TCF: Keep what’s yours

TCF National Bank recently relaunched TCF Free Checking,  In the midst of the recession, all banks changed policy and products due to government regulations.  The banking industry completely changed.  The consumers were ready to turn their backson banks and keep their money under their matresses.  I work in that industry and I saw people everyday coming in to close accounts left and right.  TCF lost a lot of clientele and profits were not rising as they were planned.  After two years, TCF decided to take charge and listen to its customers.  They went through six months of market research in many major cities, one of them Chicago.  Their research findings were not shocking, customers wanted less fees, no minimum balances, and a bank that listens to its customers.  Well TCF did exactly that and re-introduced TCF Free Checking.  They launched the biggest marketing campaign in TCF history to promote it, and results have been great!

Executive management did a wonderful job with the business strategy, because right now TCF is one of the top dogs in the industry.  I think more companies should follow TCF’s approach to it’s customers and their business strategy.

7 thoughts on “TCF: Keep what’s yours

  1. I agree with the idea that more busineses should listen to their consumers. The consumers are the ones which keep companies in business. If a customer is not happy, then employees will not be happy due to slow traffic and no profit. As an employee at Chase, I understand how frustrating it could be when customers want to close their accounts. We as well have revamped our products to better suit our specific demographics and it sure did help us. The better the customers are treated, the more they will refer us to their family and friends.

  2. I also agree in giving the customers what they want in a checking account. Obviously if people are closing accounts left and right you are doing something wrong. In order to keep your business afloat you need to change something. To no surprise the customers want everything with no payments. It is smart of TCF to treat their customers well and continue to operate with no fees. With the happy customers they can let all their friends know how well they are being treated and in turn lead to more people signing up for a TCF account.

  3. I also believe that in order to have a successful business then the customers need to be the number one priority. I think it was a smart move on TCF’s part by taking out fees and minimal balances. I used to have an account where I had a minimal balance on my account at all times and it was kind of annoying. I believed that If I wanted to take my money out I should have been able to. This system was just not convenient for me so I changed to a different bank. I think that in order to keep business steady then businesses should make sure that their services are convenient for customers. The happiness of the customer should be the main concern of the business.

  4. I am one of those TCF customers who actually closed my account due to the monthly fees they were charging. I am happy to hear that they have decided to re-prioritize their rules and look out for the customers. It was always such a pain seeing random charges and having to keep a minimum balance especially as a college student.

  5. I was very close to closing my TCF account a few months ago when I was constantly seeing monthly charges for not keeping a minimum balance. As a college student with no job at the time, I was spending money but very seldom putting more money into my account. It was a little irritating knowing that sometimes I could not stay above the minimum balance, and as a result would be reprimanded. I was very happy when I found out that TCF had gotten rid of their monthly fees and minimum balance charges, but have since encountered other problems with the bank. Their getting rid of minimum balance charges came as no surprise to me because I was expecting them to follow their competitors, who had long since done the same. TCF customer service is great and have always assisted me with any questions or concerns that I had, but their banking system as a whole I feel does not put the customer first.

  6. In my opinion every company should pay more attention to how their customers feel about their actions, especially when it comes to financial industry company. As a previous employee of TCF, I understand customers side. It is not a pleasant feeling to explain to a person that their account balance is negative because they did not maintain required minimum amount. These type of unpleasant situations tend to drive customer away from a bank. Bank should be a trusted place where customers can feel that their money are safe, and not be worried about how much in fees will be deducted from their account in current month. Hopefully, TCF will soon realize that these extra $30 in fees are not worth loosing a potential long term customer.

  7. My perspective of the world banking system is that they try and take every penny possible from you (especially TCF). I banked with TCF about a year ago and I can honestly say that they were worse than the 29.99% APR that Chase Freedom offered me. They were trying to promote people to come in with their $150-200 dollar promotion. But the reprimands of staying with them (at the time I was with them) would be getting a $12 fee put on your account if you dont have a ridiculous amount in your account (by saying ridiculous, I am referring to college students). TCF is way behind the major banks like Bank of America and Chase and they have no other choice but to follow what other banks do. I feel like TCF was forced into caring about it’s customers.

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