Do "Personal Bankers" Help -- or Hurt?

Hello All,
I'm a Personal Banker with Chase in NYC. I did understand you John, about being pressured to be at 50/50 but you could be at 85/85 with helping client & selling right conveniences to them that are free for them! Direct Deposit, On-line Banking, On line Bill-pay, Overdraft, on & on & you are not cheating the customers/clients. There are Good Bankers & Bad Bankers. I get disgusted by bad bankers, Because Clients come to me with anger about things that other bankers have done, Yet they walk out happy, confident & with Joy, Listen John you can make the different one client at a time. All the other bankers will be caught one way or another! Let your customers write letters about your honesty & kindness & you can make it! by just giving up & leaving you just allowed the client to be played by other bad bankers. I have clients that walk in & ask for me & ME only when my co-workers try to get them, By the way I only been there 6 months already build a 200 client data that know me call me & come to me! I am a quad-lingual I speak 4 languages English, Arabic, Spanish, & Korean. I had when bankers take advantage of non English speaking client.. Once again there are bad & good people in ever field in this nation But if you are on the good side Work hard & keep your feet on the right phat & you will be a successful Person & people will remember you, As well as the generation after! So once again you could smell a wolf from a lamp choose wisely & you fill find a good banker. God Bless you All & I hope that in a time like today, you will find the Lamp of your branch to help you out! Than you for your Log Terry & your feeling John but one client at a time could change everything in good ways..

Terry,

I am a personal banker at Chase in New York City. The trouble is that I will not be for long.

Coming into this role at the bank, I was seduced by stories about helping make clients lives easier. I was glamoured by an idea of making a lot of money while helping people. I was told that as a "relationship manager", I would utilize the skills I have learned through my training to make a difference.

All in all, I was lied to.

In the beginning, there was a "trust" between client and banker. The "client" has transformed into the "customer". Our "customer service" is nothing more than a disguise. A mask for our "sales tactics".

I see scowls when I greet a customer. I am not the "used-car salesman" and yet I am burdened by the stigma that comes with being a personal banker.

I was told by management that my customer service/sales ratio was about 85%/15%, respectively. I was then told I need to shift it to a range closer to 50%/50%.

I did not and I fought them hard. I am considered by many managers to be a rebel. I have been called insubordinate, disrepectful and many other names that hold no water to the character I have developed over the years. All because I disagree with using a natural trust to coerce a "client" into feeling, and worse, becoming a "customer".

I will be unemployed by Monday. It has been decided. I will never get another job at a financial institution because my license will be tainted with fabrications (the reasons they are letting me go). i will have nothing left in less than 72 hours. It is all because I chose to be a good person.

That is what the retail banking system represents and I stand against it firmly. I suppose at one time or another, car salesman had a reputation too. I'm happy that I will no longer be a part of the degradation of this system.

I apologize for the rant. I have a tendency to ramble when I am this passionate about something.

Have a wonderful holiday.

SAVAGE SAYS: Well, that about says it all. And I'm glad my blog gave you a chance to vent your feelings. At the risk of annoying you even more, may I point out that you might have come to this decision on your own -- a year ago, or whenever you realized that this job does not meet your personal ethical standards. If you had done so even a year ago, it might have been easier to find a job in another field. Now, everything's in recession, and jobs are being cut everywhere.
I suspect that this is one of the things that is making you angry-- you're angry at yourself for staying in the job (probably because the pay was good!) when your heart (and mind) weren't in it!
So now this is an expensive lesson, but a good one -- and you'll take it with you for the rest of your life! Please do find a job in one of the helping professions -- maybe too late to become a doctor, but try nursing where there is a real shortage. Or if you don't like blood, see if you can't find a job (low paying, but more satisfying) with a non-profit organization. I'm quite sure that you'll work twice as hard and enjoy it twice as much, because your heart is in it!
So don't just delete because I didn't agree with you that "bankers are bad." Some are, some aren't. And yes, history is proving that incentives were skewed the wrong way in the banking world.
BUT -- this is YOUR LIFE -- and now you get to start the New Year in a new way, on a new road --of YOUR choice. Don't look back!!! (And pls do write a year from now and let me know what develops!!)

Your article today hit the nail on the head. Most of these so-called "personal bankers" are nothing but salespeople trying to push expensive fee-generating products that mostly benefit their employers, not their customers.

But, speaking of those wanting more yield, what do you think of the "high-yield" CDs offered by Countrywide Bank? Even their one-year CD ($10,000 minimum) is offered at 4.10% when practically all other banks are between 2%-3%? It seems to me that if a saver invests, say, $90,000 there is no risk even if Countrywide goes BK because of the FDIC coverage. One thing I am not sure of though is whether or not the interest on the $90,000 would be safe if Countrywide goes BK. In other words, does the FDIC cover interest as well as principal up to the $100,000 limit and, if Countrywide were to go BK, how long does it does for a depositor to get his/her insured money back?

