Citibank has woken my sick-in-bed wife the last two mornings, calling to remind me to submit my paperwork to fund the new checking account I established online two weeks ago.

She's not so thrilled with the bank, but I'm impressed with its tenacity.

Here is the scorecard of bank followup efforts:

• Email = 1 (about 2 weeks after application...almost missed it, thought it was a phish)
• Mail = 1 (technically not a reminder, it was the sig card and new account kit)
• Phone = 3 (first about 1 week after application, then number 2 and 3, about 2 weeks after application

It's an impressive follow-up effort. I've applied for a number of accounts over the years and I can recall receiving only one telephone call, from Salem Five back in 1995, and that wasn't even an application, just a sales lead. The last time I tried to start a checking account, with Washington Mutual, I never heard from them, not so much as a single email or letter thanking me for my application. As far as I know it's still sitting in limbo on some backup tape.

Sorry for the delay Citibank, I really do want that iPod, so I will be sending my $2500 deposit ASAP.

Action Item
If a company with as much experience as Citibank has found it to be profitable to make follow-up phone calls on unfunded new accounts, you should consider doing it as well. However, you may have more luck than Citi does using email followups. Citibank's brand in an email message is practically worthless these days after the pounding it's received from phishers.

--JB