Cool Cash from Coolidge

Still striving to shed their obsolete image of aloofness, bankers have adopted an air of determined bonhomie while courting customers with a full array of services, gifts and favorable interest rates. For bringing a warm touch to cold cash, not many can match Coolidge Bank & Trust Co. of Watertown, Mass., a Boston suburb.* Started by a group of local businessmen in an abandoned store a little more than a decade ago. Coolidge now has nine branches and $100 million in assets, which puts it among the top 500 of the nation's 14,000 commercial banks.

Though many institutions dangle some of the same lures as Coolidge, few provide as many attractions simultaneously. Coolidge jolted the Boston banking community several years ago by dropping charges and minimum deposit requirements for checking accounts, a move that brought in 25,000 new accounts. Says President Milton Adess, a former hardware merchant who led in the bank's founding: "We're using our customers' money, so why should we charge them for it?" Coolidge was also the first in the Boston region to pay interest (4%) on Christmas club accounts. The bank stays open Saturday mornings, knocks .5% off the interest on consumer loans that are paid on time, and often honors overdrawn checks of up to $100.

Psychedelic Branch. The bank's most distinctive success was in winning the loyalty and much of the business of Boston area students. It first drew youthful attention in 1967 by setting up a branch in Harvard Square that was the absolute opposite of the banking establishment's marble mausoleums: a crowded trailer in the forecourt of a garage. Recently, the branch moved into the cinder-block garage, which was remodeled and painted a psychedelic red, white and blue on the outside and yellow, lime and white inside. The bank's interest in students goes deeper than a fresh coat of paint. Since 1968 it has been offering what is probably the most comprehensive student loan program in the U.S. For example, at Coolidge, a graduate student, after a rigorous credit check, can get a $2,000 unsecured line of credit at a rate of 1% a month on the unpaid balance, along with an American Express executive credit card and a free checking account. So far the default rate has been less than 1 %, and Coolidge now has customers in 50 states and 26 countries.

Fuller Brush Banking. Most of these innovations have come from President Adess himself, a lively 59-year-old businessman unencumbered by a banking background. He honed his instinct for pleasing customers as a Fuller Brush salesman during the Depression. From there, he went into retailing, building up his hardware business before selling out to take over as Coolidge's president. Adess believes that helping young people is good business. "We think that aiding them now will bring them back as customers after they graduate," he explains. Basically Adess sees himself as a retailer of money. "We try to offer the best product at the lowest price," he says. "It's the volume that counts." The most concrete result of this strategy can be seen in the bank's four-story headquarters. Only a year old, the building is no longer large enough to contain the ever-expanding business, and plans are now in progress to add another four floors.

*The bank was so named because the site of its first office was located on what was once the family farm of President Calvin Coolidge.

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