Dear Terry,
I wanted to take a moment to comment on your article on Personal bankers that was in the Suntimes. Being a husband of a 'Personal Banker' of a bank in the western suburbs of Chicago I took offense at your article and it's one sided look the industry. I have listened to many of your shows and comments and articles and have always appreciated your expertise. I do feel that this was not fair to some of the men and women in the banking industry that fell under this generalization. As with any industry
you will always have people that only show"pros" and don't show all "cons" either.
I have experienced some of the things my wife has done as a 'personal banker' that go way beyond what in any industry would be considered the "norm" for her customers. She has gone to their homes on her own time to personally help a man in a wheel chair to balance his check book. Spend hours talking to customers about family issues trying to determine the best thing for their finances and even just listened to how a senior citizen was doing over a cup of coffee because they need just someone to talk to that day. I guess what I am getting at is personal banking as with any industry isn't always about the buck but sometimes the service to a customer. Maybe if a few more people thought about that we wouldn't be in such a economic mess today. There are people out there who care, and I believe it is up to the consumer to do their homework, and look for them.
Thank-you for your time

Hi Terry,

A very timely warning for your readers. The unscrupulous are everywhere. Most people probably felt they were in safe hands with their mortgage brokers and they must feel even safer in banks. It's a sad state of affairs that too many people just wanting to earn money for themselves and no longer care about customers. Are we becoming a 'used-car salesman' nation?

Your Savage truth has certainly been covering a variety of important and timely topics.

I thoroughly read your article concerning personal bankers, and I have to say that you painted a pretty negative picture of what licensed personal bankers do. As a registered representative yourself, I'm sure that you have realized there are people who lie and deceive in all lines of work, however having a personal banker at your local bank can be of great benefit as well.

Personal Bankers are mostly aware of all of our customers financial needs as opposed to a broker who people sometimes feel that they shouldn't show all their cards. What is wrong with having all of your financial business under one roof in order to make things for convenient and take advantage of the benefits that we offer our customers that keep high balances?

I have been on both sides of the fence as I had been a investment representative for Edward Jones in the past, and I think that personal bankers are much more in touch with their customers needs. What we make off of investments is a joke and it quite honestly isn't worth my time when I can set someone up with a new account, direct deposit, and on-line bill pay and make the same amount I would on a 25,000 investment.

You are clearly reporting on a one siding argument of some bad experience. I would like to see a piece on a personal banker helping someone who didn't think that their "local bank" could help with. About a month ago, I had a young married couple with a 50,000 CD come into the bank to renew it. After a couple conversations we started Roth IRA's for the both of them using both the previous and current year's contribution maximum. When it was all said and done, they walked out with 18,000 in 2 separate IRA accounts, another 7,000 in a joint investment account (so that they would reach a breakpoint), and kept the rest of their money in a CD, safe and secure. These two individuals weren't even sure what IRA's were when they walked in, and now they have a great start to their retirement which is still 40+ years away.

I just wanted to let you know that you painted a pretty horrible picture of what personal bankers do, and as I said their will be a few sour grapes in every bunch, but that does not spoil the whole bunch.

Dear Terry, I am not in the habit of writing when I see an article but your article in today's Sun Times rang very true for us...

We had a CD maturing and the banker called to set up an appointment, which we did, then he called again a few days prior to reconfirm our appointment...This should have sent out a red flag...

We went to the bank (Chase) as scheduled and this man and the so called personal banker worked on us for a full 30 minutes before we could get out of the office... We knew before we went what we wanted - "either renew our CD, if the rates were acceptable" or to take our money out as we had researched the rates prior to the visit... Even though at the onset of the meeting we made our intentions very clear, they literally worked on us with high pressure for the time we were there... We are seniors but fairly investment savvy and knew we were not interested in annuities, or investment trusts, or stocks, or bonds as we are well diversified with an account we are happy with at T Rowe Price... but these two men at Chase threatened to start changing us a fee for our checking account if we pulled our CD, they felt they had to scare us about the safety of local banks if we were to pull our CD and go to another bank, and on and on this went for the 30 minutes until we all but walked out of there...

Afterwards we felt as if we had been through a car wash...just totally stressed...so your column brought some comfort knowing that this is a practice that goes on and I pity the poor uninformed that walks into such a trap... Again thanks for your great article...I hope all seniors read it and fully understand these wolves waiting at the bank....

Terry, thank you for another well-written and informative column. You are right, we do walk into a bank thinking we can trust in our personal bankers and take the advise given to us. How foolish we can be at times. But, thank the Good Lord we are lucky to have someone like you to advise us. Good sound advise and hopefully a good number of women will follow it. I called my sisters and daughters and told them to read your column and to cut it out and save it. Please, keep up the good work as we depend on you for sound advise.
Thank you,