Concerning Magic Valley Bank

  Today, Magic Valley Bank, located in downtown Twin Falls Idaho lost a potential new customer, me. Which is really sad, I really really enjoyed my first visit to Magic Valley Bank.  The peppy girl seated right by the main door that got off around noon last Friday was fun, bubbly and personable…  So what was the problem? Let me explain my horrendous story regarding my second visit, and you can decide.

If you don’t know who Magic Valley Bank is, they are a local community oriented bank located in Twin Falls, Idaho.  It was originally started in October of 1996 by a group of partners, and bought out by “Panhandle State Bank,” a banking group owned by the “Intermountain Community Bancorp” sometime in 2004 I believe.  They market locally as a community oriented bank, and they have a great marketing tagline on billboards that states they are “unbig, on purpose.”

So here’s the problem.

I went in today around1:00PM MST today, August 25th.  I had my new businesses EIN documentation from the IRS, my State of Idaho C-corp incorporation documents, and a check to deposit.  Stephanie began to assist me.  I told her that I needed a business banking account.  So she looked over my EIN and incorporation documents.  After about five minutes of it being dead quiet besides the keyboard tippity tappiting, and her flipping through a smaller book she pulled out of her drawer, she let me know she was looking up the incorporation documents online and that it will be a few minutes.  She also verified my legal state identification, which was my license.  It was awkwardly quiet, but I didn’t mind, it’s banking, how fun can it get? I was a little irritated she hadn’t evaluted my needs or went over the styles of checking accounts available to me, but I assumed that would come in a few minutes.  Unfortunately, I was about to find out that the needs of the bank superceded my needs, and that how I would use my bank account of was no importance.  This was communicated to me not by a verbal statement, by how they handled my account over the next few minutes.

Stephanie proceeded to pull out a form for me to fill out and I did so.  It was a standard bank account application form.  It needed to know the signatories addresses, legal mailing addresses, my personal social security information and a signature acknowledging that I am who I say I am. I filled it out and when I was about half-way down the page she said “ohhh no, is your social security number xxx-xx-xxxx?” which startled me, because I had not given her this information yet, she had simply read it from my unsigned application, she was asking me to verify because she was reading my form upside down.  I shrugged it off as she was being efficient, which is always a good thing.  I didn’t realize till later that I hadn’t authorized her to use that information just yet.  In fact I never authorized Magic Valley Bank to use this information, as I still had the half-filled out application in my possession when I left.

Anyways, I would come to find out later, that due to a clerical error of an ex-employee at First Federal Savings Bank, my personal bank I use for checking and savings, that I was listed as having a negative balance in a system called ‘chexsystems.’  Stephanie at Magic Valley Bank told me she couldn’t open an account.  I told her I knew for a fact that my account at First Federal was in good standing and that I would go get it resolved with First Federal immediately and come back.  Stephanie told me NOT to come back, that once my name is in Magic Valley Bank’s computers as being listed negative in the  ‘chexsystems’ database, that they [Magic Valley Bank] couldn’t open my account for another three years and that maybe I should let First Federal take my business.

What?!  This statement had me floored. I wasn’t rude, I knew that it was not Stephanie’s fault, that this must be some bank policy.  But they didn’t want my money?  They Didn’t want my business?

So I went to First Federal.  I talked to Katie, an account manager at First Federal and she was just as confused as I was.  She pulled my account up.  It was and is in good standing.  I had a positive balance in checkings, and savings, and I had maintained this positive balance for several years now.  After several minutes of trying things, she checked chexsystems by pretending to open a new account and Katie saw the same exact thing, a supposed negative balance with First Federal.  Apparently, because of a clerical error, an ex-employee of First Federal had me in the chexsystems database.  Oops, mistakes happen with humans and technology, and I understand that.  Someone Katie called and removed my name from that system.  Katie at First Federal let me know she could write a letter, print off a history of my bank account, and provide a business card so someone at Magic Valley Bank could call her and she could explain the clerical error.  She said Magic Valley Bank would open the account now that I wasn’t listed in the chexsystems database, and with the new information that this was an error.

I told her that wouldn’t be necessary, and that obviously Magic Valley Bank was lacking.  Magic Valley Bank is obviously lacking a flexibile business policy that accounts for an error, or misrepresentation in a computer like I just experienced, and if it is not MVB’s business policy to deny someone a bank account for three years because of a clerical error, they are lacking the training and education for an account representative to understand the difference.

