As with any relationship there are ups and downs and my relationship with my bank is one of them.
I seldom carry my debit card, they are usually shredded upon arrival and I order a new one when I plan on traveling outside the US. But when I carry them I contact the bank and let them know where I am going how long I will be gone and where I will be. I informed the bank that I planned to use the card internationally.
Well, twice my bank had let me down. The first time I had no problem getting my costs covered by the bank for the failure of their card. The second time I had to let them know that if they did not make me whole I would close all of my accounts and move everything.
When I was talking to them I spelled out exactly how much all of my business was worth to them. I had a HELCO, two mortgages, a LOC, a credit card and with all the businesses I have my hands in about twenty bank accounts. I know that I was worth over five figures to them annually.
The banker was surprised that I had calculated this information. Hell, it’s not hard to do the calculation. But apparently this regional manager had never had anyone quote them their numbers before.
I even spelled out where the accounts would be gong and what the mortgage rates were and the HELOC rate.
They finally did make me whole as I suspected they would, it made more financial sense to reimburse me the $175 costs for which I had supporting documents than lose the business.
When it came time to refinance my two mortgages, I explained how I wanted to structure the loans. The banker got back to me and I was told that the underwriters wanted me to pony up $20,000 in additional capital to do it my way, in spite of the fact that their risk remained exactly as it currently was. I explained that I was not satisfied with their proposal and that I was willing to again move everything if they could not accommodate me.
I tell clients that they should know the financial value that they have to their banks. Then asking them, are they getting the service value commiserate with their value to the bank.