The following are the shared ideas and where they came from to show you the greatness of the internet in how it can connect people from all continents.
What services would you like your financial institution to provide you?
Cathy,
I don't know about the rest of the world but Auckland, NZ has retail shopping 7 days a week & anyone at a Shopping Mall complex has to be open.....it's about time everything was open that served the retail world esp. the money exchangers - banks!
Denmark
Have clear displays in which the peak hours are spotted, and thus could be avoided maxi
USA
-Quicken-compatible monthly statement through e-mail Nick
USA
* 15 minutes of child-care -- for those few precious moments when you need to talk to a bank officer without your child doing all those "non-bankerly" things kids do...
* Home delivery -- not banking through the PC, but people who would come to your home and do your banking at your residence ... even if you *weren't* a bazillionaire
* Pay me to stand in line for more than 5 minutes -- my time is worth money, too.
USA
Someone did something "creative" in Bangaladesh (Not in Wall street!). It is called "Gramin" banking. Poor ladies who did all the work and were kept under indentured labour were organized and taught the basics of running their own business. A bank was formed to loan them money. To make the story short, their default rate was below any average "Big" bank. This model was studied by the world community. Today many such banks exist throughout the world.
The key issue is that it is the human being who creates wealth. Wealth does not create a human being.
Modern banking is focussed on money creating more money. Hence the slogan "let your money work for you etc. The human factor is ignored in two key areas: 1) Their own workers 2) The customer. Thus we have $15 to $35 transaction fees for things that take no human effort , time or expense. Your money travels at the speed of light into the banks profit. This is the farthest the bank has ventured from human concerns.
What must they do?
1) Banks have to rethink their basic premise 2) Banks have to learn to address customer needs 3) They must understand that it is the human effort that creates real wealth 4) They should be willing to act upon these new thoughts 5) They should learn creative thinking (A joke at this point)
Like I have posted earlier, Bankers are not creative thinkers. Bean counters look for what comes in, what goes out and then what remains. They do this within the law and do it methodically. They marry to computers real well. The offspring is the ATM and cards of various sorts.
My bank has changed hands 3 to 4 times since 1980. My loyalty is for the building, I suppose!
USA
Yippee, time for another list of new ideas:
1. Remove the need for a special savings account. (Why should people not just have banded levels of interest? No more changing monies between accounts or getting overdrawn in one, getting fined lots, then moving it too late)
2. Have an ethical bank account which pays off 3rd world debt at the same time.
3. Get paid for being sent junk mail from the banks.
4. Have a video link to a "bank manager" instead of meeting them.
5. OPEN BANKS AT DECENT TIMES. The people with the money normally work during "working hours"!
6. Train managers to work at tills during busy periods.
7. Have one card which replaces every credit and debit card. All the banks buy into it and it is run on a non-profit basis.
8. Check that people have money before offering them credit.
9. Use fingerprints/eye scans instead of cards (not just instead of an ID code).
10. Have a bank with no real money.
11. Have a bank with no employees.
12. Answer questions by email.
13. Pay people to bank with them.
14. Get a pre-prepared pay-in slip printed out by using a swiped bank card.
15. Don't leave gaps at the top of barriers so that nasty devices can't be thrown over (good job I'm not a criminal!)
16. Distribute pocket money by direct debit.
17. Send out bank statements on floppy disk (compatible with all accounting software).
18. Send out bank statements by email (with extra information if possible).
19. Allow free electronic transfer of money to and from different banks (that would really test the competitiveness!)
20. Have different queues based on different types of transaction (quicker for both cashiers and customers)
21. Swipe your card at the start of a bank queue, swipe it at the end of it. Get paid on the length of time over 3 minutes.
22. Have an information point to ask basic questions (to sent by email to you later?).
23. For bad queues, take a numbered ticket so that you can actually do something else while you wait.
24. Make every cashier a bank manager and be able to make decisions.
25. Have a queue for people who want to chat to the cashier, and another for those who definitely don't.
26. Don't make banks so easy to climb (UK banks tend to use old buildings so that climbers like myself find them easy to climb).
