Tag: Mike Shield

5 reasons to actually go inside the bank

Chris Steinbach

bankFriday found me standing in a line at the bank. With time to kill while I waited, I checked in on Foursquare.

Wait a minute. Why is a guy who blogs, uses Twitter and Foursquare and even has a Klout score standing in line at the bank? Hasn’t he discovered online banking? Where does he bank if it doesn’t have a smart-phone app? What will his Facebook friends think about this technological deficiency? (Go here if you are asking yourself: What in the world is a Klout score?)

Yes, I am well versed in online banking. I use my bank’s online service nearly every day. And I really like my bank’s app on my iPhone.

But my employer is small enough that it doesn’t offer direct deposit for payroll. That means every other week I have to actually go to the bank. Initially I found this annoying since I hadn’t actually had to deposit a paycheck in many years.

I suppose I could deposit my check at the ATM or the drive-up window. But I’ve come to enjoy setting foot inside the bank, which has many advantages, including:

  1. Vicki KaufmannGrabbing a bag of the popcorn they give away every Friday.
  2. Gabbing with the tellers.
  3. Saying hello to Vicki Kaufmann, or Dan Stein or Jon Moravec or the many other friendly employees at the bank who I’ve come to know over the past seven years. I’ve even been greeted when I bumped into Bob Howard, the bank president. That never happens when you only bank online.
  4. Running into other Muscatine residents I know such as Mike Shield and Al Church, who had the misfortune Friday of bumping into me for the third time this week. As a postscript, it’s worth noting that later in the day, I ran into Al for the fourth time this week. I think he’s stalking me.
  5. Using it as an opportunity to leave my office and get some fresh air by walking across the street to the bank.

It may turn out that this going inside the bank is a good thing on many levels.I just listed a few of them. But there are others. At Muscatine Center for Social Action, the nonprofit organization where I work, my primary duties are to raise money and awareness. It would be difficult to do either of those things if I spent all of my time in my office or on a computer.

Getting out is a good thing, especially if people think of MCSA in a positive way when they see me.

So, even though I could probably get the bookkeeper at work to set up direct deposit for payroll if I tried hard enough, I’d rather leave things the way they are. I’ve come to like going to the bank.

Did I mention they give away popcorn on Fridays?

popcorn