Leading London-based international branding and interior design agency I-AM has been hired by Austrian retail bank Bawag P.S.K. to oversee a revamp of its branch network.

The move follows the announcement that Bawag – which has around 2.2 million customers – would be severing links with Austrian Post, the country’s leading logistics and postal services provider, and ending their sharing arrangement in 75 branches.

I-AM will work closely with Bawag on the massive transformation project to create the ideal ‘branch of the future’ which addresses the everyday needs of its loyal customer base and also successfully integrates its online services.

Jon Blakeney, group MD of I-AM, said, “To kickstart the project we will go through a thorough research and investigation phase to fully immerse ourselves in the work of Bawag which consists of customer profiling, customer journey workshops, format strategy, stakeholder interviews and desk research.”

I-AM, headquartered in Shoreditch and with overseas offices in Istanbul, Dubai and Mumbai, has a portfolio of clients in many sectors including food and drink, fashion, retail estate, telecom and tech, showrooms, education, transport and destinations – as well as banking.

Bawag was pitched as a cost-efficient retail bank focused on some of the world’s most stable economies – Austria, Germany and Switzerland.