Episode 22: Pocket Change Podcast
In this episode of the Pocket Change podcast, we discuss the frustrations people may experience with their banking and the process of switching accounts. Brandy Ahlquist, the Vice President of Member Experience and Innovation at Leaders Credit Union, shares valuable insights on making the switch and how our members can have a step-by-step guide to walk them through the process.
"I think any change is difficult and I think a lot of people think that changing a checking account is probably the worst thing ever. A lot of times making any financial decision makes you uncomfortable. It's a big deal and people don't know enough about it to make those decisions," Brandy said. "So, putting this guide together, putting it in smaller steps, giving you lists, just things to look at, things to think about really just makes that experience a little smoother. And we always try to make it better for the members.
Summary
Brandy emphasizes the importance of commitment when considering switching accounts and introduces our Ditch & Switch Kit, designed to guide members through the process of switching. The first step involves selecting a financial institution based on factors such as account features, fees, and future offerings.
We also advises listeners to review three months of their current bank statements, listing all transactions, automatic deposits, and bill payments. She highlights the significance of scrutinizing fees and ensuring ease of access, including online and mobile capabilities.
The Ditch & Switch Kit is user friendly and it aligns with Leaders Credit Union's commitment to providing a smooth member experience. We also share personal experiences, encouraging listeners to consider the benefits of making the switch, such as earning dividends and avoiding monthly fees. Brandy explains why consumers may find it challenging to switch checking accounts, with the overwhelming nature of financial decisions and the fear associated with change.
Key Takeaways
- The first and most important step is to commit to switching checking accounts and dive all in. Our Ditch & Switch Kit is a helpful resource to start the commitment process.
- Choose your financial institution wisely based on features, fees, and future offerings and consider factors like earning dividends and accessibility.
- It is helpful to review three months of bank statements to create a comprehensive list so that you can update all your new card and banking information.
- You’ll want to be sure and monitor the old account to avoid potential fees after switching and you should aim for a swift closure of the old account for a seamless transition.
- At Leaders, member experience is at the forefront of everything we do, which is why we have one person whose singular role is to make decisions for the good of our members and their experience.
You can find the Ditch & Switch Kit on our website and access additional resources for a seamless account-switching experience.
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Full Transcript
Shea:
Hey, this is Shea.
Maddie:
And this is Maddie.
Shea:
Welcome to the Pocket Change podcast.
Maddie:
Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, and invest and take control of your financial journey.
Shea:
So Maddie, a lot of times, people can get frustrated with their banking. Maybe they've had an issue or wanting to look to switch. And so today we'll talk to an expert about how people can change their account and move forward.
Maddie:
Yeah, and here at Leaders, we've created a whole guide that helps our members or anyone else who needs it in a step by step way that they can switch their checking account to any financial institution. So you can actually find that at leaderscu.com/switch and you can follow along with our episode today.
Shea:
Because we want not only our members but future members to make it easy for them to switch to join Leaders if they've never been a member before and we've got a whole team dedicated to that, to helping our members on their financial journey and switching to make it easy. So we're excited to talk to our expert today.
Maddie:
So we're excited to welcome our guest, Brandy Ahlquist, who is our vice president of Member Experience and Innovation here at Leaders to the podcast today. Welcome to Pocket Change, Brandy.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Happy to be here.
Maddie:
So tell us a little bit about yourself and about kind of how you got to Leaders and just the time that you've been here.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Well, it's a really long story how I got to Leaders, but I have been here for 25 years. I have done a lot of things here. I've had a lot of opportunities. I started out as a teller. I moved into member service. I managed our collections department. I managed a branch. I managed our e-branch. Then I was our trainer, did Systems administration, and now I am the vice president of Member Experience and Innovation.
My current role as Vice President of Member Experience and Innovation gives me the opportunity to take a holistic look at member experience, whether it's in branch, or online, or out in the community. So I work with research and development for products. I collaborate with different departments. I do innovation meetings and then I put it all together and try to find ways to make things easier, better, faster for our employees, which in turn impacts our membership.
