Shopping for a Bank, Part I: The Small Community Bank

I am not a numbers person.  I hated math class while I was in school, starting in kindergarten and going right through college.  During my two required statistics courses in college, I felt like I was dying a slow death.  In fact, I remember falling asleep during one class, and I was not the only one to do so.  I still only understand the most basic concepts of finance, banking, investing, accounting, etc., because honestly, these subjects bore me to death (if they’re not putting me to sleep).  My husband handles the family finances, allowing me to live in a state of blissful ignorance.  Our financial advisor keeps us on track and explains complex (to me) terms and instruments.  Basically, everyone else does the work for me in my personal financial life.

From celebster on Flickr

But now my business is nearly a year old, and I have yet to shop for a bank. Since the Grow Smart Business theme is small business finance during March, I decided to use my bank shopping experience as blog post fodder.   I will be looking at a small community bank, a regional bank, and a huge national bank to figure out who would be most convenient, easiest, and most fun to do business with.

First up: the small community bank.     

Access National Bank is the definition of a small community bank.  It has 5 branches in northern Virginia, and the main branch is conveniently located across the street from my neighborhood.  During its ten years of business, it has been a standout in the local banking industry: it was profitable within 6 months (one year is the norm), and in fact its first two quarters were the only non-profitable ones on record.  CEO Mike Clarke did not establish the bank with the goal of growing it and selling it.  He has kept the bank focused on its core competencies and shied away from subprime mortgages and the residential and commercial real estate markets, the latter of which is now also imploding.  During the first quarter of 2009, one of the worst on record for local banks, Access National posted a $2.9 million profit.  Obviously, this is a solid bank with two feet firmly planted on the ground.  Awesome, and reassuring.

I recently had a meeting with Diane Holland, Assistant Vice President of Client Services, and Cynthia Caldwell, Senior Vice President of Client Services.  It took all of five minutes to walk over—how often can you do that in the suburbs?—a fact that already gave them a leg up on the competition.  I asked them to run down the list of what makes them unique.  Here’s what they said: 

1. Access National focuses on the business sector.  Their clients are small to mid-sized businesses with up to $100 million in annual revenue.
2. Each month, clients receive a $20 rebate for ATM fees to make up for the fact that they do not have ATM machines on every corner.
3. A pioneer in online banking (they embraced it up on their founding in 1999), Access National still stands out for offering real-time online banking.  Transactions are posted immediately, not 24 hours later.
4. There are no 800 numbers at Access National.  If you need to reach someone, you have a phone number for a real person, and your needs are usually handled by that same person.  Cynthia said she has almost no turnover in her client services division.  Amazing!
5. Access National offers networking events for their clients, and because they actually know all of their clients, they also act as a source of referrals.
6. Access National is the #1 commercial bank by lending volume in the entire Washington metropolitan area.  They are also a preferred partner for SBA loans.
7. Though they are small, Access National offers all of the products and services that large banks offer: investing, life and health insurance, payroll, etc. 

By the time I walked home, I was impressed.  First of all, how often does the Senior VP of Client Services meet with a potential client?  It was obvious to me that if I chose them as my bank, I would receive highly personal service, and I cannot stress enough that being able to walk over to the bank is the ultimate in convenience.  However, the fact that they foster a sense of community through their networking events is the real kicker.  I have never heard of a bank that does so.

Next up: the regional bank.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 8:00 am and is filed under Capital Access, Customer Service, small business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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