Take some time to read about what Vernon Hill did at Commerce Bancorp. Hill came from a non-banking background, he was an owner of Burger King franchises. As a

Take some time to read about what Vernon Hill did at Commerce Bancorp. Hill came from a non-banking background, he was an owner of Burger King franchises. As a result though, he really figured out that one of the keys to creating a thriving bank was to make a bank that had great customer service. Mostly, innovations are used to get cheap deposits. If there is a bank that can innovate and do it correctly, then it can work well. Commerce is a great example of one that did achieve it. Their efficiency ratio was higher than most peers but that’s because they kept their bank open 7 days a week and they made it so you really wanted to visit their branches. They used nice colors, had super friendly tellers (they weren’t stuck behind bullet proof windows or a mini gate), and they didn’t make branches look like a post office or a jail cell. Their whole idea was putting more money towards non-interest expense but they were able to charge less for deposits since they were more convenient. It definitely worked. If you could invest in safe assets you could earn a wider NIM than peers. HOWEVER: You can be the most innovative banker in the world but if you make bad loans you’ll go down.