Odd encounter at the bank

[snuggly]

I went to deposit a check today and the cashier said the strangest thing to me.  We have about $3000 in our savings account and another $2000 in our checking both at this bank.  So, I deposit the check then he asks me "Are you comfortable having this amount of money in your accounts?"  I didn't really know what to say... Isn't that the point of a bank that I should be comfortable keeping money there?  I must have looked really perplexed then I asked him: "Should I not be?" and he just hemmed and hawed then finally said that I should open more checking and savings accounts.  Hmmm.  I'm not really a fan of complicating matters by opening more accounts.  Any idea what he could have meant?  This whole encounter didn't really leave me with much confidence.  I'm embarassed to say that we are fairly new to having any savings at all, but I never expected a few thousand to be outside of the norm of a savings account.  So odd.

[Denvergirlie]

Odd indeed. Perhaps he was concerned on a basis of theft like idenitfy thrft or improper use of your account?

FDIC insurance is way higher than the combined $5K....

Then there is my tin foli hat thoughts that think "bank holiday" upcoming....  :)

[MCsMom]

that is really odd - I would think nothing of having 3K in one account and 2K in another - I have no idea what to think, the FDIC insured limit is something like 250K

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the bank/branch is having some kind of contest/prize for the most 'new accounts' and maybe he was trying to get you to open one because of that?????? And doing it in an odd way?

[neetling]

I don't think it's odd.  Tellers are supposed to suggest products and sell services.  I haven't worked as one for many years, but I HATED that part of it.  They probably just didn't have a little speech planned and winged it.  We even had to practice our warm turnovers to the sales team.

[Poddi]

I think he might be new.  Our tellers often try to suggest GIC or other investments if our balance gets high.  In fact one just suggested yesterday when we went to pay off our line of credit.  She caught herself before we said anything, as the money was only passing through our savings account and will go into LOC. :D He might be too new and didn't manage to articulate that.

[ChristyMarie]

Huh?

I would find that very very odd.  I'm also guessing he was new and supposed to be "selling" customers on some new account set up they are offering and just went about it in a really odd manner.

[honeybunmom]

As an employee of a bank, I don't find that odd at all.  I suspect he was looking for a way to offer you more products.  More products means more revenue for the bank.  Pretty simple.

[dejagerw]

Maybe he was trying to get you to buy some CDs or something??

[spiderdust]

Maybe the bank employees get a bonus for having x number of new accounts opened?

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by honeybunmom 

As an employee of a bank, I don't find that odd at all.  I suspect he was looking for a way to offer you more products.  More products means more revenue for the bank.  Pretty simple.

Yep, he just didnt have his 'sales pitch' down yet.  Give the person a few more customers and he will be good to go.

[ItsBasilThyme]

Yeah - when my account goes over a certain amount, I always get asked about CDs. It's kinda nice because I like putting extra in CDs and usually forget otherwise.

[texmati]

eh... the people that work at some banks are always trying to push financial products. Wells fargo (in my area) is the worst about that.