27. Have a flexible, water-proof bank card.
28. Have the customer sit down at a booth with things to do, and have the cashiers go to the customer instead.
29. Get the person who delivers the post to take cheques to the sorting office.
30. Pay a higher interest rate to lower amounts of money leading to a fairer distribution of wealth.
USA
1. Use the millions that banks spend on massive country-wide advertising campaigns for enticements to new clients -- offer a fund match for new accounts in order to encourage those with the least to start saving for emergencies. It could be more real than the prospect of winning the lottery. On second thought, use those millions to create your own lottery -- drawn by account number for one of your newer accounts (please limit to one account per family to discourage corporate interference by starting zillions of new accounts in order to tip the scales in their favor for the draw).
2. Allow word of mouth to spread your worth as a lending-savings, and transaction institution. If you are good, you will grow -- and grow on your own. If not, you will have to expend lots to overcome your short-comings.
3. Educate those you serve on your value versus the hype put forth by other lending institutions. Believe it or not, your clients do know how to think.
4. Pass out free pass books for new accounts which already have the client's name and is pre-approved for transactions.
5. Print checks at the bank's expense. Let them be free to the customer.
6. Time and temperature are nice, but use your electronics to promote local non-profit organizations.
7. Have a public, no charge for local calls, phone (or two) set up for anyone's use in your lobby.
8. Have public restrooms in your bank. (I can't think of one local bank that has a public restroom.)
9. Combine services with another business; perhaps a restaurant. Just think, open for breakfast at 6:00 with a friendly teller also there for your early morning transaction. Lunch and dinner would be reasons for staying open later and on weekends.
10. Never close your automatic teller machines during the busiest part of the day (our local money transactor closes during the lunch hour to re- supply and count proceeds).
USA
Use the walls for art galleries.
Install video art installations.
Give people Walkmans with short stories on tapes to listen to in line. Let them choose to listen to Vivaldi on the Walkmans, too.
Make the interior of the bank a sculpture garden.
Make the interior a zen garden.
Install fountains of water that make music in the lobby.
Give lollipops to adults, too.
Take the Braille signs off the Drive Thru ATMs;-)
Install chalkboards with colored chalk for kids and grownups to draw on.
Let the tellers dress differently.
Hire more tellers with tatoos, peircings, and interesting hair attitudes to make standing in their line more entertaining.
Invite performance artists to come in an interact with customers.
Have bank pets.
Have computer terminals that are accesible to customers. Bookmark them with good information which will benefit the customer doing consumer research.
Allow non-profit organizations to set up kiosks, to remind us that money isn't everything.
Instead of standing in line, have a treadmill or stair master to get to the teller- get a workout instead of standing in line.
Have checks with custom images on them- your kid's drawings, a photo you like...
Hire artists to redesign the interior,annually.
Make the inside of the bank an atrium/ garden.
Let elementary schools exhibit their artwork.
Sponsor more community projects.
Have a car wash while you go thru the drive thru teller window.
Have a miniature paper shredder in the ATM machines.
Do away with standing in lines.
Put travel posters on the ceiling.
Paint murals along the dividers of the drive through tellers- paint different landscapes on them.
Make the drive thru dramatic- use neon green lighting and make it seem as though the deposit tube is going into a mother ship.
Have party food in the lobby.
Give out calculators while your standing in line.
Have bank employees balance your checkbook while you wait in line.
Have the tellers stand in a line instead of the customers.
Have underground drive-thru banks.
Banks in laundrymats-(Slogan: for laundering more than money.)Bing. Five minutes is up.
USA
1. I want the knowledge that the ban I do business with will still be around for a while - preferably with the same name as today.
2. I want to be approciated and recognized as a loyal customer - one that has choices as to where he can do his banking.
3. Just *one* type of deposit/withdrawal slip to cover everything.
4. Enough with the 14 differenbt kinds of checking and savings accounts. Simplify the offering and don't make me always feel that I'm not getting the best ddeal.
5. Since I get consolidated statements every month across all my accounts [checking, savings, IRA, credit cards, etc.], show me how I can do the best at this bank based on current and past behaviors.
6. MORE branches, not less! [I'm sure, a popular sentiment!]
7. No fees of deposits fall below a certian threshold. Making me pay to have someone hold my money is so counter-intuitive!
8. Incentive programs like AmEx Rewards, etc. for doing volumes of business.
9. Checks pre-printed to: electric co, water co., AmEx, etc. so all i need to do is sign and put in numerical amount.
USA
1. Get rid of fees for seemingly everything. Our bank even charges us to make balance inquires.
2. Give warnings when an account is close to being overdrawn. Usually you don't find out until several days and many fees later.
