Performed a shop today where I had to walk into a bank and ask about personal loans. Bankers thought I was nuts since I wasn't even a customer, but it wasn't a requirement of the shop. Was told only customers with deposit accounts could apply for loans.

I saved the shop by just keeping him talking about checking accounts too, but why didn't the MSC warn me about possibilities like this???

It would almost be unfair for the MSC to tell you this in advance. Some bankers are perfectly happy to talk to you about loans, credit cards, deposits, safety deposit boxes and yadda yadda yadda whether you are a customer or not. Other bankers get an attitude. While the bank's official policy may be that they only do loans for customers with deposit accounts, the smart banker will try to turn you into such a customer. The best time to get a banker chatting is when there are no customers in the lobby waiting to be seen. Heck, around here they get so bored and lonely it is hard to get away from them once they have found somebody to talk to.

Personally I have not set foot in a bank except on a shop in probably close to 5 years. I do remote deposit and direct deposit; I pay by ach or etf so don't even need to drop in and reorder checks. I'm sure that is true for many other folks as well. But if you go to a bank on Friday you will find most banks are busy with weekly pay folks trying to cash their check at their employer's bank because they have no bank account of their own. Around here the banks are open on Friday until 6 PM and the bankers often have folks waiting to see them because of issues with their check or perhaps wanting to open a Christmas Club account.

Plan your visits not to arrive on a Friday! And of course if they don't want to talk about your topic, punt. Your punt was to get them talking about new accounts and in that context you likely could indeed get them to talk about loans.

I've recently started doing a few of these and I usually just tell them I was driving by and thinking about refinancing or getting a loan on ____ so I thought I would just pop in and check out what they had to offer. They seem to buy that explanation. I've done about 5 in the past month at a credit union I do not have a membership with and I've never had them question my motives after I gave them that explanation.

And actually I don't necessarily agree with the other poster's advice to not do a shop on a Friday. I just did one today and it worked out perfectly. The loan officer was very polite and thorough. I have waited longer on others days to speak to a loan officer so it's more of a YMMV.

Maybe that's why they were being shopped.

I do quite a few bank shops, but I have accounts at a crappy credit union and a regional bank.

When I do a shop, I say that I am looking to switch financial institutions and I want information on their > insert product here <.

That's what I do, too....or we're moving to the area, want to check options, etc., etc.

I recently did the shop for opening a new account...such a nice bonus, I couldn't say no.

Imagine my chagrin when we did all the paperwork and 45 minutes later, the poor banker handed me a "refusal" sheet! I'm not qualified to open an account, even though I had cash with me! (Lost my job in July 2015, trashed my credit within a year). Sure enough, the responsive MSC changed the guidelines to read
"you must qualify for a new account", which covered this happening to any one else. And they did pay
me in full.

I have not completed loan accounts, but I've done quite a few new shop accounts. If I am in an unfamiliar area, I also take note of other area banks or even use Google so I can throw out the ole -- well, I do want to see what "insert bank name" has to offer too and see if they have any specials right now. One bank I visited offered $50 with any direct deposit of any amount. Some of our shop companies direct deposit, so I wonder if this counts? I would love to add a few of those in They even add $5 more for going to online banking and signing up. I could do this with 2-3 banks one month and make my goal a little easier.

I did a "creme of the crop" bank Wednesday like no other. This was a very affluent area and caters to the wealthy (like Arnold Schwaniger). They had no tellers, and when you entered smelled wonderful. They bake fresh cookies every morning and their service's include, going to homes for banking, having a booklet filled with 2 dollar bills, which you can buy for gifts for @100.00. Saving the best for last, instead of going to bank to deposit a check, you can take a picture of it and email check in, .no fee checking... so much fun, took 10 minutes, paid 50$....they should all be this easy. this was a European bank.

I have never heard of a bank refusing to discuss a loan product with a non-deposit customer. Banks make money off lending. That said, many banks and bankers will want to cross sell deposit services to a new loan customer. But if a banker refuses to discuss a loan product, I suspect that her/his supervisors would not be happy. Moreover, it is illegal for a banker to refuse an application from anyone.

LOL I'm pretty sure most banks offer the "take a picture of your check" and upload it nowdays, but the fresh baked cookies are impressive.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2016 04:06AM by nixkit.