The process a person has to undergo to open a bank account Essay Example for Free

The process a person has to undergo to open a bank account Essay The bank will have in place a process that customers must have to follow to enable them open an account. This process involves various activities that the application must have to go through before a decision can be made to open an account. The initial process starts once the customer enters the Bank and speaks to a Customer Service Adviser about opening a new bank account. The adviser will asks the customer various questions in order to establish the customers banking needs. This enables the adviser to clarify what kind of account is more suitable for the customer. Since the customer does not know what kinds of bank accounts are available, the Customer Service Adviser enables this process to take place. Without the support of the adviser, the process of opening the account might have been more difficult and time consuming. The customer is also advised on the time duration it might take in the process of opening the account. The customer then has to fill in an application form which enables the process to move to the next stage. The customer can call on the adviser for assistance in filling out the form at any point in time. Once the form has been properly filled in, it is processed by the bank staff (using processing software on the computer by sending the information to a referencing agent to check if the applicant details are correct and for a credit check to find out if the customer has any adverse credit history. These are guides used by the bank to determine whether the information given by the applicant is true and to decide on credit facilities that might come with certain bank accounts). The information sent off is then verified and sent back to the bank. All the information sent are assigned scores using guides (software) that the bank has installed to make the process more efficient. Depending on the customers score, a suitable account would be recommended. A decision will then be taken in regards to the opening of the account and details of the account are entered into the computer. At this point of processing the account, some delays would be experienced while the adviser inputs the details of the new account into the computer. While this is being facilitated, the customer then receives details of his/her account. The customer leaves now as their input into the process of opening the bank account has been completed. The account details and customer information relevant to operating the account is then sent for printing to the card manufacturing company. The machinery, plastic and paper used in the process of manufacturing the relevant items for the bank enables the process of opening the account to be completed. The cheque book, card and pin number for use with the account are then mailed by the printing company to the banks customer or sent to their local branch for collection. Once the cheque book, card and pin are received by the customer, it enables the use of the bank account and without this, the operation of the account would be made more problematic. Volume looks at how many different jobs one person performs in the business. In a supermarket, each person works one station on a shift and rarely swaps during it unless it is extremely necessary. In some cases, there are enough people employed in the supermarket so that they only ever have to perform one duty during their time employed there. In the supermarket, there are sometimes 20 people working on the tills during the busy periods but often there are not this many people working in a bank at any one time. By having this high Volume, you will find that the each person will find their job extremely repetitive as it is all they perform all day long. In some cases, people will work behind a till for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for several years. This high repeatability often isnt appealing to a lot of people though. However, since people are performing the same tasks day in and day out, they become an expert in their area. This leads to highly specialized people in the supermarket which is good for the business. In a bank, there are normally two or three people who deal with the individuals bank accounts, and processing cash transactions, and then there is one person who deals with opening bank accounts, another working on loans, and someone possibly dealing with mortgages. This low volume of staff means that if anyone is sick, then the other staff will be required to cover the area for the duration. If you work in a bank, your position is often changed to where you are required most so you need to be multi-skilled and have good knowledge of the job. Variety looks at the degree in which the business responds to different customer requirements. A supermarket would have high variety as they order in a wide variety of products, made by different brands and sometimes of different ethnic origin to appeal to a wide variety of tastes. This means that the supermarket is flexible about what it orders, in order to meet the needs of the customer. A bank has very low variety in terms of the accounts they offer. They have their standard set of accounts such as Flex account Savings and ISA but there are few variations off the standard model. 90% of people who go into the bank to open up a savings account will leave with the same account. These standardised accounts make the whole process of opening up a bank account very routine and so the staff working there could do it with their eyes closed. Variation In Demand is how much demand changes over a period of time. In a bank, the accounts very rarely change. The main changes to them are the interest rates but this is usually determined by the government and so changes are infrequent. This keeps the bank in a routine, and also proves them to be very predictable in what they offer to the customer. This means that it doesnt matter when an individual opens a bank account as it will almost always be the same. In a supermarket however, there are seasonal changes constantly. They cater for all of the holidays that occur over the year, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Summer Holidays and Halloween. They need to order in the seasonal goods in advance to the holiday so that it entices people to buy them early. They can also adjust their ordering to meet customer demand, i. e. if the store holds a Buy One Get One Free offer on a particular popular product, then they know that they are going to sell a lot of it therefore they will adjust their ordering accordingly. After the promotion finishes, it is highly unlikely that they will continue to sell the same numbers so they will reduce the amount ordered. Visibility relates to where the process is carried out. In a bank, you see very little of the processes being carried out in front of you therefore there is low visibility. Credit Checks are done online by an independent company, cards and chequebooks are manufactured in another place altogether, Money is taken from you and put into a till and your account credited electronically. Sometimes, especially if you are paying in a cheque, there is a time lag between processing your transaction and seeing the results. It can take up to a week to send out new cards, new chequebooks, or new PIN numbers if you lose them and so this could be problematic for the consumer, as they may not have access to any money during that period of time. In a supermarket though, you see quite a few processes occurring in front of you. You can see people continuously stacking up shelves to ensure there is food available for the customer and you see your food being processed through the tills. This leads to low waiting tolerance however, and the consumer always wants their product immediately and often voices their dissatisfaction if they are unable to get exactly what they want. On the Deli counter, you can see your choice of meat being cut exactly how you want it to be and wrapped for you, and in some supermarkets, you can even choose for someone to make your own personal pizza for you. In order to offer these services, there needs to be good customer service skills in place so that any questions regarding anything in the store can be answered if needed. Company success relies heavily on consumer satisfaction and so the store must ensure that the shelves are full, that there are a wide range of products on offer, and that customer service skills are excellent. By offering all of these things, the supermarket can ensure good satisfaction and repeat business.