Thank goodness for Home Banking

Twice in one week now I've had to go into my eWallet account to look at my cleared checks. First my doctor and then my landlord claimed that I owed them money I was sure I had paid them.

Luckily, there is Home Banking. All I had to do was go into my account online and sort my transactions by type so that all my cleared checks lined up neatly in a row. Then I just scanned the dates and amounts to figure out which checks were for what. And voila! I had proof right there that I in fact did not owe them any more money. I even saw scanned images of the checks I'd written, front and back.

If only my doctor and landlord were so efficient!

EFy Award Winner - July

Think of a time when you received great service? Maybe someone went above an beyond what you expected or maybe someone took the time to listen to a problem you had and then fixed it. At Verity our priority is providing great service to our members. This something everyone at Verity is committed too, including this month's winner of our Extrodinary Feats Award. Read her story below:

July's Winner: Venachia

Recently a disgruntled member came to the Northgate building with a problem related to his HELOC. The member demanded to talk to an employee that had the day off. Lisa from Consumer lending was asked to assist the member. After meeting with the member it was evident that he was upset and she asked Venachia to help her solve this member’s problem.

Our third core value states “Success flows from focus on our members.” Venachia set aside the project she was working on to solve this member’s problem. After researching the situation, Veniacha was able to locate the root of the problem and come to a resolution which was fair for both the member and Verity. She even went with Lisa to talk to the member so she could provide assistance in explaining the details.

After the second meeting Lisa commented on how Venachia was able to clearly and effectively provide the member with the answer to his problem and a solution that satisfied his needs. She used empathizing statements throughout the conversation to make sure that the focus was on solving the problem at hand, and this is exactly what happened.

Even though this seemed to be a no win situation, through Veniacha’s expertise it was resolved in an equitable manner. This is not the first time Veniacha has demonstrated her willingness and ability to help with difficult situations. She is highly regarded as an expert in many areas and employees seek her out for assistance. Veniacha is a constant reminder of our core values and is an exemplary employee who demonstrates quality service, both internally and externally, on a daily basis. We are very lucky to have some one of her ability and qualifications in our department and at Verity.

More On Mixed Messages

I don't profess to be an expert on advertising in the least. We have just started advertising on the radio and we are certainly finding our way.

I did however, hear an ad yesterday that made me feel a little better about my common sense when it comes to where and how we place our ads.

A few mornings ago, the traffic report was brought to us by an RV dealer. First, I heard the name of the dealership, then a little tag line about seeing the country from an RV, then the typical Seattle traffic report - announcements of pockets of gridlock after pockets of gridlock after pockets of gridlock. I immediately made the association of sitting in stand-still traffic in a huge RV. It wasn't a pleasant thought. It didn't make me want to go out and buy an RV. In fact, it made me wish others didn't own RVs either - and that is pretty bad, considering our RV loans are great products and something I would like to see us make more of.

It did make me appreciate Cascade Bicycle Club. As I snaked my way through Seattle traffic on my way to work, I thought about how much I like it that there is a whole group of Seattle-it's who bike to work everyday and how proud I am that Verity has an affinity credit card that supports bicycle education. I think that is unique and cool. I also think Cascade should sponsor the traffic reports, rather than the RV dealership.