What’s a relationship worth? Two rising Denver metro area banks think
relationships are important enough to bet their business models on them.
The recent entry of two relationship-type business banks, Community Banks of
Colorado and United Western Bank (formerly Matrix Bancorp) into the Front
Range banking mix accents the growing disparity between two approaches in
banking, relationship versus full-service, complete product line retail
megabanks.
Both of the new banks are describing themselves as traditional
relationship-based banks whose bankers are more involved with their
predominantly small business customers, while characterizing the megabanks
as nameless, faceless organizations with lots of sophisticated products and
lending might, but very little personal touch and heavy bank officer
turnover.
As I reviewed the material these banks have released, it struck me that this
personal approach to bank marketing was old news, and in fact, banking
consultant Larry Martin assures me it’s about 25 years old, ever since banks
began consolidating and even more so later when Colorado allowed branch
banking in the early 1990s.
“Relationship banking has been around for 20, maybe 30 years,” Martin said,
referring not to the relationship approach itself as much as using it as a
marketing counterweight to the megabank one-bank-fits-all philosophy.
.
