Letters From Leton: Place Your Bets!

Betting seems to be all around us. On TV, we see ads for various betting sites. In our backyard, we see a new casino in Bristol.

Who would have thought even a few years ago that legal gambling would take off the way it has.

When it comes to betting, you must be smart and calculating with your wager. Going against the odds normally leads to a losing hand.

If I told you that your odds of losing were 10 to 1, would you place the bet or would you consider another wager?

Last week, we had our Bank’s strategic planning session.

During the meeting I asked all in attendance to write down two numbers.

The first was a guess at how many teller transactions we had the previous day.

The next was a guess at how many online banking logins occurred the previous day.

Now take a minute… What would you guess?

After everyone shared their guesses, I revealed that online logins occurred at a rate about 10 times higher than teller transactions. That is, for every 1 teller transaction, there were almost 10 online banking logins.

Now, placing a bet here is not as simple as the odds would lead you to believe.

With each face-to-face transaction, we have an opportunity to learn more about the customer and to share more about what we have to offer (investment services, for example).

Plus, with so many online banking logins, there will be support calls to handle. Our customers like knowing they can contact their office for help.

Local service coupled with the convenience of technology –that is a bet I would make every time.

Stay safe.

– Leton

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“Letters From Leton” is a blog series comprised of the weekly updates that Leton Harding – President, Chairman, and CEO of Powell Valley National Bank, shares with the Bank’s team members. These newsletters are full of uplifting anecdotes and intriguing insights that are applicable beyond the Bank, so we want to share them with you.