3. Have pleasant tellers
4. Don't make the atmospheres so stark.
5. Provide some comfortable places to sit
6. Find an alternative to standing in line. I.e. numbers, places to sit, books to read, videos to watch, etc.
7. Complementary beverages
8. Get rid of ATM fees
9. Don't charge for banking by computer, if you don't make the tellers accessible
10. Provide banking by phone without sign up charge
11. Allow the customer to determine when the cash will be transferred to automatic payment accounts. (One reason I don't use this service is that I don't have control over my money. If I write a check, at least I know when it was written instead of a 3-5 day grace period)
12. When customers call with a genuine concern about their account don't act like they are interrupting you, they pay your salary
13. Don't charge $30 per 20-30 min to assit in balancing an account
14. Admit when you made a mistake in an account, don't try to blame the customer if you know it was your problem
15. Provide higher interest rates on checking/savings accounts, CD's, money market accounts, NOW accounts, etc.
16. Stay open later than 9-5 and 9 - noon on Saturday, or stagger hours
17. Provide shoulder massages for those standing in line
18. Return to small neighborhood banks
USA
Yes I CAN balance my checkbook, but why should I have to? Can they offer a service that will keep me up-to-date almost daily?
How about the bank helping out as my accountant -- paying my bills, reserving some for savings, etc. (yes, I am aware of the banking laws, but you asked . . . )
I wish I could go to my local banker and ask how the financial world really works, and expect to get good information instead of a push to buy the service-of-the-month.
I wish my bank would talk to my kids, especially about the importance of saving.
I wish my bank would talk to welfare mothers about how to work the financial system (instead of the lecture about the importance of not bouncing checks).
I wish my local bank made local loans (we used to have locally-owned banks; now we have Wells-Fargo, NationsBank, Bank One, and Chase).
I wish my local bank would offer some additional services to Scout troops to get their accounts. Just what I don't know -- but Scout groups feel intimidated.
American Express offers Gold Card customers a year-end statement that lists every charge made during the year, the category of business, and useful statistics on how much went to which sorts of services. My bank could do that with my checks?
I wish my banker would explain in clear language the ins and outs of automobile financing. And home buying.
Why doesn't my bank provide weekly statistics on the amount of money turned over in my town? Why should we rely on guesstimates from Washington about our local economy?
Why doesn't my bank offer its very large lobby as a voting place on election day?
Denmark
Mobile banks, in trucks or vans? Maybe without cash, but for operations not involving it.
Have clear displays in which the peak hours are spotted, and thus could be avoided
USA
-Quicken-compatible monthly statement through e-mail
NZ
Friends of the List,
When I had a bit of time before going out today, I looked at my emails [80] & just cracked up laughing on the Banking Idea/Issue - why b/c that's where I was going 3pm appt. at the ANZ bank/Ponsonby & why to sort out my financial affairs - the term deposit had shrunk so much that the interest wasn't worth it - there must have been a better choice.....there is!
Therefore ideas -
once each account had a manager why have they dropped them? What I did c today was a special screen placed over the reg. PC screen to stop stray people outside the office viewing my personal details, I couldn't even read it from my side of the desk
USA
1. I'd like a bank to sit down with people starting new businesses and walk them through the process required to be responsible financially and vis a vis taxes (that is, be a truly full-service financial resource)
2. Wish banks rounded up for interest
3. Wish I could pre-validate checks I receive so they are instantly credited to my account and available for use...no more of this "wait three days for it to clear"
USA
I wish Friday after 2pm, Saturday and Sunday would not be the same as next Monday.
USA
They should have more sales. Get five dollars for the cost of four... that kind of thing
USA
banks could something extremely innovative such as acknowledging that they are a profit driven enterprise and lose the hypocritical 'service' line.
NZ
There seem to be several possible underlying concepts in Maxi's idea 1) avoiding line-ups, 2) avoiding anxiety in line-ups or 3) alternatively doing something useful while in line--clearly and underutilized concept in banks.
Ways to 1) avoid line-ups--have a TV monitor outside the bank inviting customers to come in when there are no lineups or return when the line gets smaller etc. like on the expressway--signs that tell you that there is traffic ahead--this can be automated through pattern-recognition software.
Re item 1). How about having extra tellers - or am I being really naive here?
USA
No bills! All bills go directly to the bank which pays them and nobody bothers me! I rarely see the money anyway.
USA
provide all banking services through supermarkets.
support credit unions.
