What I mean by that is the key factor in which retail consumer banking services should or should not be offered depends on the bank’s demographic target. If the focus is on the grey-haired set (I’ve got a few, so I’m not completely divorced from this segment), then the branch network should remain a component of your retail strategy. But if you’re focused on the iPod generation, branches are useless.

Rob Rubin of FindABetterBank.com explained that this demographic distinction goes beyond superficial stereotypes. He explained that today’s younger generation cannot understand why they should step into a branch. In other words, they don’t even know that the service in branches is generally poor — they are internet-based consumers, first.

This market is the target for Bank Simple, said Shamir Karkal, one of the founders of the startup bank. So to Karkal, the online experience becomes a real driver of Bank Simple, rather than another facet of the bank’s evolution.

Such a demographic focus is necessary to achieve critical mass, the speakers said. One example cited was Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab didn’t just hit critical mass overnight. Rather, it took Schwab 10 years to hit its mark, and that only happened once Baby Boomers’ net worth blossomed enough.

This demographic dynamic sounds simple, to use Karkal’s word of choice, but, of course, it is not. Knowing what each group needs is a task of monumental proportions.