Recently I’ve been noticing TD Canada Trust pushing a marketing campaign that they are the superior bank because they have the longest hours. They are open “8 until late”, which is apparently open 50% longer than any other bank. I’m sure this sort of campaign might be very useful for a company like Wendy’s (ughh), with their “Eat Great, Even Late” campaign, but I fail to see the relevance for a bank in 2007.
When is the last time you actually had to see a teller? The fact is, more and more people are doing all of their banking online, or through a bank machine, neither of which depend on a branch’s hours. One of the only reasons to see a person at a bank, is for opening an account. Oh wait, you can apply for that online now too. I think their marketing dollars would be best used elsewhere, such as continuing to promote clients to use online banking. Not to mention, TD Canada Trust has one of the worst fee structures of any Canadian bank. Even students are paying $3.45/mo. if they can’t keep a minimum balance of $1,000. How many students do you know with that kind of money?
Considering they are one of the most popular banks around, it’s hard to believe they aren’t adapting as well as they should be. We don’t want longer hours, we want cheaper banking! Everyone knows that bankers work from 12:00pm-1pm every day.
10 comments ↓
Hah, you’re going to peg me as a rich guy there. Not entirely accurate, because my tuition is nearly double what you’re paying at Laurier. I do go through periods where my savings account is flush with cash, but it gets totally wiped out on my return to school.
Actually, I believe the minimum balance for students is $1500 to bypass the fee. I would bet, though, most students spend more in generic ATM withdrawal fees per month than it would cost them to pay for the account. Hitting just two of those machines per month would do it.
I’ve been with TD Canada Trust since I had a bank account - back when they were strictly Canada Trust. This extension of hours is really a return to their hours before the merger.
My dad mentioned that he initially chose Canada Trust when he was a student because of their extended hours. Most non-corporate day jobs prevent you from going to the bank in the middle of the day; he liked the fact that he could finish work and go cash a paycheque that evening. Again, not as huge of an issue in today’s times, but do you really want to wait five business days for all the funds to clear the ATM deposit process?
I’ll agree with you on the cheque issue, but this is another thing, where we’re seeing fewer and fewer employers actually paying by cheque. Most employers have moved to direct deposit, simply because it’s easier for both parties.
Yea it’s very true. I usually only go to the bank to pay for my utilities now. As you said, even I am learning to use the web banking. I was a little skeptical at first, but as I use it more it’s not so bad. You can even transfer funds between two separate customers.
You are so wrong it is not even funny. Go into any TD branch in Canada in their last hour of business, or on a saturday, or friday, or fist/last business day of the month. You will see the longest lines EVER! People are actually going more to branches than ever before. You think that most companies use direct deposit but you are wrong. The banks clear nearly 1.5 BILLION cheques annually and most people negotiate them through the branch in an attempt to avoid the holds associated with the bank machines. Yes, young people are using the computer, but the baby boomers LOVE going into the bank. Also, even if you don’t normally go into a branch for your transactions, you’ll sure be glad that they are open longer when you do need to go in (even if you have to wait through those horrible lines).
Also, it is 1500 to waive the fee (I checked their website). I know people want to pay less for banking but believe me… you get what you pay for. Just try using one of those free/virtual banks. Sure things are fine at first, but just wait ’till something goes worng and you need to actually get someone to help you. You’re screwed.
TD has had 19 consecutive quaters of double digit earnings growth. Clearly they have a better idea of what their cusotmers want than you do.
Hey, I just came accross your blog while doing some research, and I am particularly intrigued by this entry.
I work for TD Canada Trust as an FSR, basically I have an office and I do account openings, LOCs, mortgages, etc.
What I think perhaps your entry fails to recognize is that the demographic of people who use banks today are seniors, and the numbers of seniors that populate our nations today are unprecedented.
Most branches are slam packed with little old ladies who want to get money for their groceries, or who are hoping to cash some investments to fund their basic needs.
Although the internet is now being used, more than ever, for processing day-to-day transactions, a lot of it still dysfunctional. For instance, we recommend that our customers NOT open accounts online because it’s a much slower and often less thorough process. Their best bet IS to come into the branch and see someone in person.
