Leaving the Bank (Parts 2 & 3)

When Gerard Kreuzmann immigrated to the United States from Germany 6 years ago, he did not envision being caught in a major economic recession. Since then, he and his family have been struggling to pay loans and living costs. 

In the midst of his financial struggles, he had to deal with the increasing cost of dealing with his bank.

Since his immigration, Kreuzmann dealt with Abington Bank which was a local community bank in his area. 

In September, he received notice that Abington would be acquired by the much larger Susquehanna Bank in a merger. Kreuzmann was against it from the start because he preferred Abington’s smaller and more personal service.

“Susquehanna has over 300 branches, that’s like a national corporation,” Kreuzmann said. “I trusted Abington Bank because they were only around here.”

Susquehanna had policies which meant customers would receive lower interest rates on accounts and possibly pay more fees after the merger. 

“I had lower interest on my savings account,” Kreuzmann said. “It’s like losing money if I keep it there.”

With his family struggling financially, Kreuzmann decided to switch to American Heritage Federal Credit Union which offered better rates and fees policies.

Kreuzmann prefers his business with American Heritage over what he would have gotten had he stayed at Susquehanna. But, he said, for the past year he and his family have contemplated a move back to Germany due to their deteriorating financial situation among other factors.

Sue Stanley works a bank manager at an Abington Bank branch in Huntingdon Valley, where she stayed at her position after the merger with Susquehanna Bank.

Since the merger she has seen a rise in complaints among customers about Susquehanna charging higher and more frequent fees than Abington, and having lower interest rates on savings accounts.

“The main reasons are the fees and interest rates,” Stanley said. “A lot of people complained about lower rates after the switch. Most people who leave go to credit unions because they generally have higher rates.”

Though Stanley witnessed a higher amount of customers switching away, most customers stayed after the merger. 

“Most of the customers who left were the businesses and some churches too,” Stanley said.

Despite a number of customers switching away from Susquehanna, many have also come from other banks. 

“A lot of people come from Bank of America, that’s the big one,” Stanley said.

Though Susquehanna is a larger business than Abington, Stanley said they have stressed building a long-standing relationship with each customer.