Local banks begin seven-day service

More local banks, particularly the largest ones, are offering face-to-face banking service into weekday evenings and seven days a week.

In recent weeks, MidFirst Bank added Sunday hours to two Oklahoma City branches and one Tulsa location, and IBC Bank began staffing offices in north Oklahoma City and Tulsa on Sundays.

MidFirst Vice President Daniel Adams said the trend is part of a return of focus to the branch.

"The branch never really went away," Adams said. "This is just the next step of answering a customer demand."

The branches that are offering extended weekday and Sunday hours are fully staffed and can field just about any type of need, from opening an account to applying for a loan, bank officials said.

Some industry observers thought automated teller machines and online banking would prompt a reduction in customers at branch offices. But banks have found that branch services are a key customer acquisition tool, Adams said.

Bank of Oklahoma, which has offered seven-day-a-week banking in its grocery store branches since 1993, claims that it has more branches open every day than most state banks have branches.

Most weekend customers cash checks and make deposits, but the Sunday hours are producing an increasing number of new accounts, said Jill Hall, Bank of Oklahoma senior vice president, consumer management.

The state's largest bank, Bank of Oklahoma now offers "Expressbanking," which allows customers the opportunity to speak to a representative even in the middle of the night.

"Because the Expressbankers are here for our clients 24/7, they are also qualified to open accounts, take loan applications over the phone, et cetera," Hall said "Once the process has started, the client is able to sign the necessary documents at any of our locations."

Tom Travis, chief executive officer of IBC Oklahoma, said his bank's parent company, Texas-based International Bancshares Corp., has successfully implemented Sunday banking at many of its Texas locations.

With fewer Americans working standard Monday-through-Friday jobs, the need for bank lobbies to open on weekends has risen, Travis said.

"In the banking business, you better be in the retail business. And in the retail business, weekends are very important to people," Travis said.

Retail banking has learned some lessons from other retail operations.

A renewed focus on branch banking has prompted an increase in the number of bank offices in the state, and those newer branches tend to be more like other shops. Customers often are greeted when they enter, and bankers' offices, which traditionally were somewhat inaccessible, have moved toward the front door.

The banks that have just launched Sunday branch banking expect growing customer demand.

"I think it will take a while before the traction takes hold," Travis said. "People will come to rely on it and accept it."

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.