OK, not really devious. A business I’m familiar with had to change its primary checking account from one bank to another this week. That, by itself, is pretty easy. But this original bank had offered (as I believe almost all do) a service option allowing the client to authorize its vendors to automatically deduct their monthly fees from the checking account – which is a real time saver to the business for small-amount recurring fees. But now that the business is changing checking accounts, they have to go through the process (hassle) of getting their vendors linked up to the new checking account at the new bank. Thus the original bank has more of lock on the customer than they would without offering the free auto-deduct service.
What service(s) can you offer to your customers that further locks them into you, even if the lock is to increase the hassle factor (that is, the cost) to leave you?
Ralph
