Banking Gen Y

I am currently in the process of moving from my dorm room to an apartment. I am, of course, totally excited - a new place, my own room, a bigger kitchen, my first new bed& oh yeah, and bills.

See, my bank is currently Wells Fargo, and I love them. I'm on hold with them right now and I still love them. Whenever I call and no matter what for, they're always eminently helpful, completely courteous, and even suggest other services to me. Even though I know they're cross-selling because it increases their bottom line (thanks, Mom!) I still appreciate it. Whoever is helping me always asks if I need anything else, and they never make me feel like I'm annoying them by calling, something that definitely cannot be said for all companies.

So, even though they're located halfway across the country with no branches in my area so I have to order a bunch of checks so I have access to my funds - thus being on hold - I really don't want to close my account with them. I opened up another checking account with a local bank, and, well, I felt kind of bad. Like I was betraying Wells Fargo or something, despite the fact that I'm going to keep both checking accounts open and not get a credit card with my new bank.

If what I've gleaned from my mother's articles means anything, this is rather rare. I mean, customer retention is a pretty big deal right? So I thought I might put down (for my own sake as well; maybe then I can get over my guilt!) why I feel the way I do about my bank.

1. Practically everything is online: This is why it's not so bad that Wells lives in California. I can check my account balance, pay my bills, transfer money, etc., all from the relative comfort of my dorm room. This would be awesome even if I was still living on the West Coast, because goodness knows going to the bank branch is just way too much trouble.

2. What I can't accomplish online, I can generally do by phone: Whenever I have problems, like when I tried to place an order for checks online and couldn't, I just call. The person on the other end can usually help me out - in my check situation, the banker just ordered the checks for me.

3. Excellent customer service: On the occasion that I do come into contact with a person, as during my phone calls, they are unfailingly polite. I know they have a script, and I don't care; they're incredibly nice, they call me by my last name (Ms. Bird - and that's a rare thing for a college student to hear) and they make me feel like they actually care about whether what I need gets done. To be frank, it doesn't matter whether they actually do; as long as they make an effort, I'm convinced.

4. They're my first bank: Sort of sentimental, but also practical. I learned how to use their systems and now I don't want to figure out which number to call or how to navigate new online interfaces or whatever. I want, like everyone, to stick with what I know.

5. Actual instances where they've intervened for me: One of the biggest reasons I'm so attached to Wells is that they have proven they're in my corner. Somebody managed to get a hold of my information, and they were spending my money in Minnesota. Wells Fargo called my house multiple times, to the point that my parents were getting really irritated. Still, the bank persisted, such that my mom finally got me on the phone by sheer relentlessness. I called Wells Fargo, relatively unconcerned, because I had been in Boston that weekend and assumed those were the unfamiliar charges. They then informed me immediately of the amount spent, where, and on what, so that I could (sort of) freak out and tell them it definitely wasn't me. They then canceled all the charges, except one that slipped through, which they reimbursed me for immediately. It was the smoothest identity theft recovery ever, and my loyalty was won.

So, here I am, sitting in the Midwest, waiting for my checks.

I still think it's worth it.