First Federal quickly won my account for my business banking .  I know, it was originally their mistake, but Katie was fun, and outgoing, and I really couldn’t stomach someone telling me I couldn’t come back for another three years.  I couldn’t stomach a bank that denied me a bank account, probably illegally under the fair credit reporting act, and ran my information not having my approval yet. So much for being so ‘unbig’ that Magic Valley Bank didn’t even want to talk to me again.

It has been my philosophy that now, more then ever, it is important for any businesses to train and educate your employees located at the forefront of your business.  For example, their tellers should be the most energetic, and the most trained in all of the businesses areas.  The banking professional seated before a prospective customer opening the banking account should be peppy, make you feel welcome, and explain all of the business processes to you.  They should also explain in detail any problems that may occur.

These tellers and banking professionals  are literally the face of your company at that moment.  They can satisfy a customer, or quickly end a relationship. They can make a meeting go quickly and easy, or turn it in to an absolute mess.

It’s probably equally, if not MORE important to also audit your business practices.  Mistakes happen, and computers sometimes have the wrong information.

These many faces of your business can make or break your local reputation, as well as negate, or promote a potential lawsuit.  As for  Magic Valley Bank’s reputation, I will never EVER recommend them again, and I’m letting the blogging community know about my experience.  That’s the power of the new millenial generation.  We don’t put up with being disrespected, and we communicate it at, literally, the speed of light.

Brian McManus

Twin Falls, ID

[These statements are opinions and experiences solely of my own --Brian McManus]

3 Comments

• 

  By Lisa @ Pleasant Valley Technologies, August 25, 2008 @ 7:52 pm

  Maybe the check wasn’t big enough! (joke)

  They seem to have forgotten the first rule of customer service CUSTOMERS = REVENUE
  And the second:
  Customers tell more people about negative experiences than they do positive experiences.

  Some education about Fair Credit(a big fat document) is needed here:

  1st) Before they can access any of your reports they are to have written/signed authorizaion!
  Doing so without your authorization is a violation of the act.

  2nd) If a company violates the Fair Credit Act (for example by accessing your information without your authorization- YOU COULD BE ENTITLED TO a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $1000 plus punitive damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for willful noncompliance with the Act.

  3rd) According to a June 2004 survey conducted regarding credit reports, 79% of reports from credit reporting companies (like ChexSystems) have errors or mistakes.

  4th) ChexSystems only gathers and reports negative information, there is no uniform standard for that information
  and no scoring like FICO. Chexsystems has been critisized for unfair reporting practices and there have been calls for reform. The Greenlining Institute has published a report indicating wide disparities in the criteria banks were using when reporting negative items to a consumers ChexSystems report. ChexSystems has to give consumers 1 free report annually just like the other credit reporting agencies and they have to correct your report if errors/mistakes are found.

  5th) Banks could use their own judgement, Greenlining Institure and Federal Reserve have been working on reform of Chexsystem and encouraging banks to be less dependent on it – What does that tell us, – Beginning in August 2000, the Greenlining Institute, a public policy center headquartered in San Francisco, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco held four meetings to discuss possible reform in the treatment of individuals reported to ChexSystems.
  These meetings included a discussion of potential best practices which a financial institution could implement to reduce its dependence on ChexSystems data in its decision process on opening accounts.
  Practices identified include: Training staff to use judgment to assess risk when opening accounts
  Setting minimum limits to activate the use of ChexSystems
  Considering the possible override of a customer denial for situations that are beyond the customer’s control etc

  6th) Magic Valley Bank screwed up! Instead of sending you away frustrated they could have pointed out ways to correct
  the problem, they could have called First Federal, they could have done an override so they could open an account and on and on with the could haves, and THEN THEY COULD HAVE HAD YOUR MONEY today and all the MILLIONS your business is going to make!
  Instead OOPS, you went back to First Federal!

  6th) WAY TO GO FIRST FEDERAL! I’m sharing this with Greg Edson! He’ll be glad to hear that his people are doing their part in the CUSTOMER SERVICE dpeartment, because after all, without customers where would any bank be!

• 

  By mav, August 28, 2008 @ 1:45 pm

  Interesting. I happen to be shopping for a new bank at the moment, and I guess I can cross MVB off the list. That’s really disappointing too.

Other Links to this Post

1. More on Magic Valley Bank | Brian Loves You — August 27, 2008 @ 11:37 am

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