How Data Drives Navigant Credit Union’s Branching Strategy

Navigant Credit Union ($3.9B, Smithfield, RI) is using members’ transaction and behavioral data to fuel its branch strategy.

Navigant has long used data to make branching decisions but in the past two year has made a concerted effort to level up. Today, it incorporates member transaction patterns, demographic and census data, and third-party data from third-party providers.

“That really allowed us to use data more deeply to drive the decision-making process — not as a supplement as much as one of those primary drivers to how we look at branching,” says Mike Mattone, senior vice president and chief retail banking and experience officer. “Over the past two years we’ve done a great job with both internal and external resources to put more data up front in our decision-making process.”

One aspect of that includes assigning members a primary branch location based on their past six months of Navigant activity, including in-branch transactions, ATM usage, or member service representative interactions. That data now helps the credit union determine how and where it will place future branches and ATMs.

That work is already bearing fruit. Navigant was planning a new branch in North Kingstown, RI, but as it examined the data determined the planned location wasn’t the right spot. It then selected a different location on the other side of town, which opened in July 2024. Within six months that branch was ahead of schedule on membership and checking account acquisition targets.

“We looked at how our members interact and transact and where we had opportunities for other community pockets that weren’t engaged with membership yet,” Mattone says.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Rhode Island’s small size also plays a role in the credit union’s decisions. Using transaction data and third-party data — including deposit-growth trends and market potential at competing banks and credit unions — as well as demographic and zip code data, Navigant looked for locations that weren’t too close to competing institutions.

Because the credit union operates in a smaller market, convenience is critical.

“We looked at even a 10-minute drive time and said ‘Hey, if we’re 10 to 15 minutes away and they’re going to pass five competitors, that’s not going to work,’” Mattone says.

Visualization is so critical — who wants to look at reports all day? You have to see it and make it practical.

This is where data visualization became critical. Navigant has done extensive work in recent years to add visualization into its data strategy, examining concentric circles of branching overlap. That might be where population density has resulted in two branches within five minutes of each other, banking density within a specific area, or areas with smaller populations but strong deposit potential.

“We have all these concentric circles on this big map,” Mattone says. “Here’s our membership concentration, here’s the population, here’s the deposit opportunities, here’s our existing branches, here are competitive branches and what are their asset sizes? Where are those pockets? That visualization is so critical —  who wants to look at reports all day? You have to see it and make it practical.”

Flexibility — And A Learning Curve

Flexibility has been a crucial lesson. Early in this journey, Navigant was assigning members to branches based on where members opened accounts. After it shifted to transaction data, the data became more useful to the credit union because it had a realistic picture of where members were versus where they originated.

That data has also helped Navigant determine what types of facilities it needs in a given location. It now views branches as a member-acquisition play and ATMs are a convenience. As Navigant looks at demographics, geography, deposit-capture potential, and more, data helps determine what kinds of facilities might be most effective in a given area. If deposit-capture potential isn’t high in a given area, ATMs might be a better investment than branches.

The credit union historically relied heavily on third-party providers, but in recent years has invested in bringing talent in-house and ensuring staff have the bandwidth to dig deeply into data for the desired outcomes. Naturally, there was a learning curve along with that, but the end result has been increased efficiency and internal stakeholders with the skills to make data-driven decisions.

People Over PCs

The North Kingstown branch remains Navigant’s biggest success story with this approach so far. More than 180 new members joined at that branch within the first six weeks, with more than half opening checking accounts. Branch staff also hit its home equity loan target well ahead of schedule.

According to Mattone, the secret to that success isn’t data — it’s people.

“You can’t open a branch and then have the team be disengaged because not enough people are coming through the door,” he says.

Navigant continues to invest heavily in training staff to serve members at the high level they expect, which in turn deepens relationships and leads to more business. It also is renovating some spaces to remove teller lines in favor of a universal-banker model that allows for more consultative service.

Ultimately, the work has helped Navigant build its brand, both introducing it to new members and reinforcing its presence in the market with existing ones. That sense of convenience is part of Navigant’s strategy, and Mattone likened branch presence to a new parent checking on a baby. Parents are generally confident their baby is OK at night, but sometimes it’s reassuring to take a quick look in the bedroom just to make sure. It’s not so different when it comes to finances.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to drive by the branch and make sure it’s still there and their money is OK,” Mattone says.

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