USA
1. I'd love for my bank to prove to me that they have the lowest prices/ best rates by constantly benchmarking against others in the area. Then I'd be able to make the best decisions...and so would they!
2. Open more locations. Sure it's easy to use the ATMs of others but the fees are absurd. Which brings up...
3. Get rid of fees fo using other bank's ATMs. The cost of processing electronic transactions is minimal at best. There's no reason to be charged $1 - $1.50!!!
4. Clear checks faster. Why should I have to wait to have access to my money, especially when everything is electronic.
5. Make it easy to deposit money at other banks and have it post to mine.
USA
1. Banks here, at their cash flow, had installed direct ring down telephones to a real person so that, if there were problems with the automatic teller machines, a not infrequent occurrence, you could call to someone who would quickly help resolve the difficulty, sometimes even being nice in the process. The phones were all removed and replaced with a nasty (to me) sign which suggested that one could go to the pay phone nearest and place a toll call to the bank (obviously, the bank considered it my fault if there was a malfunction with the automatic teller). Replace the phones so when you get more money than you had requested, you can notify someone (it does happen; although not to me).
2. When I had finally saved enough for the down payment on a home, my bank refused the loan on the grounds that I was too old, and could not offer proof that I would be employed, with sufficient salary for the payments, until the loan was paid off. I went with another bank who would make the loan, albeit for only 15 years (I was about 50 at the time). I changed my primary bank to the new bank in appreciation for their kindness. The new bank sold my loan to my original bank before I had made the first payment. My loan has been sold, from bank to bank six times in the 11 years that it has been in existance. Instead of trying to make more and more profit on the loans you have, share the wealth with your customers by charging them less interest. My word, what a concept! [maybe there should be a charge for this idea... ;-)
3. Instead of enticing me into a charge card with your bank with special interest rates on all transferred amounts, give me a lower rate based on my proven ability to repay the amounts I have charged.
4. Try encouraging customers to use your services by giving them a break on loans instead of giving businesses rebates on the loans they sell to banks.
5. Do not discourage customers from other banks from dealing with you. Eliminate the drive through signs which state "for use by customers of this bank only."
6. Eliminate the charge you place for using the automatic teller. Those of us old enough remember you telling us that the automatic teller was much less costly than the real teller. Or would you rather have us all standing in lines again. Eliminate the lines, have happier customers, even (dare I suggest) have automatic tellers inside, with beverages and other niceties.
7. Provide shelter from the elements for those still using your bank for automatic teller services; perhaps this thoughtfulness would result in new customers. Provide a sheltered waiting bench for those queued to use your automatic teller machine. [maybe this counts for two?]
8. Offer a dollar for dollar (pound for pound, yen for yen) incentive for young savers to begin accounts with your bank. Don't put so many charges on withdrawals and don't limit the number of withdrawals per period -- remember, the bank has used my funds to make more money than they had without my funds. Be kinder and gentler; recognize the "worth" of each patron -- not just their money value to the bank, but their real worth as members of the human race. Don't try to prey on their fears, encourage and welcome them as acquaintances who you would like to have as a good friend, and who, over time may even begin to trust you (wow, imagine being able to trust a bank).
9. Ask your senior accounts if they would allow a portion of their balance to be used for loans to younger patrons without substantial balances in order to purchase, for instance, a home. Maybe they won't have to wait until they are 50 in order to buy. But wait, the senior accounts are probably those of landlords, and they wouldn't want to participate. (Give them a toaster, or "Giovannini" sun glasses to help entice.)
10. Never, never, never, ignore someone in one queue so that you can offer service to a longer queue. It is really irritating to have two tellers begin working on a longer line so that it might move quicker and to have the teller servicing my line have to give advice to the ones servicing the longer line.
11. The teller should be business like, friendly, helpful, courteous and genuinely caring to the current individual being serviced, but not to the extent of asking over the welfare of every individual in their family for four generations back. Please, if you are serving me, a "thanks" will do (and, if said quickly and genuinely enough, "Have a nice day."). Remind your tellers, also, that their customers can detect from spoken inflection, exactly what is meant, when it is the opposite of the words being uttered.
12. Know that the way you treat your own staff is passed on to your customers when you are not looking. Even hidden monitors and recorders will seldom reveal how nasty some real people have been to some folks in line in front of me.
[I do hope these suggestions (and revelations) will not result in some disgruntled bank president hiring someone to burn a monetary symbol in my front lawn (or back lawn, for that matter)!]
