Have you ever wondered why you’re still banking where you opened a checking account when you got your first paycheck from your first job? Do you recommend your bank to friends and family? Do you remember your banker’s name? Do you have a banker? Is it time to rethink your banking situation?
Before you default to a bank you’ve used in the past, the bank with a branch one block from your home or the bank whose logo you recognize best, consider whether you’re better suited to bank local.
Local Banks vs. National Banks
Some people gravitate toward bigger banks with national profiles assuming these institutions offer better rates, services and technology. Don’t assume local community banks don’t offer comparable products, services and digital banking tools. Especially if you live in or adjacent to a metropolitan area, your community banks have had to evolve to remain competitive without losing their trademark advantages: personalized service, local decision makers and flexibility generally not extended to the average depositor at a national bank.
If you ask around, customers who prefer to bank local are typically very loyal to their financial institutions. At Heritage Bank, many of our new customers are referred from current customers who go out of their way to recommend us.
Why so passionate about a bank? Here are the top three reasons we hear at Heritage Bank.
- Personalized Banking Solutions.
At Heritage Bank, we focus on relationships rather than transactions. Community banks like ours are large enough to offer consumers the full range of banking services under one roof without abandoning the personalized service people crave when making big financial decisions.
At Heritage Bank, we use technology to enhance the customer experience, not lower head count or discourage direct interaction with a banker. We’re interested in you, your family, your dreams, your struggles. When you explain what’s happening in your life and ask how we can help, our bankers are empowered to offer the solutions that best fit your situation.
Best of all, whichever product or service you need, you can expect consistent service from every department. We know each other personally and hold each other accountable. When your local banker refers you to mortgage, expect a call in 24 hours. If you need a better credit card, Heritage Bank cards are on par with products offered by national banks. If you’re ready to review your investment portfolio, Heritage Bank partners with one of the world’s leading financial institutions to bring our customers world class investment analysis and products. If you decide to make your side gig a real business, community banks are the first banks you should consider.
- Better Culture. Better Bankers.
Heritage Bank was founded to build up the communities we serve and the people who make those communities home. Our bankers are not incented to push products you don’t need or force you into a standard financing solution when a little creativity might produce a better fit.
Heritage Bank and other leading community banks in the region attract seasoned bankers, tired of the corporate decisions made in other time zones by managers who don’t know their community. Our bankers have built up a lifetime of banking expertise and yearn to be empowered to do what’s best for the customer sitting in front of him or her. We hire selectively and let our bankers do their best banking.
- Local, Still Portable.
Although local banks are generally focused on one region, digital banking lets customers take their banks along wherever they roam or do their everyday banking at 2:00 a.m. At Heritage Bank, customers use convenient mobile banking from anywhere in the U.S. with secure WiFi. They access their accounts 24/7 from a laptop or tablet to update BillPay, check on loan balances or transfer funds.
Our customers use their smartphones to deposit checks and Zelle® to send money to friends and family. Heritage Bank encourages customers to customize alerts to monitor their account activity by email or text. They can find surcharge-free ATMs throughout the region and around the world because we’re part of the Allpoint network.
And when you would rather rely on a person than an algorithm, we’re here in person, by telephone or email. Whatever fits your schedule and your communication style. Our bankers are better equipped to advise customers and more empathetic than artificial intelligence. We aim to fix problems, help you limit or avoid fees and charges, and set you on the right path.
If you’re ready to learn more about banking local, we invite you to find one of our locations near you. Stop in and say hello. Or, contact us today.
