There is a difference between what customers think a bank is, and the reality. Once upon a time the “branch banker” was the local expert on finance. Many of us still perceive banks and bankers in this light, but it is no longer the case. In reality, banks are simply retailers. Bank staff are largely trained to sell bank products and services, and not give advice. From a service perspective, they can range from poor to excellent – but that’s service and service is Retail.
Bank staff receive little or no professional training and limited accreditation, if any, because a large amount of time is spent on service, so professional training is hard to justify.) If accreditation exists it is usually in how to do an application properly or make a credit decision, not on giving advice! Bankers do not get formal training on interest rates. They form their views listening to other people, just like you do.
I think banks generally provide excellent service albeit sometimes they can be too bureaucratic. The more interesting question is do banks truly behave in their interest or the customers and therefore can they be relied upon for advice?
What I see time and time again is that banks have simply become retailers and have pushed responsibility for the financial decision-making back on to the customer. Ironically the customer thinks the bank knows best so nobody is actually consciously taking responsibility.
If you do not know what you are doing (and you feel your bankers doesn’t either) then take personal responsibility and either research yourself or find someone who qualified to help, otherwise it could cost you thousands in extra interest over the life of the mortgage.
We’ve taken 150 of the banking reviews that we did in Dec/Jan to put some numbers around this. Check out the blog, How good is my Bank at giving Advice?
