Disruption of branch banking is of their own making

An experience late last week was an epiphany for me.

While managing the financial affairs of a relative, I needed to get a one-page document notarized. I live in a small town, where there are only two or three local bank branches.

One of the branches is K** Bank. On their website, K** Bank makes available the capability of making an appointment at a nearby branch. I filled in the appointment form, including the specific nature of the visit. Another relative who was visiting a few weeks ago got a document notarized there, so I knew that this branch of K** Bank had a notary.

I showed up, was greeted by branch staff, and invited to have a seat while someone came to assist me. Soon, another branch employee came over and said she was ready. I presented my document and my photo ID. The employee asked for my K** Bank account number, and I replied that I was not a customer. She replied that Key Bank only notarizes documents for customers. When I asked whether K** Bank would notarize my one-page document for a fee, the answer was, no, sorry. The branch was not busy: there were six employees in the branch, and I saw one or two customers come and go in the ten minutes that I was there.

I left and drove two blocks to the town’s professional building, where a lawyer, an accountant, a marriage counselor, and a financial advisor have small offices. I poked my head into the CPA’s office and asked, do you know of a notary here in town? The CPA got up, greeted me, and took me across the hall to the financial advisor’s office, where she introduced me to an independent financial advisor. He gladly took a couple of minutes to notarize my document. He refused to accept a fee. Since he was conversational and polite, I asked him about his business, asked for some business cards, and may have some business to refer to him.

Branch banking is going the way of the bookstore. Key Bank had an excellent opportunity to take a few minutes to meet a new potential customer by showing a bit of goodwill. Instead, they turned me away, and frankly, I will probably never set foot in that branch again.