Personal Banking -
A Wachovia Trademark
? . - *?*:*? Today everybody
*^r" ~ 7 talks about service, hut
Wachovia pioneered re
? _ ? ? latiunship - banking 20
years ago when it created
the highly successful Personal Banker program. At Wachovia,
one individual ? a Personal Banker? ? will assist a customer
... with any of the more than 1 00 services the bank offers. Personal
Bankers are extensively trained in every phase of banking
procedures and are ready to oversee numerous transactions:
from opening checking or brokerage accounts, to arranging
loans, purchasing certificates of deposits or opening individual
retirement accounts.
"At Wachovia we think you should get the same sort of
personal attention that you get from your doctor or dentist." said
Alan Proctor, branch manager at the Thruway Banking Center,
When Wachovia committed itself to the Personal Banker
concept in 1973. it integrated every aspect of the banking
operation, from bank managers to data processing support staff,
into the effort. That long-term focus is still in place today.
In 1989, in their book. The Seri'ice Edge: 100 Companies
That Profit From Customer Care . writers Ron Zemke and Dick
Schaaf said of Wachovia's Personal Banker program: "...seven
or eight years and several million dollars' worth of mid-seven
ties vintage investment were required to get it right, but today
Wachovia is a model of well-run, customer-focused retail
banking. It's also one of the top all-around banks in the country."
. Too often, unfortunately, in many financial institutions
customers needing assistance find themselves assigned to
whichever functionary happens to be on duty on the floor or on
the telephone when they visit or call. Customers are often
transferred from department to department for information
about loans, savings accounts, charge cards and other services.
Wachovia helps tts Personal Bankers respond quickly and
efficiently to the needs of customers by consolidating all ac
count records on a computer network. The on-line information,
system gives Personal Bankers and Service Representatives ?
? via computer terminals instant- access tothe information
necessary to handle all of a customer's needs. New accounts can
be set up by the Personal Banker directly on the terminal while
the customer is at the desk. No written forms are needed other
than a signature card. Also. Personal Bankers or Service Repre
sentatives can make name and address changes, enter stop
payments, update demographic information, order or update
banking cards, order credit reports and make numerous other
transactions at their desktop terminals.
Businesses and industries moving into a town find
Wachovia' s Personal Bankers more than willing to assist ihem
and their employees with any relocation needs, whether it be
transferring bank accounts to the new city or helping the
newcomer locate a child-care service.
Customers cai\ choose a Personal Banker in a specific
Wachovia office and can change Personal Bankers anytime
they wish. Service representatives also are on hand to help
Branch Manager Alan Proctor explains the savings and
convenience of a Wachovia Prime Plus credit card account
- to a prospective customer. ? ^
customers with any routine transactions.
In these times when an individual's relationship with
institutions has become impersonal and sometimes even unpro
fessional, Wachovia' s Personal Banker is a refreshing reminder
of the personal touch that is so important in banking.
Wachovia's History: More Than a
Century of Progress,
Stability and Innovative Service
o One summer day more than 1 14 years ago, young William
Lemly moved an iron safe up the cobblestone streets of Salem
? to the neighboring community of Winston. A few days later
amid the hard times of Reconstruction, the doors of a new bank
? Wachovia National Bank ? were opened.
"Wachovia" is the Anglicization of "Wachau" th* naiw
given to the large tract of land in Piedmont North Carolina
acquired by Moravian settlers through land grants in 1 753. The
name came from the German words "wach" for stream and "au"
for meadowland. This land, named for Der Wachau, a valley
along the Danube River, included what became the community
of Salem in 1 766.
Eventually, "Der Wachau" in North Carolina was dis
carded by a growing English-speaking populace for a more
easily pronounced version. The article "Der" was dropped; the
"IT was converted to a "V," and the suffix "IA" was added.
Thus, the name Wachovia.
The new bank grew with the prospering businesses that
were becoming important to the area: textile mills, furniture
factories and tobacco factories.
