Greek banks contemplate shared branching

How would you feel if your neighborhood bank operated one day as National, the next as Eurobank, the third as Alpha Bank, the fourth as Piraeus and the fifth as a cooperative lender?

It may seem odd to customers in Greece, but the shared branching model is quite widespread in other parts of the world and is already being considered by local lenders as an alternative solution for reducing operating costs, as well as for providing easy access to cash for social groups with special needs, such as the elderly.

Such an arrangement make particular sense for smaller towns and villages as it would serve more customers while cutting banks' costs.