Many businesses from department stores to car companies use scent marketing to boost their brand identities and financial institutions are getting in on the trend. Smells have been found to improve memory, impact perception and even increase sales which may explain why now, even banks are beginning to think about signature smells.

Relatively few banks use this kind of branding, but that looks like it will change as some of the higher-end investment houses and brokerages are now doing it because it creates a more luxurious feel for their higher-end clients.

What should a bank smell like? It depends on their branding, maybe where they’re located or what their colours are, for example. A bank that has yellow in its logo might use fresh lemon as part of its scent. Creating an effective bank scent depends largely on eliciting the right emotions. The idea is to make people feel comfortable, safe, and in some cases very elegant.

Here are some emotions produced by other scents: Vanilla and amber induce warmth, comfort and sometimes nostalgia while citrus notes tend to make people feel upbeat and happy. Leather and tobacco call to mind luxury and trust. Rosemary and peppermint make people feel more alert and sharp and improve cognition and problem solving.

Scent-marketing pioneers in the traditionally conservative financial world include Florida-based Helm Bank, National Australia Bank, China Merchant’s Bank and Bank Leumi. Helm branches that added the scent, and also updated their logos, colours and sound branding doubled their revenue, as well as the number of new account openings. Customer satisfaction shot up 20 percent, to 99 percent.

Seems like it’s time for those banks who have yet to embrace scent marketing tactics to smell the money - it certainly makes ‘scents’ to us!