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Your banker calls customer service too
Costs as the lever
With three banks in a town as small as Kentland, Indiana, competition is heavy, which leaves costs as the one big lever. Ruthlessly managing expenses is one of the few ways a bank can truly stand out.
Central customer service
It is much cheaper to have one centrally located back office than to keep experts on demand at every branch. So at a giant like Chase or Wells Fargo, a banker with your issue will often pick up the phone in front of you and call customer service.
Paperless statements
Paperless statements follow the same logic. Banks sometimes even require them to earn a one-time new account bonus of one, two, or three hundred dollars. Mailing a letter seems like nothing to a multi-million dollar business, but it is one of the few costs a bank controls. Most of its other costs, like real estate, are large and non-negotiable.
Why must customers opt in to paperless?
The federal E-SIGN Act of 2000 lets electronic delivery replace paper for many required disclosures, but only with the consumer's consent. Because the law requires that consent, banks present paperless enrollment as a choice, and some attach a bonus to it. The consumer must agree in a way that shows they can open the electronic documents.
Why did banks move to call centers?
AT&T introduced toll-free 800 numbers in 1967, which let customers phone a distant office for free. Cheaper long-distance service made it practical to staff service in one low-cost location instead of at every branch. After the Supreme Court's 1978 Marquette decision let banks charge their home state's interest rates nationwide, South Dakota removed its rate caps, and Citibank moved its credit card operation to Sioux Falls in the early 1980s.