Business Model
Commerce's philosophy was that they were retailers, not bankers, and went so far as to call their various locations stores, not branches.
Features that Commerce offered its customers included:
- 7 day lobby or drive-thru hours, even in Center City Philadelphia and Manhattan, with the exception of branches in Paramus, NJ (Bergen County law requires most businesses to be closed on Sunday)
- Instant creation of ATM cards on the spot at the time of account opening
- No overdraft fees on debit card usage
- Free "Penny Arcade" coin counting machines for both customers and non-customers
- No-Fee Visa Gift Cards for customers
- Lollipops and dog biscuits in the lobby and drive-thru
- Foreign ATM fee reimbursement (if you maintain a daily balance of $2,500 through the statement cycle)
- "No Stupid Fees, No Stupid Hours"
Commerce Bank's business model generated what some called a cult following in the areas where they had stores. Commerce offered its customers merchandising giveaways such as coffee mugs, pens and pencils; in 2006 alone, the locations gave out 28 million free pens.
It was called Mc-Bank because Vernon Hill used his knowledge of the fast food chains he owned and applied it to the banking industry.
This model was described in the case of study HBS 9-603-080 from Harvard Business School, published in 2002.
Read more about this topic: Commerce Bancorp
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