Change Agent

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Milton Berle

I’ve been planning to change my accounts from the downtown bank I’ve used for thirty years to a small local bank within walking distance from my house. With direct deposits and ATMs, I rarely go to the bank anymore, so it was easy to put off making all the changes necessary to switch banks.

Last week, I had an insurance paper that needed to be notarized and wanted to avoid a trip downtown, so I headed to the little community bank in my neighborhood. They informed me that they only provided notary service for people who had accounts there. Since notarizing a signature takes less than a minute (and I was perfectly willing to pay for the service) I thought their policy was unfriendly, to say the least. I decided that I wouldn’t transfer my accounts to them after all.

Still trying to avoid a trip to my bank, I went to the local branch of a huge national bank which holds my mortgage. This branch was much bigger than the first one I went to, although still small by most standards and still within walking distance from home. Unlike the other one, they were extraordinarily busy. I waited for almost 45 minutes to see a personal banker who was also a notary. As I sat waiting, my anger grew and I swore I would never come to that bank again. When the banker finally got to me, she apologized for the long wait and treated me very well. My insurance paper turned out to have some questionable language and she had to call the insurance company to find out exactly how to complete the form. My anger started to cool.

After completing my form, she told me that because of my mortgage, I qualified for free checking with no minimum balance and free checks, a much better deal than either my current bank or the one I was planning to switch to. Because of the banker’s calm and friendly attitude in the face of my anger and frustration and because she offered me great service, I will probably transfer my accounts there in the very near future. She was a woman who definitely had the ability to turn a sow’s ear (me) into a silk purse. That’s an amazing talent to have and one I hope to cultivate in myself. Who knew you could learn something about creativity from a banker?

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved