The Financial Services Club meeting 7 April brought in corporate money managers to ask them what they wanted from banks.

 A little intelligent attention, it seems. “When we started, we were treated like lepers,” said one participant. ( the discussions are not for attribution)  His firm figures the threshold for getting respect was when it reached £50 million in annual turnover.

During mergers and profit-building, banks cut out their middle management, which included the thinking layer, said one treasurer. Call centres are not a satisfactory replacement.

LloydsTSB got good marks for corporate banking: “They are available 24 hours a day and my manager knows my voice. He arranged my mortgage with just a few signatures.” Lloyds’ card services, however, didn’t get such high marks. Their card services are “rubbish and let down the rest of the bank”, said one company. “Their card infrastructure sucks,” said another.

Other winners: Citi for its Swift connectivity, and Scotia Bank.

During mergers and profit-building, banks cut out their middle management, which included the thinking layer, said one treasurer. Call centres are not a satisfactory replacement.

Filed under: Corporate Banking, Technology