CANADA
There seem to be several possible underlying concepts in Maxi's idea 1) avoiding line-ups, 2) avoiding anxiety in line-ups or 3) alternatively doing something useful while in line--clearly and underutilized concept in banks.
Ways to 1) avoid line-ups--have a TV monitor outside the bank inviting customers to come in when there are no lineups or return when the line gets smaller etc. like on the expressway--signs that tell you that there is traffic ahead--this can be automated through pattern-recognition software.
Ways to 2) avoiding anxiety in line-ups --Subway trains riders in Kiev, Ukraine are greeted by an digital clock/sign on the subway platform that announces how many seconds or minutes till the next train. Buildings/Office towers install mirrors near elevators to pre-occupy your time and not notice the wait for an elevator.
What can be done in bank line-ups that's inexpensive ?
i.e. An algorithm could be calculated to let the last customer in line know approx. when his/her turn will come up.
3) alternatively doing something useful while in line--clearly and underutilized concept in banks--an open book--you have a captive audience while they are in line.
USA
If we use some of the concepts taken from nlp:
1. If I am a visual person, I would like to have the services put in a highly visual way: a graph is better *TO ME * than figures.
2. If I am a visual person, I would like to have all the information 'translated' in to a visual language.
3. Being visual, i may prefer to receive a visual message instead of a voice message telling me that my overdraft is really too high :-)
Do the same with the other senses - auditive, kynestetic... Will we get to 144 , I am sure we will get to 1024 ...
USA
Spend time and money surveying customer needs (Perceived, real and hidden)
Cross-train employees so that idle people can work as tellers during peak hours, Social Security cheque cashing days etc.
Have multi transactional capabilities at all work stations. This means most are trained to do most of the transactions and all terminals share information.
Emphasize people skills and institute empathy training.
Check into the ergonomics of all workstations many work, soop and bend over harsh cold granite surfaces etc. to do their work.
Stress and cumulative trauma cost in terms of people, efficiency and dollars.
Conduct seminars/ workshops for customers and offer incentives to attend.
Get involved with small business and help them with their business skills (In the US 80% of people are employed by small business and they have a high rate of failure due to under capitalization and lack of business knowledge)
Get involved in the community, cultural and other activities. Invest in the future of children - they are your future customers.
Be a source of information (beyond the products you sell)
Find meaningful jobs for older employees who have been loyal over their productive years.
Narrow the gender gap in positions.
Let some women sit in glass cases for a change.
Get rid of inflated fees on everything - make money the right way.
Australia
(a) Bonuses for long-term clients (eg. fee rebates, free insurance, credit card limit buffering)
(b) free smoke detectors, alarm battery replacement and fire alarms for houses (after all - it's their property too for much of its life)
(c) Reminder notices which mention not only your liability, but recognition of your other investments "Dear customer, You are late with the mortgage, but we realise you have other assets with us..."
(d) Photos of customers on their database for recognition
(e) Signatures of customers on-screen at point-of-business
(f) $5 queues and $10 queues for express banking (I want fast service, I pay - an Edward de Bono idea)
(g) Consistency in banking rules (eg. presentation of ID, fast cheque clearances)
(h) instant cheque clearance
(i) mortgage rates indexed to savings balance - the more you have the more you pay
(j) distinction between pure business and pure domestic banking branches (k) withdrawal queue lanes and deposit queue lanes (l) automated change machines
(m) rebates for returning your expired credit cards (helps eliminate fraud)
(n) mortgage insurance which protects the client, not the bank's investment
(o) disclosure of who your account details pass to
(p) admission that cross-promotions (eg. open an account this week and get a free hamburger) means that the hamburger store owner gets your account balance mailed to him each month and a percentage commission on it.
(q) Walkman-style music headsets to wear while you're in long queues
(r) Counselling to hold-up victims
(s) advertised numbers of hold-ups on a poster in the foyer
(t) advertised wages of the head bank manager in the foyer
(u) lottery tickets to valued customers
(v) No "Dear Customer" mailouts, but personalised letters.
(w) A handwritten note of thanks at the base of the form letter from the bank manager when you complete a loan
(x) A handover ceremony/party where mortgage holders are presented with a copy of the title deed of their property
(y) Niche banking (eg. nudist bank, gay bank, feminist bank, blue collar bank, computer geek bank etc....)
(z) Instant $50 loans for customer emergencies (3 a year maximum)
© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 Robert Alan Black, Ph.D. CSP