Location of Melli Bank Branches in Ilam City and Determination of Suitable Zones Using the Urban Smart Growth Approach: A Case Study in Iran

One of the most important strategic decisions in banking is to find the best locations for the branches of banks as well as credit and financial institutions. Nowadays, because of the steep competition between banks and credit and financial institutions for attracting more resources, understanding the components and factors affecting the improvement of financial resources has gained more importance. The location of the branches of the banks is a very important stimulus for attracting customers. Therefore, it has been closely studied by banking marketers. Therefore, the current study has been carried out to find the best locations for the branches of Melli Bank in Ilam City (in Iran) and determine the most suitable zones using the urban smart growth approach using a descriptive-analytical method. The stages involved in finding the best locations for the bank branches included preparing information layers for each criterion, classifying each information layer based on the values, combining all the information layers, applying the final coefficients of the AHP model, and preparing the final map. Considering the weights of the criteria and the overlap of layers, finally the highly suitable to highly unsuitable locations for establishing the new branches of Melli Bank in Ilam City were determined. Based on the results obtained from the classification, the best locations for establishing new Melli Bank branches in Ilam City were the central districts of the city, and parts of Districts 2, 3, and 4 to improve the citizens’ access to the services provided by Melli Bank.