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#1933948 - 06/19/14 02:47 PM New Account? No Thank You.
bankermn Offline
New Poster
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 19
I am looking for some suggestions on how to politely turn down a new customer account.

We recently had a new business customer come into one of our branches to open an account, and the branch staff just didn't get a good feeling about the customer. We have done some due diligence in reviewing the business entity; i.e. google search, Chexsystems, etc., and all appears to be fine on the outside, but we would just rather not have the account. We have had similar instances in the past, and usually our gut instincts have been correct. Any suggestions on how to decline an account that you just don't feel comfortable about?

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#1933987 - 06/19/14 03:34 PM Re: New Account? No Thank You. bankermn
ACBbank Offline
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ACBbank
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,344
New York City
"We are not interested in your business. Thank you."
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#1933990 - 06/19/14 03:36 PM Re: New Account? No Thank You. bankermn
charlied Offline
Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 94
TN
That's a tough one. I've never been on the customer-facing side of that discussion. All I can think to say is sorry, but we're not able to open an account for you. Of course, that won't sit well with a lot of people. You could always say that management reviews all prospective business customers and has chosen to decline the account. I am generally not a fan of denying a customer request by blaming "phantom management," but this would be an exception. I'm sure CSRs have blamed me for not being able to open accounts (heck, I've told a few to do that in the past).

As a bit of an aside, I've always told CSRs that if they get a bad feeling from someone that I will always back up their decision not to open an account. Because you know that there's always someone else in the bank pressuring them to open every possible account.

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#1933993 - 06/19/14 03:37 PM Re: New Account? No Thank You. bankermn
charlied Offline
Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 94
TN
ACBank beat me to the punch. How can I compete with a tiger?!

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#1934027 - 06/19/14 05:10 PM Re: New Account? No Thank You. charlied
bankermn Offline
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 19
I appreciate the feedback, this helps!

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#1934122 - 06/19/14 06:44 PM Re: New Account? No Thank You. charlied
WonderWoman Offline
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WonderWoman
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,108
gone fishin'
Originally Posted By: charlied
As a bit of an aside, I've always told CSRs that if they get a bad feeling from someone that I will always back up their decision not to open an account. Because you know that there's always someone else in the bank pressuring them to open every possible account.


I tell our bank staff the same thing. Usually their gut is right & I will stand behind them. Usually we use the "Management reviewed" & "We feel we are not the right bank to service your business needs"
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My opinions are my own, and not that of my employer.

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