Expanding outreach services with white-label banking

Today, 80 to 90% of transactions globally happen someplace other than the branch environment, according to The World Bank’s research.

As financial institutions make tough choices to rationalize branch networks—typically leading to the repurposing or closing of underperforming branches—they are increasingly using innovative outreach delivery models to take transactional services directly to people rather than requiring people to come calling for them.

Outreach banking models are designed to cost-effectively take transactional services directly to people rather than requiring people to come calling for them.

In doing so, they accomplish several goals at once: keeping service coverage strong as demographics change and populations shift, providing the convenience customers want and finding cost-effective ways to extend financial access for those who don’t live or work near a branch.

Here are some of the models that are proving effective in countries around the world.

An innovative new model

In New Zealand, the New Zealand Banking Association collaborated with six major banks to open white-label banking hubs in six small towns where individual bank branches were no longer economically sustainable.

The hubs used multi-branded smart ATMs made and operated by NCR Atleos with cash recycling technology to require less CIT servicing. The ATMs were designed to securely process transactions for six different competing banks with a single machine using specialized hardware and software. Each hub was managed by a concierge and staffed by people from each of the six participating banks on a rotating basis. Costs were shared by the participating banks based on market share.

“The opportunity we had In New Zealand was to show how to effectively provide banking services to small regional communities when there was effectively no other banking function available,” said Andrew Familton, a digital banking who consults for major New Zealand financial institutions.

The pilot project transitioned to full rollout over the next four to six years. The number of locations expanded significantly through 2024 and 2025 as part of a voluntary agreement between major banks to maintain cash access.

This model, also called the collaborative model or shared utility model or hub model, can be replicated anywhere financial institutions are willing to work together to bring professional financial guidance and essential services directly into the hearts of neighborhoods. The model calls for the sharing of facilities, technology and costs through a third-party partner, which typically provides online banking assistance and concierge support in neutral territory, as well as shared cash recycling ATMs for deposits/withdrawals and private consultation rooms to provide complex services.

Facilities can be staffed by a neutral operator but rely on representatives from each financial institution who rotate through or appear virtually.  

This model came about because of two modern developments: technology for interoperability (for a single teller to access the secure ledgers of competing banks in real-time) and legal changes that allowed financial institutions to cooperate without fear of violating anti-monopoly and competition laws.

The origins of white-label banking

Though the white-label banking model is a recent innovation, it evolved from earlier outreach banking models. State banks were first used in ancient Rome, when the government reached out to struggling citizens with debt relief programs during an economic crisis, and later in European city-states.

Then, in the late 19th century, a new model appeared in the UK: a way of offering banking services through the infrastructure of postal services. Japan adopted this model in 1875, France in 1881 and the US in 1911 (abolished in 1967). Today, it is used to expand convenient, low-threshold access to financial services in countries from Ghana to Ukraine to Brazil to India.

Why white-label banking works

Today, the white-label hub model is standard industry practice for underserved areas in many European countries and is being closely watched by North American regional banks. It's trending because it offers customers more services in an environment purpose-built for banking while offering financial institutions a cost-efficient approach that better aligns with evolving technology.

By moving beyond the traditional branch into shared community spaces, this model is making banking more agile, more inclusive and more personal than ever before. This is outreach in action—ensuring that every resident, from the tech-savvy student to the local small business owner, has a dedicated place for face-to-face support close to where they live and work.

It’s also eminently scalable: the model can be expanded to more locations or broader service sets without breaking. For example, a decade from now, ATMs in such hubs could be offering significantly more complex services than they do today. Levels of integration between self-service kiosks and digital tools may be unrecognizable in just a few years.

An evolving model

As the financial services industry continues to pursue higher levels of customer convenience, financial access and cost efficiency, we can expect the white-label model to continue evolving—perhaps significantly enough that an entirely new model we cannot yet imagine takes precedence over it. As history has shown, the leaders who drive that evolution through their vision and action will help decide the future.