Sign up for a checking account with direct deposit and free online banking, and get $100 deposited into your account. Refer a friend to the same services, get a free cake. Go to one Rhode Island bank and drink coffee, surf the Internet or watch your children play. These are just some of the free services local banks offer to establish good relationships with their customers.
“With all of the changes in the marketplace, we wanted to understand what the competition is offering, and have the best products,” said Beth Eckel, senior vice president of marketing at Westerly-based Washington Trust.
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Washington Trust offers customers Freedom Checking, which does not require direct deposit, has no monthly fee, no minimum balance requirement, features free online banking and bill paying and free ATMs. Customers who choose, however, to use direct deposit and the free online banking will receive $50 from the bank when the first check is deposited and another $50 when the first online transaction occurs.
“A lot of our competition has free checking but it requires direct deposit, so we decided to offer really free checking and looked at what else goes with that – debit card, ATMs, and more,” Eckel said. “Less people touching the transaction – that’s the way it’s going. There are a lot of younger people, working families, and it’s just easier.”
The bank also offers a free business checking account where the first 200 transactions each month are free, according to Eckel.
Bank Rhode Island offers a similar checking package called On Checking, a baseline checking account with free features and required direct deposit. It’s one of a selection of checking accounts tailored to different customers, said Jim DeRentis, executive vice president of retail banking marketing. It’s important for banks to make an impression on customers looking to open a checking account, he said.
“The checking account is the primary driver of the customer relationship,” DeRentis said. “It’s where they do their primary banking, so it’s an opportunity for development on a long-term basis.”
Citizens Bank offers a number of different checking accounts: Citizens Bank at Work offers the benefits of Circle Checking without a minimum balance, as long as the customer has direct deposit; and Green Checking has no minimum balance or monthly fee when used with direct deposit. Online banking and bill paying is free for existing checking customers.
Sovereign Bank offers seven different checking accounts, from student checking to an account for seniors. Totally Free Checking has no monthly fee, no minimum balance, available ATM card and free online banking. Billpay is free for the first three months for new customers, and after that a monthly $4.50 fee is added. Ultimate Checking – which requires a monthly balance of $10,000 or more – and student checking account members have free Billpay. For accounts, the monthly $1 fee can be waived if customers have more than 8 monthly transactions using debit or credit.
Fleet Bank has seven different checking accounts, also ranging from student and basic accounts to the FleetOne Premier Account. Fleet HomeLink, online banking, is now free for new or existing members.
Eckel said that although Washington Trust doesn’t require direct deposit, offering $50 if people sign up has had an impact. In April, the number of personal checking accounts opened at the bank increased 58 percent from April 2003. For business accounts, that percentage jumped to 67 percent.
“Our thinking for this is that the checking account is for us – a bank that is growing – a great way for us to build relationships at our new branches,” she said. “It’s a try-us-and-see-if-you-like-us thing.” And existing customers, if they get others to open a checking account, get a gift certificate for a cake from Gregg’s Restaurant.
DeRentis said while most banks offer very similar services, BankRI differentiates itself through the extra services it offers – like a coffee bar, Internet café, public restrooms and a play area for children.
“It improves the overall quality of the experience,” he said.
A free service like direct deposit facilitates all of the other free services like online banking and ATMs. They are convenient for the customer, and also save time for the bank.
“Any time you can take hands away from touching something, it’s more efficient,” DeRentis said.
The hands-free services allow the customer to bank online, access his or her ATM, access the account at his or her convenience, DeRentis said.
“It’s more timely and accurate,” he said. The bank monitors people’s transaction habits, and baby boomers want access to the bank and the different channels, DeRentis said.
