On Monday, I blogged about Northwestern National Bank's centennial idea to have a "Pioneer Bank" then a "Future Bank." Wells Fargo team member Leslie Swan worked at both when she began her career in banking. She shared with me the popularity of the Pioneer Bank.
Now...to the Future Bank!
The Pioneer Bank's life span was planned to last six months. The space was then quickly renovated into a new banking experience called "The Future Bank." Where Pioneer Bank had offered a glimpse of the past, the Future Bank was to give banking customers a tangible look forward into the future.
The fully functional teller line offered the same personalized services that conventional tellers provided. But if customers chose to, they could also access bank services by space age 
machines that must have seemed worthy of George Jetson. A 24-Hour Total Teller Machine allowed $25 or $50 dollar withdrawals (with a $100 per day limit). A Picture Phone, with a direct line to personal banking, served as the directory of information on departments and services. The Banking Services Information Console was a kiosk with videotaped information on various banking services. The information included instructions on how to write yourself a loan from Ready Reserve, use the Instant Cash Card, and how to determine which savings account was best for the customer.
Most intriguing to me were Video Tellers and a Self-Service Postal Center. At the One Universal TV Tellers, customers conversed with tellers via closed circuit TV, using pneumatic tubes to send the work back and forth. Video Tellers were touted as having "Mechanical efficiency with a personal touch." The Self-Service Postal Center, which seems monstrous by today's standards, sold stamps, accepted letters and packages, and contained a "Hotline" connection to the main post office information desk....
Of course, a bank titled Future Bank would need futuristic clothes for employees. In this case, silver space boots, silver mini-dress and silver hat were worn by employees, who served as guides to the new banking services during special events. Leslie Swan had worked in the Pioneer Bank as a teller and wore a period costume: In her role as a Video Teller in the Future Bank, she was able to wear jeans and flip-flops.
Leslie commented that the Future Banking was a "hard sell" at times — it was used more than the Pioneer Bank, but some people avoided it. One bank executive declined to use the Future Bank, saying, "I don't push buttons." Many avoided the machines in favor of personal service. "People liked the future bank but thought of it as too far out, too space age," she said.
One team member I spoke to as she visited the museum remembered the Future Bank. Recalling it, Jo McNearney reflected, "Our opinion of it at the time was that no way would this sort of banking ever exist. Boy, were we wrong!!!"
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