New Kind of Bank Branch Opens in Springfield

The sign outside reads "bank." The mood inside is more like "Starbucks meets college library with tellers"

Beneficial doesn't call its 64th office a branch. It's a campus. Beneficial Bank President and CEO Gerry Cuddy tells Patch the entire concept is to educate consumers (from young children to senior retirees) on personal finances and how to get the most from their money.

It's a bank branch with a library area, a children's area, a knowledge bar with a sink and drinks and a bar of iPads (they're locked in place and only have financial apps).

Tellers don't stand behind big counters, they sit at "pods" with seats for customers. There is one traditional bank feature: lollipops for children.

Cuddy, along with a host of bank, local business and political dignitaries, cut the ribbon on the Beneficial "campus" at 537 Baltimore Thursday evening. The bank opens to the public Saturday at 9 a.m..

Click on the video clip to hear Cuddy describe what sets the new Springfield Bank apart from more "traditional" bank branches.