Capital One Opening Coffee-Shop-Meets-Bank Concept on Union Square

Capital One is working on opening a coffee shop/bank mashup on Union Square south. The first floor, located just a two doors east of Whole Foods, will be a coffee shop and co-working space, operated by Peet's Coffee – what could be considered the full-blown, you-actually-have-to-pay-for-it version of your average free bank coffee situation. Presumably it will be equipped with coffee in good supply, strong WiFi, and a decent amount of seating. Upstairs will be the actual bank, and downstairs a classroom for classes on topics like mortgage financing, reports Crain's NY.

The bank already operates seven Capital 360 Cafes around the country, including one in Midtown, but the Union Square project seems to be something a bit different (though it's not quite clear how different) that they hope to replicate elsewhere, possibly in Soho across the street from the Puck Building on Houston. The team likely took the idea from ING, which operated several internet cafes/banks back in the day. The two banks merged a few years ago.