Computing for Service

Like most working professionals, I can only conduct my banking activities during lunch hour (from 12nn to 1pm). Two weeks ago, I had the misfortune of waiting inside the BPI Buendia Pasong Tamo branch.

Let me briefly describe the scenario for you.

Fourteen people were lined up ahead of me. We were facing five service counters, two of which were unmanned.

After approximately 15 minutes at the queue, I decided to make good use of the waiting period and compute for the Bank’s turn-around-time (TAT) for transactions. I figured that if I knew the TAT, I would be able to project the average amount of time needed for all my BPI banking transactions – not to mention efficiently manage my lunch break.

It took me another 30 “exhausting” minutes to finally reach the teller, calculating an average processing time of 9 minutes per person for all 3 tellers. Below are the computations for your reference.

Average Transactions = 15 people / 3 tellers = 5 people per teller
Average Time = 45 minutes / 5 people = 9 minutes per person

Teller # 3 (my apologies, I forgot her name) was seated beside a trainee who diligently observed everything that she did. Based on the last 4 customers she serviced, Teller # 3 clocked an average of 3 minutes and 30 seconds. I was her fifth. Upon arriving at the counter, she smiled sweetly, greeted me, "Good Morning!", took my deposit slip and completed my transaction in just a little over four minutes.

I was partly to blame for her "delay" because I handed her the piece of paper where I did my calculations. Puzzled, she asked what they were and I said that it contained the computation for her average TAT for bank transactions. I told her to hand it to the trainee so she can always be reminded of how efficient Teller # 3 was. Why did I say she was efficient?

Because, if Teller # 3’s average transaction time is 3.5 minutes then the two available tellers were each transacting at 11.75 minutes each or 11 minutes and 45 seconds.

Teller 3’s average handling time = 3.5 minutes
Teller 2’s average handling time = 11.75 minutes
Teller 1’s average handling time = 11.75 minutes
--------------------------
Average Time = 9 minutes

In my humble opinion, 9 minutes is quite a long time to process one transaction. Imagine my surprise when Teller # 3 informed me that the average TAT was actually 15 minutes. Wow!

BPI recently implemented a customer satisfaction survey, where after your transaction, the teller hands you a stub that you can deposit in a box that has two slots: one with a ‘smiley’ and the other, with a ‘frowney’. I inserted my stub into the unhappy face.

Before leaving the bank, I also slipped a note inside the box, with some suggestions on how the branch can improve the customer service experience, namely:

• Faster turnaround time for transactions
• Full manning on all counters during lunch hour
• Dedicated counters for specific transactions and products (i.e. credit card payments, check encashments, time deposits)

Later that evening, I received a phone call from the Buendia Pasong Tamo Branch Manager, apologizing for the inconveniences that transpired and thanking me for the suggestions. She explained that the delays were due to:

1. A shortage of seasoned manpower. Apparently, four tellers resigned last month; justifying the presence of the trainee and the two unoccupied counters.
2. The fact that some transactions took longer than others because they were dependent on the nature of the transactions (e.g. multiple transactions by a customer who can be depositing money and encashing checks at the same time)

The Branch Manager was very pleasant and even advised me to freely approach her should I have any future banking concerns. After speaking in great length about my credit card application and possible investments that I may avail from BPI, I ended the conversation with a simple request that the branch improve their transaction times. She assured me that they would.

I returned to the bank today to deposit my paycheck and, “Lo and behold!,” I was greeted by a longer queue. There were 21 customers before me. Four out of the five counters were now occupied but two of them had “offline” signs on top of them. The trainee sat in one of the “offline” counters.

I left 5 minutes after I came in because I already felt that I was going to be there for more than 45 minutes. Minutes later, I found myself inside the Legaspi Village Branch (?) near Shell House.

Here’s the second scenario:

Like my first visit to Pasong Tamo, there were 3 manned counters but all counters were occupied (this was, in fact, a smaller operation). Again, I was the 15th customer in line but surprisingly, I finished my transaction in exactly 20 minutes. That’s an average transaction time of 5 minutes – a little over half the TAT of Pasong Tamo. What did the Legaspi branch do right?

The biggest difference was Abi, a lady at the Customer Service area on the right side, who was calling out to the queue. She was asking who among the customers were making deposits, thereby, raising the actual number of available service counters to four. What a difference one person makes!

Because of the prompt service, I didn’t feel the need to compute for the TAT for this branch. However, out of curiosity I asked Donna, the teller who processed my transaction, what the average transaction time was. She replied, “Sir, it’s usually 10 minutes.”

On my way out, I slipped my stub inside the smiley.