The only downside to the new hours are the branches downtown that haven’t been open before. The marketing for new hours wasn’t done all that well, so bankers are finding themselves with nothing to do at 8:00am on a Saturday morning downtown because people don’t know about the hours. Previously, Canada Trust WAS open 8-8, Monday to Friday, so this concept of longer hours is nothing new.
I for one am not in favour with the new hours, I just thought perhaps your facts were a little off. Not to mention at the university, the linups by students to use the TD green machines are much longer than for any other green machine!
You have never been more wrong. I own a small business and you have to go to the bank to Deposit your cash which through an ATM is never the best way. I can finish work at 6:00 drive home for an hour and still have an hour to do my banking. Not to mention their customer service is AMAZING. I wll never leave them!!
Wow, talk about shameless self-promotion and astroturfing here. About one of the worst things you can do for your organization is start to shill for your parent company attached to a personal blog. John and Bruce, if you came here through Facebook or randomly, knock it the hell off. (Dave, I’ll check the commenters’ IP addresses out sometime if I’m bored and up for ruining someone.)
One of my clients is a VP for Private Client Services. Even he is willing to admit that there are certain ways in which the organization conducts its business, and he’d certainly be the least likely to tell you “you’re wrong, baby boomers and lines in the bank and OH MY!” He even grudgingly agrees that debit isn’t the best way to make purchases (yay Interac charges!), and instead accepts that if you’re financially solvent, that credit cards, paid off in full, are the way to go.
I’ll try and address the claims by the commenters here, as a customer of both TD and BMO.
John: You claim that people deposit cheques directly in order to avoid holds. TD has fairly generous limits on these items - in fact, all it takes is a five minute visit to the customer service desk to clear cheques of a reasonable amount, and it’s even better than BMO because a certain portion of the funds are immediately available. Even as someone who only holds a low-value student account, the people there have been incredibly accommodating. If people were really smart about the “hold” issue, they’d stop using credit cards and other chargeable items.
The main claims you make, though, are dealing with people standing in lines during busy periods. Why not just extend the hours for known days of heavy foot traffic, like Thursdays and Fridays, and instead focus efforts on customer education and Internet services improvement? Hell, I’d take slightly reduced hours over additional CSR support over the phone. I’ve called TD Visa and the bank service lines more often than I’ve seen a representative.
Julie: Thanks for being upfront. The account and approval for additional credit process online sucks, admittedly - although it’s not much better for people in store. When I applied for my student credit card, the rep had to wait his way through Netscape 4.7 on some sort of Linux remote desktop, and even then things weren’t all perfect.
Why, then, is there a seniors discount on accounts - and why do you continue to offer them discounted cheques when I have to pay $25 for a batch? “Because they’re used to it” isn’t really a solution. Increased hours won’t help this goal either. Maybe a dedicated account representative for flagged clients needing their passbooks updated and could you just check to see why I have this thirty-seven cents extra?
Bruce: Small businesses either can get vault deposits after hours or can deposit through the ATM. Same thing, same guarantee - especially if you get a proof of deposit from the ATM (a receipt.) In fact, you’re actually better protected that way. Dave and I have a business account at BMO and we exclusively use the machines, but make sure to verify our balances online.
All in all, a weak marketing effort likely driven from Facebook, but I do enjoy TD and hope that they can continue their efforts in modernization of services (Internet banking in particular.)
I totally disagree with the first comment. Quite frankly you sound like you have no clue as to what you are talking about. I go to the tellers all of the time. And exactly what is wrong with a bank having longer business hours? All they are to trying to accomplish is to better serve their customers. I think you should find something better to do with all of your free time, because obviously you have a lot of it.
Oh, wow, an anonymous troll, what fun! I especially love it when people suggest I’m talking out of my ass, and insinuate that my time is worthless.
“Quite frankly”, if you had a valid point on the subject, you wouldn’t need to resort to ad hominem and speculative, illogical conclusions.
But hey, thanks for playing!
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