Consider for a moment some of the other services that banks offer their customers, many of which require a separate department or group of employees. Full-service is an enticing phrase that some smart banker invented and that gasoline stations copied. Today the public takes a full-service bank for granted, but just what full-service really means we leave to your imagination. Probably it is what many banks have been offering as normal services for years. At any rate, here are some of the principal services banks make available to their customers.
Special Savings Accounts
In addition to regular savings accounts, Christmas and vacation clubs are featured widely. These are specialized savings accounts that force savers to make regular weekly deposits so they will have a certain sum of money available to buy Christmas presents or to take a vacation at the end of a twelve-month period.
"But can't people save without having to bother the bank to institute this type of special savings account?" you may well ask. The answer is "yes," except that many people will not discipline themselves and the banks are delighted to have the extra business.
Direct Deposits
Men and women who receive Social Security or pension checks may have the funds sent directly to their bank to be deposited to their accounts. This will prevent someone from stealing these checks from mailboxes and illegally cashing them. This is a very valuable service for which banks do not charge.
Traveler's Checks
People going abroad who need to carry large sums of money need not take cash. Instead, they can buy traveler's checks for a modest fee at the bank. These checks usually come in denominations of $10, $25, $50 or $100 and can be cashed anywhere in the world. If you lose your checks all you do is notify the bank and replacements are issued. What could be safer or easier?
Bank Cards
In this day of credit cards, banks have not overlooked this important convenience. Most banks offer their customers one of two cards: Master Card or Visa. The customer can charge anything offered for sale wherever the card symbol is displayed and will be billed monthly by the bank for all the items purchased. An annual fee is charged to the customer for this service. Also, the store or restaurant pays the bank a small percentage of the amount charged. If the cardholder remits only a portion of the amount due, the banks charge interest on the balance—another convenient way for the customer to obtain credit!
As we have already seen, what could be easier than to pick up the telephone, call the bank, and tell the voice at the other end to pay your telephone and grocery bills? Along the same line, many banks have systems whereby you can go to the grocery store and use a plastic credit card to pay for your groceries. This is called a debit or check card and is often the same card you would use to make an ATM withdrawal. The store sends the cash register slip to the bank, which transfers funds from your account to the store's. A painless way to shop indeed!
International Services
A tiny old woman limped into a large city bank and went up to the nearest teller. "Please, I should like to send some money to my daughter in Poland?"
The teller smiled and quickly made arrangements so that a few days later the woman received the Polish banknotes that she then mailed to her daughter.
In the same bank a businesswoman approached one of the officers.
"I have to send $500,000 to a French manufacturer," she said. "Can you help me?"
"Of course," the officer replied, opening a drawer and reaching for a printed form. Within an hour the money had been transferred to a Paris bank, which notified the nearby company that the $500,000 had been deposited to its account.
Financing
The same bank officer was later approached by a businessman who needed advice about financing a new addition for his plant. They spent over two hours discussing the project, and when the grateful businessman left he knew his plan for expansion was impractical and the bank had saved him from making what surely would have turned out to be a costly mistake.
Trust Departments
Every time someone buys or sells stock on one of the nation's stock exchanges the stock must be transferred to another name and the new ownership registered. Who does this? In most cases the corporate trust departments of banks. In addition they may also send out all the dividend checks, annual and quarterly reports, and special mailings and answer countless letters from stockholders.
Another important banking service is designated by the conservative lettering on the glass door that reads "Trust Department." Here a large group of employees is busy taking care of the financial affairs of people who want the bank to manage their money. These department members also handle all the details involved in settling estates for those who have arranged to have the bank act as their executor. On the other hand, a customer may set up a trust that stipulates that a certain large sum of money must be managed and paid out according to very stringent terms to certain persons under certain conditions. These and other trust assignments are extremely important responsibilities, because in some cases customers may entrust millions of dollars to the judgment of the men and women who work for the bank.
Skilled Employees By now you can see that full-service banking means just that— comprehensive services of every kind to meet every banking need a customer could possibly have. To provide this kind of service requires many employees of diverse skills and experience. This is an area of the bank you seldom see, so let's look briefly at what actually takes place behind the scenes.
