Relationship building key to successful banking

If you have lived or worked in Boulder long enough, you may remember it as Boulder Valley Bank and Trust, a private bank founded in the 1980s.

Or perhaps you’re more familiar with Mountain Parks Bank or its successor, Community First National Bank.

No matter what the name and parent company, the bank known as Bank of the West since 2004 has stood on its original foundation: building relationships with customers.

Owned by BNP Paripas in Fargo, N.D., Bank of the West was founded 135 years ago, and its philosophy today is the same as it was then, says Lisa Evans, vice president and Boulder market manager.

“We have always focused on the customer relationship,” she says. “It is all about the customer experience.”

To ensure that the bank is true to its cause, Bank of the West employs a third-party survey company that calls customers randomly to see how their experience was and whether the bank met their needs, Evans says. Third quarter results showed that more than 94 percent of our customers at the two Boulder locations were "extremely satisfied" with the customer service they received.


“Banking in general is a people industry,” she notes, adding that its service is what sets Bank of the West apart from its competitors.

Bank of the West employs 12 people at its two Boulder branches, 3800 Arapahoe Ave., #100, and 1300 Walnut St., #100. Evans says more than half of them have been with Bank of the West for more than five years, and some have been with it – and its predecessor – for more than 10 years.

She attributes the bank’s low attrition rate to efforts to build a relationship with its employees, as well, by providing them with financial assistance for their college education, and recognizing them with incentives and rewards for different levels of achievement. “People choose to stay and grow with our company,” Evans says.

Bank of the West is also the leading sponsor of University of Colorado athletics. And the bank and its employees show their appreciation to the community they serve by getting involved, either financially or by giving of their time, with University of Colorado athletics, the local hospice program, the YMCA, Boulder Community Hospital and the Family Resource Center (Access Counseling), Evans says.

A majority of Bank of the West’s Boulder clients have been with the bank for years, she says, showing that getting to know and understand people is important in banking.

The bank is also known for its business banking, and is one of the 30 largest commercial banks in the nation.

“Both of the branches have a background in commercial banking, in being there for that business owner,” Evans says. “I think it’s about relationships – faces you know and relationships you build. Whether it’s commercial or retail banking, we’re providing what the customer needs and we’re able to grow along with them. If we have a relationship, we know what they need and can bring that to the table.”

Bank of the West’s parent company, BNP Paribas, is one of the six strongest banks in the world, according to Standard & Poor’s, with $2.4 trillion in assets. Bank of the West had $61 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2009, and more than $40 billion in deposits.

Learn more about Bank of the West’s Boulder branches by calling (303) 444-7771 (Arapahoe branch) or (303) 449-7200 (Walnut branch), or visit www.bankofthewest.com.