Why am I leaving Chase Bank after only 3 months? Here’s the story:

I recently started my own business and heard a few good things about Chase. The major item that caught my attention was the “no fees” for anything shpeal- but shame on me for not doing my due diligence.

I had a pleasant experience with the Branch Manager who opened up my accounts. After discussing that I had just started my own business, he reiterated several times the “no banking fees” terms with both my personal and business checking accounts. But, of course, there is always a catch…and I got tangled in this net.

A $6.00 service charge appeared on my statement after three months and when I called to have it removed they refused and said it was in the terms and conditions of my account. I know what you’re thinking, “you called over a $6.00 charge.” No, I called over a matter of principle. Banks have an ongoing war with each other to open up new accounts and are constantly pulling business from each other, but it’s little things like this that after banking with almost every major bank offered in the Southwest that I’ve come to realize what really makes a great bank for my needs. And if Chase is willing to lose my business over $6.00, good riddens.

The real issue: Chase Online Banking
Here’s some free advice. There’s a reason why Bank of America and Wells Fargo offer online demos of their online banking systems on their home page. They are proud of their ease of use and customer experience - both elements add to the brand experience as well. Chase’s online demo of their online banking is more than 3 clicks in and is an eyesore to look at. And once you actually get into using it for real, there are too many options, having to click everywhere to never find the task you wish to perform, nomenclature is all over the board and hardly intuitive. Options are everywhere and the hierarchy of these elements are far from a users needs.

The worst of it? Operations. 3 of my vendors never received payment over a 2 month period and I had to reissue personal checks because I didn’t trust that they would be sent by Chase (major branding issues here). The real red flag was when one of my payees was supposed to receive payment that same day and I had scheduled it over 2 weeks prior and was still able to cancel/edit the check 3 days after payment was supposed to be received - meaning they NEVER SENT THE CHECK to my credit card company!

Judge for yourself:
Chase Online Banking Demos - the Demos page doesn’t even have navigation back to the main site: http://www.chase.com/cm/shared/crb/page/demo_selector.html

Wells Fargo Online Banking Demo: www.wellsfargo.com (easy to find under Banking on Home page)

Bank of America Online Banking Demo: https://www.bankofamerica.com/index.jsp (again easy to find in top left Online banking login box)

Good luck Chase, I hope someone is reading this who can make a difference. Adios.

So three things occurred this week that happened to spark this blog entry on creating and harnessing this “happiness” that we all seek:

1. A conversation with my boyfriend on centering yourself for happiness
2. A chance opportunity to sit in on and participate in a content creation session for a new publication
3. Starting Seth Godin’s “The Dip”

After having numerous conversations over the past few weeks with many colleagues and friends, “The Dip” has been on everyone’s tongue ever since Seth Godin came to speak in Phoenix about a month ago. A colleague of mine gifted me a copy and personally, I had been avoiding it up until now fearing that it would be a downer since I clearly am not in a dip (and by no means do I mean this in any conceited or condescending matter, seriously) since I spent all of 2006 in “the dip” and boy was it rewarding.

So, that is what had sparked this conversation. I haven’t yet finished “The Dip” so I can only comment on what I have read thus far. But mostly, I want to tie all three of these occurrences into one cohesive thought…I’ll do my best to avoid the stream of consciousness.

The general consensus seems to be that everyone “just wants to be happy.” And everyone is in pursuit of this happiness. But the bottom line is - happiness does not come to you. You have to go to it. This meeting that I was in earlier this week about coming up with content ideas started out with an interview session to break the ice with the other individuals in the room. One of the questions was, “What accomplishment (personally or professionally) are you most proud of?”

My answer: “Making it through each day, making decisions based on what makes me happy and not what others expect of me or perceive of me.”

The next breakthrough, my conversation tonight with my boyfriend about finding yourself, getting through the clutter, the external forces that tie us to the “have to’s” instead of the “i want to’s”. This conversation forced me to recall the year of 2006 where many big life decisions were made in my life. Each one having made myself on my own accord. The key here is “these were big decisions.” But, another key here is…you’ve got to create your options to make those decisions. If you are waiting around for your life to evolve you’ll be dead before you get anywhere - make big decisions. Create choices for yourself, don’t let life dictate your next step. Stop telling yourself “no” to the things you would normally say no to. Try new things, break out of the things that make you comfortable. Wear a red shirt instead of the black and blue one you wear every day. A big decision is only a big decision if it makes you uncomfortable. If you fear it, then you will grow from it.

And hence, you are in “The Dip”, what will you do next? I will return to this topic as I continue to read Seth Godin’s “The Dip.” I welcome all comments and realizations to this conversation.

The short answer? No.

Coming from an almost purely interactive perspective - I’d like to say of course traditional media mediums are on the their way out and online will eventually be the sole medium of advertising as we know it.

But let’s stick to what we know…and that is “strength in numbers.” Engaging in multiple advertising channels to gain the biggest impact and bang for the buck. Be it a press release, radio spot, TV spot or email marketing campaign; the more you’ve got out there the better success you’ll see. This hasn’t changed nor will it. Sure online has been the big man on campus, but recent studies have shown that online sales are beginning to slow from what we’ve seen in recent years.

We should start looking at the web as an anchor to measure the success of these initiatives and not as the main advertising medium.