Exchange Bank has been voted Best Consumer Bank in the 2011 NorthBay biz readers poll.
Over the years, Santa Rosa-based Exchange Bank has won the NorthBay biz readers poll award for Best Business Bank numerous times. This year, the accolades continue, but this time, it’s been chosen Best Consumer Bank instead. AVP/Marketing Services Manager Sally Traughber points to the bank’s century-plus history in Sonoma County and its unique, trust-based structure (it can never be bought or sold) as reason for the shift.
Established in 1890, 50.39 percent of the bank’s common stock was placed in a perpetual trust in 1948 by founder and second president Frank Doyle. “We have a rich and solid history in Sonoma County,” says Traughber. “For many of our customers, banking where their great grandparents banked gives them a sense of security.”
What’s more, Traughber adds, “A lot of our marketing emphasis has shifted toward our consumer product offerings in recent years. Many of our customers bank with us because we’re truly a local bank and will remain that way. A lot of banks have been bought or closed in recent years, and I think people see us as an anchor in their community.”
Of course, you can’t be the Best Consumer Bank if you don’t have excellent customer service and a variety of banking choices. Exchange Bank offers both, including various personal and business checking and savings plans. It also offers services to help make customers’ banking experiences easier, including online bill pay, electronic statements, a network of ATMs throughout Sonoma County, credit and debit cards, loans and lines of credit, and a telephone customer service center with representatives available to answer calls before and after branch hours. Popular choices include the Go Green electronic checking account (“Paper checks have become almost obsolete,” says Traughber), youth accounts (including a piggy bank club for kids and the MyCash checking account for teens) and the Saver Account (a savings plan that lets you designate a date for auto distribution to your checking—for a holiday, vacation or other event). The bank is also hoping to introduce mobile banking smartphone options (balance alerts, transfers and the like) before the end of the year.
In addition to taking care of its customers, Exchange Bank also focuses on the community as a whole. “Frank Doyle’s vision was to give back,” says Traughber. “It’s a cornerstone of who we are. I’ve been here 23 years, and we’re telling our employees and customers the same story now that we were then. It comes from the top down.”
Exchange Bank has been a corporate sponsor of the Human Race for the last 19 years and, this year, it has seven teams in Relay for Life. It’s also an annual participant in National Rebuilding Together Day and donates funds to the Sacramento Police Officers Association Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Speaking of scholarships, though currently on hiatus, the Santa Rosa Junior College Doyle Scholarship has, since its establishment in 1948, contributed more than $76 million to more than 115,000 students. The recent economic downturn led to the fund’s temporary suspension in 2009, but as the rebound continues, hopes are high that it will return soon.
“It’s almost immeasurable how much our employees do in the community,” says Traughber, “both as individuals and as a corporation. Giving back is an extremely important piece of who we are as a bank.
“We live and work in these communities. We’re a part of life here.”
