Comments on: My Newest Bank is Changing Names: TD Commerce Bank to Update Branding Later This Year

By: Flexo

Flexo — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:16:16 +0000

ib: The “prize” was a blue clip. If I remember, I’ll take a photograph.

By: Casto Creations

Casto Creations — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:50:51 +0000

I go through the drive through several times a year and once in awhile have one or all my dogs with me. They LOVE to get treats when the little thing comes back from the chute. And the tellers always love to see my babies. =)

By: ib

ib — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:29:08 +0000

what was the “prize”???
: )

By: Flexo

Flexo — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:25:00 +0000

Lyn: Great point about the drive-up window. I haven’t even considered that. It must be 20 years since I’ve used a drive-up teller window. Similarly, I haven’t ordered drive-through fast food in that many years either. I figure I might as well get out of the car if the bank’s open.

Juggler314: I normally “roll my own” but those machines look fun. Plus, at Commerce, if you guess your total and come within a $1, they’ll give you a “prize.” Since I counted mine before bringing them in, I was only off by $0.05 (probably due to a miscalculation on their part.

Heidi: Good info, thanks for sharing.

Jennson: My main checking account was at New Jersey National Bank, bought by CoreStates, bought by First Union, bought by Wachovia. That account dates back to when I was a teenager. It’s not that I’m fiercely loyal; it’s free. I opened the Commerce account for a little variety, service on Sundays, and access to more tellers for occasional coin collecting.

By: Jennson

Jennson — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:39:53 +0000

I’ve seen Commerce aggressively expand earlier this decade throughout New Jersey. A lot of my friends have converted but I’ve always stuck with First Union, now Wachovia. I was pretty happy with the fact that there were no noticeable changes beyond the fact that the local branch basically got demolished and rebuilt.

I’ve never seen anyone take their dog into the bank before. maybe New Jersey is just weird like that.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:53:40 +0000

I went to a conference with some TD Commerce product developers and product managers earlier this year – based on what they told me, their biggest concern about the Commerce acquistion is the service level customer’s expect. I suspect that over the next couple of years, your going to see either an increase in fees (those coin counting machines are expensive to maintain), or a drop in service. Profitability and margin are a big deal – especially in this economy. I bet they keep giving out the doggie biscuts, but you’ll see cuts in other areas.

By: ib

ib — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:47:58 +0000

ok, ok — got the letters today. yep, TD Commerce Bank; changed name for all….

By: Juggler314

Juggler314 — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:01:00 +0000

I often combine a dog walking trip with a bank run…it’s convienent.

As far as those coin counting machines go – if you’ve got a reasonable amount of change, you might as well roll it yourself and bring it in…that way if it’s off at least it’s your fault. If you are bringing in hundreds of pounds of change…a few missed coins is worth the savings in time…

By: ib

ib — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:27:15 +0000

TD & Banknorth & Waterhouse or something took over my bank which was originally a Peoples Bank. there have been two or three acquisitions since i opened my account. i have not seen any changes to my accounts (i have checking and savings; don’t worry, i also have ING direct) and online is great, but my bank may have started out with better online service than yours to begin with (sounds like). now Peoples is called TD Banknorth.

the only difference would be that my company’s business accounts (i manage all 5 of them) are at the same bank and at some point a good bank employee brought to my attn we could change some to different acct types and save some fees (saved $10/mo on most accts). over the years i have noticed various fees going up like by $1 or more at a time with regularity, but one always hopes they will not get charged these fees (overdrawn, etc). the business accts are at risk for these (thru no fault of mine, boss likes to take more risks than i am comfortable with btw), not my personal ones though, i avoid all fees successfully with my own.

hope your bank’s being swallowed doesn’t cause you grief though.

oh, i totally don’t trust those coin counting machines (such as the penny arcade)!!!! i’d rather buy a little one for $50 or less than be stiffed of that…..

By: Lyn Never

Lyn Never — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:55:18 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever been through the bank drive-through with my dogs (I don’t think I’ve been through a bank drive-through at all in years), but I believe it’s traditional to receive a dog biscuit in your return pneumatic delivery if the teller sees/hears one in the car with you. Possibly the same applies to children, though with any luck it’s something better than a dog biscuit.