Random Observance - Drive Thru

I noticed today that even though we have 3 driveup lanes (a deal drawer and two tubes), upwards of 95% of our customers choose to come to the deal drawer - even if it means waiting in a line! Seems crazy to me. :shrug:

This is what I think:

They perceive it to be quicker/faster service..... they feel they get a more personalized service and can make remarks eye-to-eye about their deposit/withdrawal (even though there is a speaker at the pneumatic tube lane) ..... and number one, it is usually a lot easier to reach from their car.

Lane one is the first choice for most. Our tellers called lane three "the felony lane." If someone went there when the other two lanes were empty, their transaction was more heavily scrutinized.

LOL

At a former employer the third lane was called the 'fraud' lane - and yes - I remember one instance of fraud from one of those lanes.

Our fraud department issues alerts titled "Felony Lane Gang" at our institution. When I first saw one, I thought, "Who on earth would name a street 'Felony'?" It took a second to realize it wasn't a street gang...

At my old institution, new branches were built without a deal drawer in first lane since that is where the ATM was located. Management was intrigued that the new branches (which were in a new market) saw much more lobby traffic than our older branches - thinking it was a regional thing. Having worked in a drive up branch for 10+ years I told them - it's not a regional thing, or the design of the lobby, or the coffee station, it's the fact that there is no deal drawer. I honestly think that the primary reason for the increased lobby transactions was because of the lack of a deal drawer. Once remodels of the older branches began with the removal of the deal drawer I'm sure that lobby traffic increased.

Third Drive Lane *definitely* piques the interest! We found a 20-something gentleman using it weekly, and got the city police drug dog to confirm what our noses suspected on his bundles of fives and tens. Then one week he stopped coming...

Absolutely. I work both in new accounts/customer service and as a teller. On the teller line, "my" station is the tubes at drive-thru. I always side-eye a bit when someone goes to my last tube when all the lanes are wide open. I too have caught people up to some shady stuff at the tubes.

We get a lot of people using our outside lane simply because they drive giant trucks that don't fit into the interior lanes. We are a farming community, so I'm sure that's not the case in most areas.

That's true at my FI as well. We're a small town with a lot of people driving really big trucks - many of them will use the last tube as well, since there's no barrier on the far side so they don't have to worry about trying to squeeze their vehicle into a very narrow space. That tube also sits a bit higher too, to accommodate taller vehicles. The big trucks are pretty much the only ones that don't get a side-eye from me for using the last tube when all the other lanes are open.

Where I bank they encourage/require business customers to use the "deal drawer lane" primarily for the deposit of rolled coins rather than using the tube for this type of deposit.