Shea:
And I think that's really unique to Leaders. It really has a big effect on our member experience and what they go through as they're joining or along their financial journey with us. So I think it's really important what you do and we're glad that you're the one doing it. And a part of that member experience is switching.
It's a big deal to switch your bank account or your checking account. And so if someone is thinking about doing that, switching their checking account, what are some things they should think about? Some advice for people that you would give to those thinking of doing that?
Brandy Ahlquist:
So the first thing is you got to commit. So you got to commit to doing it. I don't want to tell you that it's easy, but we have a way to make it easier for you, or at least feel easier for you. So at Leaders, we always are happy to help. So one of the ways that we've done that is we've created a Ditch & Switch Kit that we provide to our members to help them through the process.
So like the the first step is to select your financial institution. And this requires some research. So you want to look for the financial institution. You want wanna look for several things. So what features and benefits do they have on their accounts? Where most financial institutions offer very similar accounts. But you do want to take a look at those.
Shea:
And that varies. What's important to the person? It might be rates or may be fees or access, things like that.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Right. So something you also want to make sure of is the fees. So you mentioned that. Fees are important. So we have fee free accounts. You have to be careful of conditionally free accounts. So that's not really a term that you hear a lot, but you'll see that when you're looking at the features and benefits. So it might be free if you do certain things or you check certain boxes.
So be careful of that because that's important. You want to look to are you looking to earn dividends on your account? So do you want to earn some money while you spend some money?
Shea:
Even on a checking account. You may be able to earn some money.
Brandy Ahlquist:
So that's important. And then you want to look at access like how easy is it to access the account? Do they have, you know, online and mobile access? How easy is that to use? How forward thinking are they? Do they have branches? If you have an issue and you want to talk to a person in a brick and mortar, do they have those available for you?
So there's things that you want to look at there that you might necessarily not think about on a daily basis. But if you're looking for a new financial institution, what do they have to offer you in the future? So not just what they want today. Like you're looking for a checking account today, but in the future you may need, you know, financial advice, you may need counseling, you may need an advisor to help you, you know, move your money and make it work for you. So look for things in the future.
Shea:
I think the fact that Leaders is providing a guide and that you have someone to guide you along that process is important too. Like knowing that there's someone in your corner ready to help. Whether you're looking to switch an account or you're looking to, you know, open a new product or service. I mean, you have someone there that you can trust. And that's important too, to think about when you're switching, that you've got that person or people ready to help you.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Absolutely. I mean, our branches are wide open. We're always happy to help. We'll even help you walk through the guide if that's what you choose.
Maddie:
So after that first step of kind of choosing your financial institution, what is the next thing that they should do?
Brandy Ahlquist:
That's when the work starts. So the next thing that you really should do is take a look at at least three months of your current bank statement. Look at all the transactions that are coming in, all the transactions that are going out. Anything that you have coming in automatically, like a direct deposit from your payroll, retirement, any other deposits, investments.
So take a look at those. Make a list. Same thing with automatic bill payments. So things that are coming out of your account, subscriptions, those are all the things that you want to make a list of because those are things that you're going to need to change once you've moved your account. It's also a good time to review those subscriptions.
Shea:
May save you some money if you forgot, “Oh, I've got this subscription and this”. Maybe some are overlapping. You might could cancel some or...
Brandy Ahlquist:
Might be able to cancel some out or, you know, just...
Shea:
Make some changes.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Make some changes for sure. And same thing with your transfers that you may have going out. So you may have money going to an investment account. You may have money going to a retirement account. So is this an opportunity for you to either increase or even change those allotments that you've got, you know, going to another investment? That's the review.
Then the fun thing start. So you've got to open the account. Okay. So once you've selected your financial institution, you've made your review of your account. So you want to go ahead and get it open. Typically, the only thing that you have to have for that is a government issued photo I.D. and no other documentation is necessarily involved in that. You can open the account online, come into branches, whatever's convenient for you.
