Information Abounds. How Will You Use It

A propos of this month's cover story, we came across some unused notes from our interview with ABA President Bill McConnell. When asked if Park National Bank (of which he is CEO) used customer profitability software, McConnell said, no, I'm afraid of what I might find, and then I'd be tempted to turn away customers. From as far back as McConnell could remember, now $800 million assets bank operated on basis that you should give all customers good service, because today's small-balance customer may be tomorrow's big customer. Some might consider that a quaint notion no longer applicable, or at least not applicable in an urban market. But even among some of large banks in this country (and elsewhere) there is no uniformity of opinion on what steps to take once you've identified which customers are not profitable. One big bank we spoke with also endorsed idea that an customer represents an opportunity. A lot of attention has been given to issue of what to do with high-profit customers--from assigning them personal bankers, to having someone greet them when they walk into a branch, etc. Much less is said about what to do about folks at other end of profitability spectrum--people who may or may not be of modest means. Most of cover story (p. 42) deals with part of equation. banks deal with the unprofitable is relevant to special supplement accompanying this month's issue. Entitled How consumers see you, it reports findings of ABA's second national survey of consumer perceptions of banks. (If your copy of supplement is missing, fax a request for one to Mary Chapman at 212-633-1165, or e-mail same to ababj@aol.com) If, for example, a bank decided to address profitability by adding fees for certain transactions, or on certain accounts, it could well affect public's perception of industry. Many bankers, of course, think of First Chicago in that regard. The midwestern regional is as likely to be disassociated from its now infamous teller-fee plan as Bill Gates is from his dinosaur comment of several years ago. Given plan's success, bank can afford to shrug off notoriety. Banking, however, cannot afford to shrug off findings of ABA survey, especially since they indicate trends spanning three years' time. These are halcyon days for banks in many ways, so it wouldn't be surprising if some bankers said, in effect, Who cares if perceptions about banks are changing? …