A friend shared his recent experience with his bank.
A few days ago, he had made a bunch of deposits. He also had a plethora of checks coming out of his account. Because of the volume of checks, he was concerned that his account would go negative if the bank posted the checks first and the deposits later.
He was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bank actually credited his deposits first and then posted the checks. By doing it this way, his balance remained positive and he had no ugly fees due to overdrafts. He was so surprised and pleased, he had to tell someone. So he called me.
Too often we expect the companies we deal with to take advantage of us. And just as often such expectations are fulfilled. We’ve been conditioned to expect business people to act in their own interests first, and consider their customer needs later, if at all. The evidence of this is everywhere.
That’s why it’s fun to share a story like this. This bank seems to be run by people who care. They care enough to treat their customers like they would want to be treated. In a better world, this wouldn’t be a story. But today it is because, for many customers, it’s a dream rather than reality.
This bank easily could have done the opposite. I’ve seen it happen. I would guess most of us have.
If the checks and deposits came in at the same time, you could argue the bank is justified in posting the checks first and the deposits later. Who’s to say which is “right”? As long as they establish a policy and stick to it. (If there is a law governing this, please feel free to share it with me.)
The people at this bank put some thought into how they do things. They seemed to put their customers first and decided to do things in a way that helps them. Of course, they left some fees on the table. If they made a practice of posting checks first they could probably have charged more overdraft fees. And this revenue would have very little cost associated with it.
Or would it?
Maybe such fees would be toxic revenue and would therefore reduce customer loyalty.
I met some people at this bank a few years ago. I found them to be warm, friendly and genuine. Others who have done business with them have told me the same thing. They are, to put it simply, nice people.
So maybe this organization makes a habit of treating everyone well. Maybe it’s just a part of their culture. Maybe they allow their culture and values to affect not only how they answer the phone and greet people but also their policies and practices. From what I hear, it seems so.
Other articles you might like:
- Value based pricing
- JPMorgan Chase Backtracks on Fees After Firestorm of Feedback
- Customer Retention Tip: Fill their experience bank accounts
- These Servers Only Want Generous Customers
- What type of customers might be going unnoticed?
