Kinko’s business, small-business customers are the privately held firm’s single most important audience, said Laura McCormick, a spokeswoman for the printing giant.

Small-business representatives applauded the move, saying Kinko’s stores are conveniently located and that the addition of banking services will help small-business owners become more efficient.

“The combination of financial and copy services is something that small businesses need,” said Dave Kilby, vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento.