(Qualitative research conducted and written for marketing report to determine which banking services to retain)

Rocky Mount Esteem 55 Account
Account Summary: #58
Number of Deposit Accounts: 11
Number of Lending Accounts: 0

This 79 year-old breezed into the room, a small, energetic, self-possessed woman with sparkling eyes and salt and pepper hair swept up into a bun, a few loosened strands softening her face. She wore tasteful but inexpensive clothing. Her son, she revealed, thinks there's no one in the world tighter with money than she. Although she must own at least a half a million, she came down to the bank to get her $25, a subsidy to go toward the $35 shirt she bought for her son's birthday. She told him so, too.

She's been with Planters since 1924, when her grandfather and grandmother, who were "Planter's people," "put her into the trust department." She also has personal and financial ties to two other banks in town, Peoples and Wachovia.

Although she doesn't have a checking account at PNB, she has Esteem anyway. This is technically against the rules, but her next door neighbor is Bank President Jim Powers. She told him she wanted to be an Esteem member, so he set it up. Her only stated reason was that her friends are all Esteem members and go on trips together. She wanted to go with them.

She doesn't have a checking account, doesn't use the ATM, and certainly hasn't taken out any loans. She sometimes reads the newsletter and thinks it's worthwhile, and "sometimes I just throw it out."

Her farm is handled by Paul Bullocks at PNB. She is very satisfied, in part because "it does very well." She also has her income taxes done here. She has another $100,000 in CDs at Planters. Essentially she has invested her insured limit at the three banks where she has personal ties. She said she doesn't feel ties with any other banks in town. Rates are virtually irrelevant. She is aware, however, that her Esteem account gives her a higher CD rate.

She talked as some length about the merger and expressed how unhappy she was about it. "It's probably good for the bank, but not for Rocky Mount." She was concerned about the 66 people who lost their jobs and irked by the loss of Clint, who used to have power of attorney over her estate. She spoke with the president about it, but he said he was powerless. She speculated that she would consider transferring the care of her farm to Wachovia, but thought it would be better handled by a local bank. She is also concerned that the merger will affect the amount of her deposits which are federally insured.

This customer is sharp-witted, financially experienced, and up-to-date on the workings of the bank. She mentioned at least 12 different employees by name during our talk. She is as aware of her value to the bank as of their value to her.

Plymouth Esteem 55 Account
Account Summary: # 43
Number of Deposit Accounts: 3
Number of Lending Accounts: 0

This woman said virtually nothing the first few minutes, hiding a good sense of humor until she got comfortable. She had a short white beehive and wore a green polyester suit. It turned out that she was nervous about speaking about Planters because her son-in-law is the manager at Southern, and they're slowly transferring their funds to Southern because of him.

Despite this fact, she is pleased with PNB. She began banking with BB&T, then switched over to Planters when her husband moved his business account there. She didn't explain why all this transpired, and wasn't receptive to being probed. They opened an Esteem account on the advice of Carol (Stubbs) with money they had recently inherited. They were just looking for a basic checking account.

The interest rates were the first thing that she mentioned about the account. They have no SDB and haven't gone on any trips.

They have recently transferred their CDs to Southern, leaving just enough to keep their Esteem account in place. She hedged a bit on whether they would withdraw the rest in the future. She made it clear that the transfer was purely because of her son-in-law. She said she really didn't see any difference between the two banks, although she does know more people at Southern.

They also have an IRA at Branch. It was her husband's choice to put it there. She didn't think it was a highly reasoned decision-"it could be that he was simply in that bank that day." As she explained, "We're financial whizzes." Decisions they make about money seem to vacillate between the emotional and the random.

She had some advice to offer the bank. "They should tell you more. And they should make it simple-seventh grade level. People don't pay that much attention to banks (so they need all the help they can get.)" She thought that it was just luck that Carol happened to mention the Esteem account to her, because she usually uses the drive-through window. She thinks there should be a systematic way of notifying customers of what's available. Otherwise, she has been satisfied with the service.