Why Should I Do All of My Banking at One Institution?
Date: September 24, 2022
Choosing a financial institution takes some consideration and understanding all your options takes some time. Some people choose to spread their wealth around and keep accounts with multiple institutions. Others choose to simplify their finances and do all their banking in one place. With the ever-changing market and different institutions offering different benefits, knowing what to do with your hard-earned income can be confusing. We’re here to make the decision simple for you: doing all your banking in one place can save you time, money, and financial headaches.
1. Keep track of your finances
The most obvious benefit of banking at one institution is the ease and simplicity it brings to keeping track of your finances. Rather than having to access multiple online platforms, make appointments with multiple advisors, or visit multiple branches, you can simply take care of all your financial needs in one place. In a world where we already have enough to keep us on our toes at any given moment, our banking should be simple.
Patti McEvoy, Branch Manager at Westoba’s 1st & McTavish, said that it’s the consistency between products and services that serves as an advantage to banking in one place. “You will receive the same high standard of service for small requests like bill payments and large requests like buying your first home,” she said. Having all your money in one place also helps your advisor or representative better help you with your financial needs.
2. Build a relationship with your financial institution
When you build a relationship with the institution that’s handling your finances, you not only benefit from a more personalized experience, but that necessary level of trust that will help you make confident decisions about your money. Westoba is a local, member-owned credit union, meaning that every person you meet with for your banking needs works in a community that houses a branch. They know the community, its residents, and their members. Whether you’re meeting with a financial planner, calling in to the Westoba call centre, or speaking to a mortgage specialist, they’re all local employees who can share their expertise with you while also understanding your community and your goals and needs.
Patti McEvoy told the story of one member who purchased a vehicle at a local dealership and financed their loan through Westoba’s Dealer Finance program, setting up their new vehicle loan under their existing Westoba membership. She explained what happened next: “There was a misunderstanding at the dealership about the first payment date and we saw within our system that the first payment did not pull, and therefore the loan appeared to be delinquent. We knew this member, so the Financial Consultant that had the existing relationship reached out right away. The issue was resolved, and the payment error was fixed instantly. No harm was done to the member, nothing was reported on the member’s credit bureau and everything was resolved.”
If that member had chosen to have their vehicle loan financed elsewhere, a delinquent payment could have been assigned to a collections officer and had a negative impact on the member’s credit score.
“Because the member already had an established relationship with us, the Financial Consultant knew him by name, knew that a missed payment was very out of character, and quickly worked to resolve the misunderstanding,” Patti McEvoy said.
3. Save money on fees
Building a relationship isn’t just about getting to know your advisor or planner – that relationship can also help you save money in the long run. It’s important that your bank or credit union gets to know you as an individual so that they can best understand your full financial picture and help you make the best financial decisions for you.
“You would never go to a mechanic and show them a picture of the one part of your vehicle that isn’t working — the same should apply for your finances,” said Patti McEvoy. “If you tell us that you need a consolidation loan, but we don’t know about your investments held elsewhere, we are only seeing a small part of the total picture and it’s hard to give the right advice without all of the components being considered.” When your bank knows your full financial picture, they can then find ways to help you save money on fees and products.
4. Establish lower rates for all your financial products
Whether it’s your account fees, finding a mortgage rate, applying for a loan, or refinancing a mortgage, the benefit of banking at one institution like Westoba is that we can help you establish the most cost-effective rates for each of your financial products. As Patti McEvoy, “a situation we often run into is our Financial Consultants being able to recommend products and services to our full-service members that will save them time and money based on the information that we have for them on file. We can better predict what they will want/need based on their full portfolio with us.”
There’s nothing better than having your bank work for you!
Life is complicated enough as it is. Make yours simpler by moving all your banking to one institution. Here at Westoba, we pride ourselves on the customer experience. We’re here to help you navigate your finances and reach your financial goals. Don’t hesitate to reach out to learn more about how banking at Westoba can benefit you!
