What does your bank say about you?

Good morning Dinks. We often talk about our financial habits, our past financial mistakes, our personal financial goals and our personal investment strategies – so today let’s discuss the one place that brings all of those subjects together…our bank.

As a former bank branch employee I find the relationships that people have with their banks absolutely fascinating. Some people opened their account at a bank branch because their family also deals there, some people opened their account at a particular bank because it is close to their home or office and some people opened their account at a certain bank based on the referral from a friend.

Why do you deal with your bank?

Maybe it’s because you are conservative. When I was searching for a bank in the U.S. I looked into major banks in the New York City area. After researching Chase, Bank of America and TD Bank I finally decided to open my checking and savings accounts with TD Bank because they have a Canadian counterpart and their fees are very reasonable based on their services. I didn’t search smaller banks or credit unions because I wanted a bank with a historical and national presence. If you are conservative then maybe you feel the same way about having a bank with stability.

Maybe you are frugal and shopped around for the best deal. Some people treat their banking relationship the same way they treat any other purchase, they shop around to get the best deal for their money. Establishing a banking relationship and keeping it for many years is very important for a lot of people, but if you are shopping around for a new bank because you don’t like your current bank then you may be shopping around for the best deal. Maybe you opened a bank account with the bank who is giving a promotional gift or with the bank that has the lowest account fees.

Maybe you belong to a community and opened your account because of a cultural affiliation. If you belong to a neighbourhood association, a worker’s union or a specific community then maybe you opened your account with a bank that offers special banking packages for members of the association. This is very common in cultural neighbourhoods as well as with workers unions such as police, construction workers, doctors and fire fighters.

Maybe you are a loyal client and will never change banks. As a financial planner I had clients who came from several generations of the same family. Sometimes I dealt with the grandparents, parents and kids of the same family. Parents like to open kids accounts for their children and then those children change their accounts to student accounts when they are teenagers and eventually regular checking accounts after they graduate from college and enter the workforce. I have changed my bank account twice in my lifetime and trust me it’s a hassle to contact all my utility companies and employer to give them my new banking information. I definitely understand the reason that people have the same bank account for their entire life.

Why did you choose your bank?

Photo by tax credits

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.