Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Excuse Me?

I'm now cooled down so I think I can write without being an angry blogger:)

It all started when I tried to open up a new money market account with a bank that I will not mention. We sold our house and I want to park that money and some other savings until I need them. Before they would open the account they needed me to send them a copy of my wife's driver's license via fax or snail mail. Well I don't have a fax machine so I asked if I could scan it and send it via email. At first I was told yes but later I was told that was against their POLICY to accept verification through email. Only fax or hard copy would suffice. I went round and round with two reps and a supervisor until I saw that I was getting nowhere.

Here's my beef and the reason I share is that I think there is big time application for the church as well. I understand the need for stinkin' policy but when your policy hand ties your ability to fulfill the mission of your organization, something needs to change. Out of a desire to stay true to the "policy" this supervisor was willing to lose thousands of dollars. Somewhere along the line it was communicated to her that keeping company policy was more important than the mission. Somewhere along the line she forget that her primary purpose was to establish relationships with new customers so that they would open new accounts and invest tons of money with their bank. That's the purpose of a bank. When bad policy trumps an organization's purpose someone needs to change.

Whether it's a bank or a church, policy should never hinder your ability to fulfill your mission. In my book, mission trumps policy every time! It's all about the mission!

I feel much better now:)

11 comments:

Lynn said...

I agree... I think that the mission has been lost in so many areas... and those who are supposed to carry out the mission have lost site of just what it is! And banks??? A somehow necessary evil... If we were all like my grandfather was, we would just stash our cash in the sock drawer and we would only pay with cash... (Kind of sounds like an early Dave Ramsey, huh????)

Anonymous said...

Amen, Amen, Amen!!!! I was even asked to COMPLETELY fill out the DEPOSIT SLIP WHEN DEPOSITING CASH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I EMPHATICALLY said NO I will not. Bank of America is loosing ALOT OF CUSTOMERS............. I now go to another branch, and I still refuse to completely fill out my deposit slip, and refuse to Pay to have new ones printed.......... I do alot of banking for my nephews which require deposits. Grrrrrrr Identity theft created monsters.! aunt Sandi

Anonymous said...

efax.com its a beautiful thing

Anonymous said...

Just call Leo, dude. He'll take care of you.

Anonymous said...

two words "credit union"

Christy said...

A wholehearted AMEN to that brother! On both counts!

Anonymous said...

Chad, alot of the issues you brought up are not the banks fault. They are compliance issues pushed upon them by government regulations. The banks do not have choices when it comes identification verification. They have specific guidelines they must follow when obtaining identification. If they do not follow these government guidelines auditors could fine the banks and take away lending privileges, trustee privileges, etc.

Anonymous said...

I agree with this, I am having this problem with family instead, it is all very frustrating. The older things are the harder it is to change. It's ashame how blind some people can be to the good that is out there.

Anonymous said...

Must be a big city thing as small towns seem to still have that dealing with "people" is the focus and less about "business."

I guess cause we still know each other.

Jen said...

What is it with banks? I worked in one for 4 years and now as a "consumer" they are awful.
The one we use is not much better!
They aggrevate us weekly!!

Just Jonna said...

You know, that was profound. Thank you for sharing it.