Last week I attended the New England Financial Marketing Association’s Fall Conference Creating Great Opportunities in a Bad Economy. I noticed many of the participants were patting themselves on the back. It seems that their institutions have been the beneficiaries, in the form of a surge in new deposits, of the ‘flight to quality’ from large banks and other financial depositories. Seemingly, these institutions are already enjoying some of the opportunities presented by a economy (even if by default!) But when asked what they done to attract such a windfall, to a person the response was some variation of ‘nothing.’ It appears that the old adage “ 90% of success is simply showing up” applies to many in this case.
However, when asked what plans and strategies the institutions were developing to leverage and maintain these new depositis, the answer was a combination of a thoughtful expression and “we’re working on that.” We’ve heard similar stories in markets around the country.
For the sake of the banks and credit unions that are in fact “working on that,” I hope they can work quickly, as the deposits could go as quickly as they came.
No joke…
All you have to do is unlock the door in the morning and whammy: the deposits flow in. Great, right?
But with deposits as fluid as they are right now, can you really say you’re doing everything you can to make sure those deposits are coming your way and not going to your competitors? For that matter, are you doing anything???