By 1 888, the bank had moved to a new location on the
corner of Third and Main streets in Winston, where
Wachovia' s headquarters was later built.
in 1 89 1 , at the request of a group of Winston and Salem
businessmen, the North Carolina General Assembly approved
the creation of a new kind offinancial. institution called a trust
company. At that time, the charter was granted for Wachovia
Loan and T rust, which officially opened two years later. Its staff
consisted of the president, Francis H. Fries, and his nephew,
Henry Fries Shaffner.
The company had been in existence only 60 days when the
"Cleveland Panic" ? characterized by a shortage and hoarding
of money ? hit Winston. But the trust company survived the
storm and, within 10 years, became the largest financial insti
tution in the state. By 1903, Wachovia Loan and Trust was a
pioneer in statewide banking, opening branches in Salisbury,
High Point, Asheville and Spencer.
Besides their names, the two Wachovias shared similar
practices and philosophies. So in 191 1, two years before the
towns of Winston and Salem consolidated, the two institutions
merged into Wachovia Bank and Trust Company. *
The new banking company occupied the state's first
*
"skyscraper" ? an eight-story building located on the corner of
Third and Main streets.
In 1918, Wachovia joined the Federal Reserve system
greatly enhancing its correspondent banking services.
During the Great Depression, thousands of banks were
$50 billion. Fortunately, under the dynamic leadership of Rob
ert M. Hanes, Wachovia weathered those lean years without
ever touching its reserves.
Hanes, president of Wachovia from 1931 to 1956, led the
bank through years of substantial progress. Deposits climbed
from $42 million to $406 million, and loans rose from $22
million to $214 million.
By 1 966, Wachovia employed more than 2,900 people and
had moved into a new 30-story structure ? which will remain
losses were estimated at more than
. ?> . jfc & t .
Prominent customers George Brooks, James A. Gray and
R. J. Reynolds gather in front of the original Wachovia
National Bank building.
its home until late 1995 when a new headquarters building will
be completed on a site across from Winston-Salem's City Hall.
In the late 1960s, Wachovia formed a one-bank holding
company. The Wachovia Corporation.
The '70s and improved technology brought innovations
for customer convenience, inctuding the Personal Banker pro
gram, a new concept in individualized customer service, and
Teller II, Wachovia' s automated teller machines that provide
banking services 24-hours a day.
The '80s saw the introduction of new Wachovia services
such as an adjustable-rate mortgage that became a model for
similar programs across the nation.
The Personal Trust Group was one of the first to unbundle
traditional trust services so that individual clients and lawyers
on behalf of their clients can obtain as many ? or as few ?
services as needed.
Wachovia was among the first banks in the nation to offer
consumers a variable-rate line of credit, BankLine. And with
Phone Access, which enables customers to access their ac
counts around the clock by telephone, Wachovia continued to
apply technology in ways that benefit customers.
In 1985, The Wachovia Corporation merged with First
Atlanta Corporation to form First Wachovia Corporation. Five
years later, with the merger of all operations complete, the
Wachovia name was adopted by all member companies, and the
holding company returned to its previous identification of
simply Wachovia Corporation. The First National Bank of
Atlanta became Wachovia Bank of Georgia and Wachovia
Bank and Trust became Wachovia Bank of North Carolina.
In 1 99 1 , Wachovia Corporation added another dimension
to its interstate banking company, this time merging with South
Carolina National Corporation of Columbia, S.C.
Today, Wachovia has assets in excess of $33 billion and
ranks 21st among the nation's largest bank holding compa
nies. Wachovia has almost 16,000 employees and its three
lead banks include Wachovia Bank of Georgia with 132
offices in 49 cities, Wachovia Bank of North Carolina with
221 offices in 96 cities, and South Carolina National Bank
with 158 offices in 71 cities. Corporate Services offices are
located in Chicago, Dallas and New York City, and interna
tional offices are in Atlanta, Winston-Salem, Columbia, S.C., .
New York City, London and Tokyo.