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KHTS AM-1220 | In the Spotlight: Allen Vartanian, Union Bank Valencia

Uploaded 09/10/2015

In the Spotlight: Allen Vartanian, Union Bank Valencia

Union Bank has been around for more than 150 years. Longtime customers have seen it grow and evolve with the changing times. Allen Vartanian of Union Bank recently sat down with KHTS AM-1220’s T. Katz to discuss the evolution of banking then and now.

“A lot has changed,” Vartanian said. “I’ve been in banking about 17 years, going on 18 years, and when I first started we didn’t really have online banking the way we do now. We didn’t really have the apps or mobile phone apps or anything that’s called the digital channels.”

A few years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to get home from making a deposit at the bank and realize they left a check on their counter.

“You would have to get back in your car, go back to the bank, get out, get in line, make that deposit, come back home,” Vartanian said. “Now, you just go on your phone, your cell phone app, you take a picture of the check, front and back, hit send and it’s in your account.”

Vartanian also recalled the days of long lines from opening to closing at some banks, which are now usually almost empty because of the prevalence of online banking.

“The company I used to work for, it was normal for customers to come in and wait 45, 50 minutes in line, literally,” he said. “The minute that we opened our doors at 9:00 we had a line out the door and around the building, all day nine to six. Now typically you go into a bank, sometimes you don’t find any lines, maybe one or two people waiting, because of all the digital channels.”

These increasingly more common digital channels include direct deposits through employers, mobile deposits, online banking, bill pay and more.

Union Bank customers who do stop by the bank can participate in a seven-week campaign to raise funds for the American Heart Association. So far, the local campaign has raised more than $11,000 for the association, with about two weeks left until its end date on Sept. 26.

(c)2015 KHTS
2 Comments for KHTS: In the Spotlight: Allen Vartanian, Union Bank Valencia
  1. Rick Patterson says:

    Allen Vartanian is at the front edge of modern banking. He clearly understands the new hi-tech programs available to Union Bank’s clients but he still
    practices the best practices of community banking, including knowing the clients and having that important personal connection.
    High Horsepower.

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