I had a customer and her 3 sons come in at 10 minutes to close last night to open accounts for each of the boys. I was too nice; I should have told her that it was too close to closing time and to come back another day. But I didn’t. I smiled insincerely and opened the accounts for them.
I almost wish they hadn’t had their ID with them. It would have given me an excuse to tell them I couldn’t open the accounts right then.
Of course, each of the boys wanted debit cards. Two of them were minors, though, so they couldn’t get checking accounts or debit cards, only savings with ATM cards.
I explained to the eldest boy that it would be better to have his mom on the account, both so that she could help him out with it and because he wanted a debit card. See, we pull credit reports for all new accounts and new debit cards, and since he didn’t have any credit, we couldn’t issue him a debit card. With his mom on the account, she would be equally responsible for the account, and we could go to her if there were any problems.
This, however, means that we make the credit decision based on the mom’s credit. I pulled her credit report this morning. It’s horrid. Sometimes, if they’re a good customer, we’ll overlook that. But she’s repeatedly overdrawn – 6 times in the last year, and it’s getting worse as time goes on.
The minor boys opened savings accounts. Since they’re minors, we require an adult on the account, so they opened them jointly with their mom. Same deal with ATM cards as with debit cards – the mom will be responsible if there’s any problems with the account.
I went over the credit report with my manager this morning, and she said that we could do the ATM cards but not debit cards, so that’s what I’ll be ordering for the oldest boy, as well.
Each of the boys had a big wad of unsorted cash from graduation and summer jobs to deposit. While I was in the middle of opening the second boy’s account, it was time to close the vault. The head teller came over and asked if there’d be any more cash, and of course there was. So she took the second boy’s deposit and processed it. And that was when the mom said that she needed to make out a check to deposit in each of the boys’ accounts.
So I used that check to open the third boy’s account and had them deposit his money in the night deposit, since I couldn’t accept any more cash. By the time I was finished with the 3 accounts, ATM cards, and internet banking forms, it was a full hour after closing.
None of them apologized for coming in so late or making me stay late. I know that the mom was off work yesterday, so there was no reason she couldn’t have come in earlier. It sounded like the boys were working summer jobs for their father, but if they couldn’t come in earlier, they should have come in a different day.
The only thing close to an apology that she said was, “I didn’t realize it would take so long.” Really? I opened 3 accounts in just over an hour. That’s an average of 20 minutes per account. That’s quick, especially with them being new customers.
I almost wish they hadn’t had their ID with them. It would have given me an excuse to tell them I couldn’t open the accounts right then.
Of course, each of the boys wanted debit cards. Two of them were minors, though, so they couldn’t get checking accounts or debit cards, only savings with ATM cards.
I explained to the eldest boy that it would be better to have his mom on the account, both so that she could help him out with it and because he wanted a debit card. See, we pull credit reports for all new accounts and new debit cards, and since he didn’t have any credit, we couldn’t issue him a debit card. With his mom on the account, she would be equally responsible for the account, and we could go to her if there were any problems.
This, however, means that we make the credit decision based on the mom’s credit. I pulled her credit report this morning. It’s horrid. Sometimes, if they’re a good customer, we’ll overlook that. But she’s repeatedly overdrawn – 6 times in the last year, and it’s getting worse as time goes on.
The minor boys opened savings accounts. Since they’re minors, we require an adult on the account, so they opened them jointly with their mom. Same deal with ATM cards as with debit cards – the mom will be responsible if there’s any problems with the account.
I went over the credit report with my manager this morning, and she said that we could do the ATM cards but not debit cards, so that’s what I’ll be ordering for the oldest boy, as well.
Each of the boys had a big wad of unsorted cash from graduation and summer jobs to deposit. While I was in the middle of opening the second boy’s account, it was time to close the vault. The head teller came over and asked if there’d be any more cash, and of course there was. So she took the second boy’s deposit and processed it. And that was when the mom said that she needed to make out a check to deposit in each of the boys’ accounts.

So I used that check to open the third boy’s account and had them deposit his money in the night deposit, since I couldn’t accept any more cash. By the time I was finished with the 3 accounts, ATM cards, and internet banking forms, it was a full hour after closing.
None of them apologized for coming in so late or making me stay late. I know that the mom was off work yesterday, so there was no reason she couldn’t have come in earlier. It sounded like the boys were working summer jobs for their father, but if they couldn’t come in earlier, they should have come in a different day.

The only thing close to an apology that she said was, “I didn’t realize it would take so long.” Really? I opened 3 accounts in just over an hour. That’s an average of 20 minutes per account. That’s quick, especially with them being new customers.
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