Hometown Banks Of America

Lest We Forget........

Consider this a toast to that new bank account

Bank of West gift offering taps nostalgia to entice customers! To an untrained eye, a toaster may seem to be just one more kitchen gadget.

But gaze into an inner appliance. Float back to that playful era when picket fences surrounded homes, wood-paneled station wagons ferried us to weekend picnics and the local banker waved and called our name when we graced his doorway.

At least, that’s the plan at Bank of the West.

Starting this week, it has begun handing out toasters to Iowans and others who open a checking account with a link to a debit card. The California-based bank, which entered Iowa in 2005 when it bought Commercial Federal Savings and Loan, sees the humble appliance as a way to emphasize its personal customer service tradition and brand using a nostalgic marketing approach.

“The toaster is a symbol from an era when banking customer service was highly personal, and high-quality customer service is always in style at Bank of the West,” said Fran Lopez, chief marketing officer for Bank of the West. “Our customers can expect friendly, personal, high-touch service, and hopefully see that we have a sense of humor, too.”

In the 1960s, banks and, even more so, savings and loans tried to attract clients by handing out kitchen appliances. Some got carried away. Bank marketing consultant Rich Flansburg said he even heard of one bank doling out shotguns. But the toaster became the icon of community bank promotion efforts.

All that faded when savings and loans had hard times in the 1980s, said Flansburg, of Wheaton, Ill.-based 121 Marketing Resources Inc. The competitive landscape changed and the industry found other ways to promote itself.

“I can’t remember the last time anyone around here did a real premium promotion,” he said.

James Gentry, a professor of marketing at the University of Nebraska, said that the lines between banks and financial services providers such as insurers and stock brokers have blurred. A toaster giveaway might be a way to refresh people’s memories of what a bank is, he said.

“I think they’re trying to get back to a time when a bank was held in higher esteem,” Gentry said.

Copycats don’t seem to be following Bank of the West yet. But a few Iowa banks report their own premium programs.

United Bank of Iowa, in Ida Grove, often runs gift programs at its 16 branches. It’s now offering lawn games, such as bocce ball, to attract new clients.

Marcia Cates, vice president of marketing at United Bank, said the place where a customer has his checking account is considered his bank.

Farmers State Bank in Marion keeps it simple with a Visa gift card. Lynn Ciha, vice president of marketing, said a new client can earn as much as $50 in credits by opening a checking account, allowing e-statements and getting a credit card.

“This gives customers one more reason to come to Farmers State Bank,” said Ciha, who noted that about 17percent of checking account clients typically leave their bank every year.

Wells Fargo Bank and U.S. Bank, Iowa’s two largest banks, did not report any current new account efforts. Wells Fargo said it often gives stuffed toy ponies to new clients at Christmastime.