Peter Bramante, a Providence resident, had wanted to switch banks for a while,
but said he kept putting it off because the process seemed too problematic and
time-consuming.
“I was worried about it being so complicated,” he said. “I had only known (the process) through my former and other banks and from them I knew that you were responsible for all of it. I had apprehension around my having to manage all of that; it would have dragged the process out.”
Bramante saw Bank Rhode Island’s online switch kit request form, filled it out and received his kit a day later. Bank representatives called him almost daily to keep him informed of the transfer process, and Bramante said he’s happy with the experience and the bank’s service.
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“It’s one of those things I had great trepidation about, with all of the electronic banking that happens,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised that everything went through without a hitch.”
Switch kits are designed to allow customers to change their bank services with minimal headaches, and as banks streamline the process, they are becoming more popular. A number of Rhode Island banks offer similar versions of the service.
Westerly-based Washington Trust has had some form of switch kits for three years, said Elizabeth Eckel, senior vice president of marketing for the bank, but Washington Trust just recently began targeting the general public. There are personal and business kits, she said, but until recently, most of the kits were used by account officers and branch managers, who might have supplied a customer with one if he or she went in for a business kit and requested one for personal banking as well.
“We started advertising it with our free checking this past spring,” Eckel said. “The first switch kit we got in, we all jumped up and down. It was a Fleet check for $25,000” from a customer who wanted to open up a personal account.
Bank Rhode Island started piloting its switch kit in the third quarter of 2003, according to James DeRentis, the bank’s executive vice president of retail banking and marketing.
“A lot of people end up coming in” to get the kits, he said, “but 50 people have used the kit, and our account volume has more than doubled, and we’ve just started to market it.”
Both BankRI and Washington Trust allow potential customers to request a switch kit online, which is delivered by mail, but DeRentis said most people still go into a branch to get a kit. The BankRI kit can be returned by mail because the bank does all the transferring of direct deposit and automatic payments for the customer.
“Regardless of the product or the service, any time you need to make a change, it’s a hassle,” DeRentis said. “We contact each vendor for the customer, so that’s all taken care of, and it takes the hassle out of switching.”
Washington Trust has the customer fill out the forms for those services and send them to the proper vendors, which Eckel said was a conscious decision.
“We really saw it as an ethical thing,” she said. “There are banks who will do it for you, but should we really be sending that letter to the other bank? We didn’t think so.” And this approach also allows some room for customers who might still want to keep their old account open – just to give the bank a new try – or someone who might not want all services transferred, Eckel said.
When switching services, both banks have standard procedures. The kits require typical personal and banking information in order to transfer services, and it usually takes one complete billing cycle (a month) for all of the automatic bill payments and other deductions to be ironed out. The account is usually set up in one day, but Bramante suggested new customers keep their old accounts open until the new one is completely set up.
In comparison, Bank of America’s Web site offers a switch service that customers can do completely online. On the site, under checking and savings, and then under account services, a new customer can choose a checking account, set up direct deposit and close their old account online.
As for the timing of their switch kit launches with the conversion of Fleet Bank to Bank of America in Rhode Island, DeRentis said while BankRI would have offered the service either way, it’s something local banks can literally cash in on.
“We can’t ignore the Fleet/Bank of America transaction; it’s been the dominant” event in the industry, he said. “It’s absolutely part of our strategy. The No. 1 reason people contemplate a change is because of some kind of merger. This (service) allows us to provide greater range to customers. We don’t have 55 branches and we never will, so we take on these things to offset that.”
