San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-10-04
BANK PURPOSE
IS SERVICE
TOPUbL|C
By ELWOOD LLOYD


Often. as I take q leisurely stroll
during the midday, I wander In and
out Of the banks and financial
houses. Partly this for the purpose
Of passing 4 friendly word with the
men I have come 10 know In these
institutions. But the real purpose,
the major intent, is to note the man
ner Of the general public in its deal
ings with the field of finance.
As I stand about I often catch
little phrases Of the conversation
between bank officers and the Gus
toners Of the bank. Some Of these
"snatches" are rather amusing, but
they impress me with one thing
more than any other. and that Is the
great majority of persons do not
fully appreciate the extent Of he.
service their banks are prepared to
render to them.
The banks of the present day IRE
wonderful institutions. No longer
can they be considered merely "A
repositories for money! place
where ones surplus may be kept
for convenience and safety. If
were called upon to define the pres
ent position of the banks in our eco
nomic scheme do not believe !
could do better than to designats
them as prosperity factories"
| The present day banker has thor
oughly learned the lesson that it 10
| TO the interest of the bank to make
| its customers prosperous-for upon
the prosperity of its customers de-
ponds the prosperity of the bank.
The greater the prosperity the more
money with which it can work-the
greater amount of money the
greater are the possibilities for add
ing to the growth of the community;
the greater the economic growth of
the community the greater will be the
number of depositors and the larger
will be the amounts listed in their
pass books.
So the banks and the bankers have
taken onto themselves the task of do
ing everything which will serve the
purpose of protecting the money Of
| their customers from loss, and adding
to that task the greater one Of doing
those things which will assist their
customers in making their money make
more money. This last task covers
wide range Of service-a range i'm
possible of covering thoroughly in the
1 Cnar0 hare a dtcnaeo1
For instance, the banks MAIN
tam extensive appraisal depart
ments for the purpose of considering
the value of property in which their
customers are interested. The men in
charge Of these appraisal departments
are prepared to do much beside Civ.
ing a loan appraisal" on a parcel
Of property. By reason Of carefully
compiled statistics they are acquaint-
ed with the class of development best
adapted TO property according TO its
specific location, and can often save
Il customer much loss by friendly.
counsel before plans are made for
building upon the location. Also,
these men, quite often trained in the
fields of structural engineering, are
qualified to offer dependable advice
as regarding materials, types of con-
struction and valuation. This service
is maintained by the banks for the
benefit Of their customers ana is to
be secured upon request.
!, Elaborate statistical and analytical
bureaus are maintained BY the banks.
The wealth of material relating to the
community and the surrounding coun-
try which has been compiled by these
bureaus is beyond computation. It
covers the gamut of useful informa-
ton all the way from the number of
vacant houses in a given block to the
possibilities for marketing Los An
geles products at the most distant
points of the compass. have yet TO
find bank not willing to place this
information before a customer in a
manner calculated to give him the
greatest service for his own particu-
lar business.
So might go on enumerating the
) types of service the banks are pre-
pared to render willingly and gladly
for those who do business with them.
And even if i but touched upon each
type briefly, a stable booklet might
! be written.
AhS tust uepdftueuts, SdIe deposit
vaults. escrow divisions, discount sec
J lions, loans, mortgages, women's bank
ing-all these and many more would
have to be included. Each one mean
ing some particular service calcu-
lated to assist the depositor or Gus
: toner in getting greater value and
happiness from his money.
So, the suggestion is that It might
be well for us to get better acquainted
with these prosperity factories" with
which we deal. The raw material
used in these factories is money-and
somewhere in every one of them is a
man well qualified to answer any oil