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TD Exec Explains Why NYC Needs So Many TD Banks
By
Lauren Evans
Published May 19, 2014
Modified May 19, 2014
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By
Lauren Evans
Published May 19, 2014
Modified May 19, 2014
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TD Bank, the seemingly unstoppable homogenizer of a city once fertile with independent businesses, will be opening 15 new locations by the end of the year, bringing the total count of the city's TD Bank Empire to 126.
Why are there so many damn banks? Why did we even download this sweet banking app that's supposed to do everything short of pushing cash out of the headset jack? Luckily, TD reps sent an intriguing email offering to clarify that very question, offering the explanatory services of Chris Giamo, regional president for TD's New York metro area.
Giamo took the opportunity not to apologize for all the banks swallowing entire neighborhoods, but to tout their many benefits: Customers want convenience, which means not only an ATM, but a smiling face to confront when the ATM is broken or the app has frozen or they've grown tired of hearing, "I'm sorry, that's not a valid menu option" when it so clearly is. And if TD is going to live up to its self-appointed moniker of "America's Most Convenient Bank," locations will have to be plentiful. If all goes according to plan, the city and world will be nothing but TD Banks, Subways and Soylent dispensaries.
"Regardless of what way a consumer uses its bank, it still will visit a bank branch," Giamo said, adding that TD offers "a full array of products for a full relationship." A full relationship with... It. (To be clear, you're It.)
And if that full relationship involves razing time-honored city treasures to make way for another soulless green edifice? So be it!
"I do think everyone within a certain community is going to have a certain feeling anytime anything changes—but we make an effort to become part of the community," he explained, citing the locally-hired work force and involvement with charities and other initiatives, such as the Million Trees NYC and the city's gay pride parade as examples. "And we have a lot of green initiatives, just like our logo," he added helpfully.
Still, does anyone want a world dominated entirely by TD Banks? That's not really Giamo's problem. "We do what we can to help," he said, "but that's the function of the free market, not the bank. Part of our responsibility is creating economic development, but we can only do what we can control in creating jobs and giving back to the community. We don't necessarily control what landlords do or don't do."
Tagged
capitalism
mars bar
td bank
Lauren Evans
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