Introducing 21st century banking to my 20th century father
My dad is a relic from the past.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy and I love him, but he stems from a different era. He grew up in a different time and has trouble trusting banks. Banks, according to my dad, play an important role in things that are wrong with this world and he’s got quite the collection of Youtube videos to prove it.
Then there’s me, who works for a bank.
To his credit, a lot of things my dad says about banks are undeniably true and his frustration is based on experience more than on Youtube. People my age know of the 2008 financial crisis, but to my dad 2008 was just a reboot of the crisis of the late 1980s: different generation, same banks.
So how do I go about convincing my dad I work for a company that contributes to a better world?
Simple: by giving him a bank account to pay him back some money I owe him. He’ll be flying in from abroad soon to spend a few weeks in Europe.
My father suggested I’d give him his money in cash. I on the other hand told him he’ll get a full bank account, a free bank card and an app from which he can control his finances anytime, anywhere.
For someone with vivid memories of the Berlin Wall being a thing this came as a shock to my father. He’s used to banks taking away his freedom, not getting freedom from a bank.
“Banks only use my money to invest in businesses I want nothing to do with,” he says.
“These days there’s an alternative to traditional banking,” I explain, empathetic to the fact traditional banks have caused their share of crises in my dad’s lifetime.
“My bank doesn’t make money with your money,” I explain. ‘We make money by delivering a good product that puts the user first.”
I go on explaining I just pay a small, fixed monthly fee for which I can open up to 25 bank accounts, shared accounts and group accounts, get up to three Maestro or MasterCards which I can assign to any of my bank accounts whenever and however I see fit.
My father, about to live the millennial lifestyle for a few weeks by traveling through Europe, simply has to download the app, open up a free account and I can give him access to any of the 1000 features I have at my disposal.
“Put that on Youtube,” I jokingly tell him.
My dad shrugs it off. I’m not sure I convinced him of the fact there can be such a thing as a bank for and of the people, but he’s willing to try it out. At the very least he’s okay with his son working for a bank that actively changes the faulty system he grew up in. I in turn am glad to show my dad I’m part of a group of people that has set out to change the world for the better.
“An alternative to traditional banking,” my dad ponders. There’s something about those words that stick with him. Banks have been around since ancient times. My dad himself is getting a little ancient as well. I guess he never realised that things can be different, or that even the concept of banks can change with the times.
To my father, banks are in it for profit. I’m happy he’s lived long enough to see that things can be different, that there can be such a thing like a bank that thinks for and with its users.
I’m a millennial and I work for a bank that managed to impress a 70 year old man who doesn’t like banks. I’d say my bank is doing a pretty good job changing the world for the better.
What’s this bank I speak of? You can discover more at bunq.com.
