There Has To Be An Easier Way To Bank

I’ve belonged to 4 banks over the years: PNC, TCF, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. My Wells Fargo relationship has been in place for about 6 years. During those 6 years one thing has continued to bother me about my banking experience with Wells Fargo: the check deposit process.

This morning I got in the car and headed to the drive thru option at my local Wells Fargo. I had a check (signed by me), my Wells Fargo banking card, and my license. I placed all three of those items into the canister and sent it through the vacuum tube system to the banker. The banker asked me if I wanted to cash the check, I replied, “no, I’d like to deposit it into checking.” The banker then explained I would need to full out a deposit slip. I don’t understand how it is in today’s day and age of digital banking that I still need to fill out a piece of paper. The information that needed to be filled in was information they already have: name, address, date, and deposit amount. Huh? Anyhow, I fill out the slip, drop it into the canister, and send it back to the banker.

Look, I should know better. This experience is the same every time I go to deposit a check. I guess I keep hoping that one day they’ll have it fixed and surprise me. The kicker in all of this, was after making me waste an additional 5 minutes, the banker thought I’d like to come in (at the very moment) to meet with someone about upgrading to a “better” savings account. Really? You some how thought that the guy who took the drive thru and who was irritated at filling out paper (aka wasting time) would now be jazzed about spending more time with you?

In full disclosure, this same problem has existed with PNC ad TCF. It never happened to me at Citibank. At Citibank you simply provided 2 forms of ID (eg check card and license) and they took care of the rest. If you wanted cash back all you had to do was enter in your pin. It was that simple.

Bob Gilbreath has a blog called Marketing With Meaning. It’s a great blog that grounded in a simple concept: your marketing should have meaning. Meaning to me is about value and marketing is more than the ad campaign a company runs. Value and meaning come from the day to day interactions you have with a brand. If Wells Fargo really wanted to provide me value they’d focus on making my life easier. Not just my life, but all customers. I’m telling you, the check deposit process should be better. Isn’t it in their benefit to make it easier? The more funds they have on hand the more they can lend out. The more they can lend out the more money they make.

There has to be a better way, right?

torchio

I used to use B of A. I loved it. I could deposit my check in an ATM machine with just my debit card, and they would print out a receipt with a scanned copy of my check on it. It was brilliant..
torchio

I used to use B of A. I loved it. I could deposit my check in an ATM machine with just my debit card, and they would print out a receipt with a scanned copy of my check on it. It was brilliant..
Tom the Napper

Yes there is a better way and it already exists. My move from Citi over to WF was a bit of a shock. Never used a deposit slip just my ATM card and my PIN. What really needs changing are the arcane banking software system or processes that require this paper trail. And don’t get me started on the fact that if you deposit a check at an ATM it takes longer to hit your account than if you do it at the teller.
Tom the Napper

Yes there is a better way and it already exists. My move from Citi over to WF was a bit of a shock. Never used a deposit slip just my ATM card and my PIN. What really needs changing are the arcane banking software system or processes that require this paper trail. And don’t get me started on the fact that if you deposit a check at an ATM it takes longer to hit your account than if you do it at the teller.
http://www.marketingwithmeaning.com/ Bob Gilbreath

Thanks for the Marketing With Meaning plug, Adam. I actually started my career in banking and have had banks as clients. It is very, very difficult for banks internally to change. One of the “curses” to change is that customers really have less choice in financial services as compared to other product and service categories. In a nutshell: it’s a pain to move your account, and most competitors don’t offer something clearly better.

It’s changing, but slowly. Small banks are actually gaining, and the economic challenges are sorting out some winners and losers.

Interestingly, I’ll be presenting at the Mobile Commerce summit in June!

http://www.sourcemediaconferences.com/MCS09/
http://www.marketingwithmeaning.com Bob Gilbreath

Thanks for the Marketing With Meaning plug, Adam. I actually started my career in banking and have had banks as clients. It is very, very difficult for banks internally to change. One of the “curses” to change is that customers really have less choice in financial services as compared to other product and service categories. In a nutshell: it’s a pain to move your account, and most competitors don’t offer something clearly better.

It’s changing, but slowly. Small banks are actually gaining, and the economic challenges are sorting out some winners and losers.

Interestingly, I’ll be presenting at the Mobile Commerce summit in June!

http://www.sourcemediaconferences.com/MCS09/
Misbah

Bank of America is the way to go.

the end.
Misbah

Bank of America is the way to go.

the end.