When it comes to financial matters, I am no go-getter. Generally, I open an account at the bank nearest home and sit by mutely while my husband, who actually seems to understand credit default swaps, handles the investments, which he does through a large firm whose letterhead changes with every fresh Wall Street disgrace. (Solomon Smith Barney to Citigroup Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Stay tuned.) I’m sure my husband has discussed our financial goals with the investment counselor there, and I’m certain that they do not include losing a hefty percentage of our savings every few years, which nonetheless we do. To hedge against these losses, I've suggested that our next financial goal should be to become the company’s stationer. But back to banking, my domain. When Fleet, our mid-size Boston-based bank, was taken over a few years ago by the very behemoth we’d banked with when we lived in L.A., I wasn’t thrilled but, like I say, I’m no go-getter. Besides, we had a close relationship with the assistant manager at the Chatham branch, a wonderful woman named Donna Casey, who took care of us whenever we were out of the country for long stretches at a time. During one of those stretches, after repeatedly e-mailing Donna at the bank, without response, I finally called and was asked by the person who answered her phone, “Can I help you?” Strange, I thought, so I e-mailed Donna at home. She replied but was not forthcoming. I pressed. She hedged. Finally, she admitted that she’d been let go by the behemoth with the explanation, “You are not Bank of America material.”
What were they thinking? While poor Donna dealt with the shame and misery such a cruel rebuke would inflict on anyone, the local banks rallied and started making offers. When she finally accepted a position with the National Union Bank of Kinderhook (it has since shortened its name to Kinderhook Bank), they brought the point home by featuring her on a billboard advertising Home Equity Loans under the tagline, "Local People Making Local Decisions." With that, half the town, including me, moved our accounts there. Though my husband agreed it was the right thing to do, at the time he questioned if such a small bank could match the services of the behemoth. Hah! When I was setting up our on-line bill paying, which was news to me, I had a total sweetheart available by phone whenever necessary to walk me through the ins and outs. Once, when I’d failed to move enough money from savings to cover all the checks I’d written, instead of bouncing the check and collecting a fee, someone from the bank called and let me cover it without charge—just like Jimmy Stewart would have done at his bank in It’s a Wonderful Life. Recently Kinderhook Bank instituted a new deal: in exchange for agreeing to get our monthly statement via e-mail, we get 2.5% interest on our already free checking account for balances up to $20,000. Plus, they reimburse all of those annoying $2 and $3 ATM fees. There are a couple of stipulations: we have to get at least one check per month direct deposited, and we have to use our debit cards a minimum of ten times a month, both of which we'd already been doing.
Some political pundits have made a lot of noise lately about moving their own money to small, local banks, encouraging others to do the same. For once in my life, I'm ahead of the financial news. Local banks—Salisbury Bank, National Iron Bank, Bank of Millbrook, Berkshire Bank, Legacy Bank—unlike the big banks that received federal stimulus money, lend it, and locally. They are not out to gouge their customers. We’re their neighbors; we are likely to bump into each other on the street for years to come. This is a partnership. Our good fortune is their good fortune and vice versa. And while I don't have any personal experience with those other banks, I’m confident it’s not just the Kinderhook Bank that behaves this way, though I do have a special affection for them for a number of non-banking reasons, not the least being Donna, of course. Though their branches are few, a couple of them occupy important historic buildings that the bank has gone to considerable expense to save. Ours is in the old Chatham railway station. Their headquarters in the town of Kinderhook occupies a fine old brick structure (top photo) that dates from the era when bank buildings were designed to inspire confidence in a public that had the gumption to be wary of banks.
