The Frill Is Gone, Almost

A thought occurred to us recently at a local fast-food restaurant’s drive-through window. Whatever happened to freebies?

The days of gratis ketchup packages and napkins appear to be over, unless you demand what used to be understood as complimentary at the window. (Who eats french fries without ketchup or mayonnaise, anyway?) Or what about the carpenter’s pencils that used to be complimentary with a load of lumber. They now fetch 10 cents to a quarter. Bubble gum after a haircut, parsley on the platter, a wheel balance with a new set of tires … where did it all go?

There are plenty of piddly examples, none much worth getting upset about. But 86ing negligible frills seems to be a way companies are dealing with the economy in every sector save for one — banking and financial services.

Trinket gifts like calendars and bags of fresh popcorn abound from banks trying to woo new customers and keep existing ones. We’ve been handed everything from free ink pens to refrigerator magnets lately, and have been tempted to carry a grocery sack on our banking expeditions to collect all of the loot.

Then there’s the perks we really like. A basis point savings here for setting up an account a certain way, a quarter-point savings there for being a “good” customer. How about some free checking sir? Care for a free Internet account, ma’am? How would you like the area’s lowest mortgage rate? And don’t forget the complimentary sucker that’s also a decoder ring. (Well, you get the point).

The overbanked Northwest Arkansas market is forcing institutions to find new ways to compete. The calendar wars rage, but the real battle is over value-added services that continue to spring up at banks. Nearly every institution has delved into asset management, retirement planning, insurance and trust and brokerage services.

Brokerages send out advise-chocked newsletters and offer everything from insurance to estate planning. One local firm even has seven advisors who do financial planning for free. And the bargain e-brokers are now offering higher-end products for volume customers.

Financial planners do less in the way of pricing structures and more in the way of personalization. One local planner stocks a client’s favorite beverages in the office fridge, and once helped another customer sell a watch on e-Bay.

Ultimately, it’s growing a client’s portfolio that matters. But getting the special treatment is a nice bonus along the way.