Maddie:
So then after they've opened that account, what would come next after that?
Brandy Ahlquist:
So that's kind of the hardest part. And like I said, we're trying to make it easy for you, giving you small bits at a time, but you're going to take that list in the second step that you created for your deposit and your automatic bill payments that you've got coming out of your account, and then you're going to make your changes.
So you've got your account open, you've got your account information. So now you've got to go in and make all of those updates. It is hard, but I would encourage you to commit and get that done in one sitting. And that way you can go ahead and move forward to the last step, which is getting your account closed.
Shea:
And hopefully that step doesn't take too long. You've got your account number, you've got a routing number, maybe a debit card number, whatever you need for those bill payments or those automatic, you know, payments for bills. And you know, you set that up, log in, change it - shouldn't take too long. I mean, hopefully.
Brandy Ahlquist:
And that’s something else that you want to think about too. Once you've gotten your account opened and you've gotten your deposits coming in and you're starting to see your bill payments come out, you want to make sure that you add your new debit card to your mobile wallet. So add it to your mobile wallet. Apple, Samsung Pay, whichever you use. Venmo, Cash App, DoorDash - all the fun stuff.
So make sure that you get all those things updated. And that way, you know, it just makes things a little smoother and you don't have to think about it again.
Maddie:
Yeah, and even though it is time consuming, I know from a personal experience, you know, I came to work here at Leaders this past June, and I didn't have any accounts here at Leaders before that. And so coming here, I opened my Champion Rewards checking account and I earn 5%. And getting to do that like that was way more than I was getting at my previous financial institution.
Brandy Ahlquist:
If you were getting anything.
Maddie:
Right, and so it really has paid off in the long run, taking the time to switch all of my banking information and my cards. And yes, it was time consuming, but it was so worth it because here it’s just a better experience.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Just just trying to make it a little less painful by just giving you those small steps, those tips. Something that you think about. Because even while you're looking at your three months statements, you may miss something. So there may be something that you need to think about that might only happen once a year.
So you may have an insurance draft that only comes out once a year. You may have...
Shea:
Or those quarterly things.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Yeah. Your taxes. So those are things to think about. You know, when you're making the switch and a lot of people don't switch until they have a problem with their financial institution. While that's a good reason to switch. It might not be the only reason to switch. If you've had your account for a really long time, you may not be earning dividends.
It's not necessarily new to earn dividends on a checking account, but it's not for old timers. So if you've had your account for 15 years, the odds of you having dividends being paid on your account is slim. The only checking accounts, I'm probably going to show my age here, but the only checking accounts back then were money market accounts.
And so you were limited on transactions, and now almost everyone pays dividends on a checking account. So you've got to make your money work for you.
Shea:
And I think Maddie had a good point, just, you know, switching because she was able to see the value, you know, maybe it's having dividends or not paying a monthly fee or different access or whatever that is for you. That value can help motivate you to go through this process and switch over.
Brandy Ahlquist:
And now when you're closing your other account, you want to be sure and watch that account because that's where those conditionally free red flags come in. Because if you're closing your account and your balance drops below a certain dollar amount or you're not having the number of transactions that are required, you may actually get a fee on that account.
So you do want to get that closed as quickly as possible. That's why I encourage you to, when you make the commitment to make your changes on your deposits and your automatic bills, to try to do that as quickly as possible in the same sitting.
Shea:
And so why does this guide help a member's experience. You talked about your role in member experience, so we've got this Ditch & Switch guide. So how does that help a member through that?
Brandy Ahlquist:
Well, I think any change is difficult and I think a lot of people think that changing a checking account is probably the worst thing ever. A lot of times making any financial decision makes you uncomfortable. It's a big deal and people don't know enough about it to make those decisions. So I think just putting this guide together, putting it in smaller steps, giving you lists, just things to look at, things to think about really just makes that experience a little smoother. And we always try to make it better for the members.
