The era of the dingy bank branch is over. Banks are creating spaces that go far beyond the typical bank branch, formerly a dreary space that consists of a few tellers hidden behind stalls and desks. Instead, they’re full-on “third spaces,” built to create community and designed to make you forget that they’re bank branches altogether. While they offer the necessary functions of a bank branch, they’re essentially gathering spaces.

“Coming into a branch can be intimidating. We’re now creating these spaces so everyone can feel welcome,” Diedra Porché, the head of community and business development of consumer banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., told the Associated Press last year.

The digital age didn’t eliminate the retail bank branch, as many expected. According to Gensler, 45% of Americans have stepped into a bank within the last 30 days. This is especially the case for Gen Z, a group that particularly values in-person bank interactions.

Instead, experts say retail bank branches are sources of unlimited potential. Instead of something that will eventually die out, they will blossom into something else entirely new. 

The Early Adopter: Capital One Cafes

Capital One opened its first Capital One Cafe in 2014, partly inspired by the insight that customers value in-person interactions around customer service and money management needs, an executive at the company recently told Marketing Brew.

Now, there are 60 of these Capital One Cafes across the country. Featuring friendly and welcoming banking staff in addition to cafe staff, each location offers additional incentives besides being your typical source of caffeine. Capital One credit card users get half-priced coffee, as well as things like free coffee on Mondays during baseball season, clean bathrooms, and wisely-placed puzzles and games. There are even free rentable co-working rooms for taking calls, ideal for self-employed people or remote workers looking to avoid roommates. They offer financial literacy workshops and free financial advice. 

All of these amenities and incentives are done with a wise goal of boosting loyalty. When customers are looking to open a new credit card or start their first high-yield savings account, they know the friendly banking staff at their Capital One Cafe will be their first stop.

Bank of America Goes Big on Design

Bank of America is honing in on a design-focused strategy. Their team brought in Rebekah Sigfrids from Sephora and Victoria’s Secret as its first in-house designer for bank branches. At the Williamsburg, Brooklyn branch, which was previously used as studio space for a sculptor, you can find sculptures by the artist as well as additional art from around the neighborhood, Fortune reported.

The chain’s strategy includes a keen insight to focus on catering to the neighborhood in which it’s located.

“We’re now really thinking ‘how do we fit this branch into the community?’ Bank of America had its own look and feel, but what about when we go into Williamsburg? What about if you’re going to be in downtown Manhattan, or Seattle, or what if you’re in Texas?” an executive told Fortune.

Similarly, the aqua mosaic tile and sculptural roof of a Palm Springs Bank of America branch location embrace the city’s dedication to modernist design.

Creating Space for Connection with Citibank

On Long Island, Citibank is expanding with 54 bank branches that feature everything from a new design and beautiful flowers to delicious treats and giveaways. Add in all the functional needs of a bank branch, and the company understands how to put people-centered design into practice.

“These branches showcase the best of Citi,” Citi New York Metro Region Head Scott Stokes said of the “modern and flexible designs” to offer clients a “welcoming space to meet” with staff, the Long Island Press reported. “They will serve as places for connection, growth, and opportunity through events, educational programming, and more.”

One of the most important components of this new era of Citibank’s branches is the understanding that customers demand flexibility.

“They desire the convenience of digital banking for everyday tasks, coupled with the reassurance of a physical branch for significant financial moments or in-person customer service to resolve an issue,”  Citizens’ Head of Retail Banking Nuno Dos Santos added.

The reinvention of retail banking represents the future. It’s also incredibly lucrative. In 2023, the global retail banking market surpassed the $3 trillion revenue mark on the back of sustained growth of about 8 percent annually in recent years, McKinsey & Co reported.

Bank of America, Citibank, and Capital One are already moving in the right direction by transforming their design schemes, but they’ve only scratched the surface. If banks are sources of unlimited potential, as experts predict, then now is the time for companies to grab hold of the opportunity to step into the future.