At a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in lower Manhattan, Mary Jane Farrell spent last Friday dispensing coffee, muffins, and insurance advice.
The occasion: "Insurance Solution Day," a quarterly open house that the Chase Insurance Agency representative hosts in each of the three branches she covers.
The event, promoted with signs and bright balloons, is intended to draw attention to the bank's growing insurance operation. But pulling in willing customers isn't easy. By noon, Ms. Farrell had fielded only seven inquiries.
Still, she didn't seem disappointed. Ms. Farrell said she gets most of her referrals from platform bankers, but finds the open houses do generate some leads.
Chase Insurance Agency is thought to be the largest in the banking industry, employing 80 salespeople, most of whom got their start at Chemical Banking Corp.'s insurance unit. Chemical acquired Chase and changed its name last year.
Chemical was the most successful bank at selling insurance products, according to Kenneth Kehrer, a consultant in Princeton, N.J. One reason: Most banks sell insurance through full-service brokers, but Chemical hired full-time life insurance sales people. It also did a good job of tracking customer contacts and sales, he said.
Chase offers a range of insurance products, including term life, disability and long-term care, and mortgage protection policies.
Ms. Farrell, who has been on the job 13 months, said one change since the merger is that she now covers only three branches, down from eight.
One industry expert had his doubts about banks generating insurance business through open houses.
"People who go into banks are there to cash a check or go to the ATM," said Andrew Singer, an industry consultant at Bank Insurance Market Research Group, Mamaroneck, N.Y. "They're not contemplating larger issues, like life or death or what they're passing on to their heirs."