Shea:
This sounds like it's like pocket change pointers like pocket change tips, you know, these little small tips. That's what this podcast is all about and what this guide offers. It's just a little bite sized tips that people can use step by step to change their accounts.
Brandy Ahlquist:
And hopefully put a little change in your pocket.
Shea:
Exactly. A little extra.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Earn a little dividend, maybe save on your subscription.
Maddie:
So why do you think that consumers think, you know, it's difficult to switch your checking account?
Brandy Ahlquist:
I mean, all financial decisions are hard, right? I think they're afraid of all the things that go into it. They see their accounts. They might see their history on online banking or maybe they look at their monthly statements, they see all of the things that are happening. It's just overwhelming.
Shea:
I don’t want to see all those subscriptions.
Brandy Ahlquist:
It's just overwhelming. So I think that if we can explain it in a way and share it in a way that makes it feel a little easier, even though it's the same process. But if we can make it feel a little easier. And we're willing to help, so, you know, if somebody's going through it and they run into something that's just uncomfortable, then, you know, we're happy to help.
Shea:
So we talked about, you know, people may be listening but they're not a member and they can switch using this kit from their current checking to a Leaders checking. Why would a member choose Leaders?
Brandy Ahlquist:
Shea, that's a great question. Why would you choose Leaders?
Shea:
Well, I'm glad you asked. And I think I would say...cause I didn't have an account here before I worked here and I would say members should choose Leaders because we have great accounts that pay dividends, gives access. I think whatever you're looking for, you can find an account for you, whether that's no monthly fee or paying interest every month or ATM fee refunds or, you know, access with a mobile app.
I think we've got different accounts for everybody. I think Leaders is invested in our community and the communities we serve. And so that's a big part of why I love banking with Leaders. And we're a not for profit credit union. Credit unions are a little bit different. And so because of that structure, you know, that makes us really be able to give back to our community and our members, our members benefit from being a member. And so that's important. If you want to benefit from being a member of your credit union, then I think that's what I would say. That's my my two cents, my pocket change.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Beautifully said. I trained you well.
Shea:
She taught me everything I know.
Maddie:
That's what we always say. Any question we have, Brandy has the answer. Whether just about Leaders or life, pretty much.
Brandy Ahlquist:
A wealth of knowledge. Maybe useless information.
Maddie:
So, Brandy, I'm curious and I'm sure our listeners are too. You've been here for 25 years. Why have you stayed at Leaders for so long?
Brandy Ahlquist:
Leaders has been really good to me. I wasn't really looking for a job when I came here, but they invited me in. They've given me so many opportunities over the years. They have an awesome mission statement. You know, we power your passion to make lives better and they commit to that. So that's something that is important. We look for people when we're hiring for our team, that mirror that, that really want to have that servant leadership. And I think we have that from the top down. Not everyone can work here.
Shea:
And this podcast is about that. You know, we're creating this guide to help our members to, you know, help them on their financial journey. So I think that hopefully that shows our commitment to them.
Brandy Ahlquist:
I definitely think so.
I was four when I started, see, so I've been committed my whole life.
Maddie:
All right. So our last question for you is a fun one. And if you had any extra pocket change in your pocket, what would you do with it?
Brandy Ahlquist:
I would get a nice, spicy margarita.
Maddie:
Yes.
Shea:
Cheers.
Maddie:
And maybe even add peach. That's what Brandy’s taught me.
Shea:
We want to make sure everyone knows for this episode they can visit leaderscu.com/switch and it has the guide they can download, go through it, and switch over to Leaders.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Absolutely. And if you need any help with it, we're happy to help.
Shea:
Let us know.
Maddie:
Well, thanks for being on the podcast today, Brandy. We enjoyed having you.
Brandy Ahlquist:
Thanks for having me.
