TCF Bank in Colorado Springs challenges Sunday banking tradition

Rob Larimer

TCF Bank is snatching up a portion of the banking market by keeping Sunday hours at all lobbies and locations - and competitors don't seem to care.

At issue is how large that portion of the market is and whether it's worth it.

Traditionally, banks have been closed on Sundays. In the past some states and regulatory agencies prohibited Sunday banking.

No such laws exist in Colorado. And, while a few banks have tinkered with the idea by opening a few locations on Sundays and keeping limited Sunday hours in grocery stores, TCF is the only Colorado bank to fully embrace the seven-day-a-week idea at every location.

It's really kind of contrary to the movement of the industry. We're really the only bank that's doing this, said Bernadette Slowey, TCF marketing director for Colorado.

Sunday hours aren't new for TCF. It's been doing it in Colorado for at least three years. In the hyper-competitive Colorado Springs banking market, trendsetters usually attract a host of followers and imitators.

That's common around the state, according to Colorado Bankers Association President Don Childers.

When free checking was introduced, an idea TCF also takes credit for, a number of banks were quick to make the same offer. But that hasn't been the case with Sunday banking, Childers noted.

Keeping a bank open on Sunday is a costly endeavor, he said. You have to open the building and pay employees and there are security concerns, too.

Barbara Walker, executive director of Independent Bankers of Colorado, said there's not enough profit motive for banks to open on Sundays.

Demand - or lack thereof - is the main reason, she said. Community banks have not seen their customers clamoring for Sunday hours.

Childers said Sunday banking has been discussed in Colorado for more than 25 years but that no one bank believed it could anchor a portion of the market with it.

TCF may believe they've found a niche, but I don't anticipate that a year from now many other banks will be doing this, Childers said. I think it's just too expensive for the number of people who will go to the bank on Sunday.

TCF has a contrary notion.

We've determined that this has been a real deciding factor in attracting accounts, said Matt Lamb, TCF's Colorado senior vice president of retail banking.

Neither Lamb nor TCF representatives would say whether the bank is making a profit on Sundays, but Lamb does believe Sunday hours have convinced more people to bank at TCF.

Our customer growth is definitely ahead of our projections for Colorado Springs, Lamb said, adding that there are nine locations in the Springs and another planned at Centennial and Fillmore.

Statewide, there are 33 TCF locations and Lamb said a total of 42 are proposed by year's end.

Lamb thinks TCF's aggressive growth might cause other banks to consider Sunday hours.

I have to tell you that I'm tickled pink that more banks aren't opening on Sundays, he said, but I would not be surprised to see to see it start happening more in the future.

Other bankers don't seem to think so.

We tried it about five years ago, and found we just didn't have any customers, said Don Sall, Wells Fargo's regional president of Greater Colorado. We stopped doing that and we haven't missed a beat.

Both Sall and U.S. Bank Southern Colorado President Tom Naughton believe the convenience of Internet banking will provide customers the opportunity to bank on Sunday with more convenience than going to a lobby.

Still, Sall said Wells Fargo will keep an eye on the competition.

We're always watching, he said.

Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.