Content area
Full text
People who trust William E. "Mac" McWhirter with more than 500 million of their might be surprised to learn that he once sold a camera to a blind man. But they wouldn't be surprised to hear McWhirter describe how that man, who could see just inches beyond his nose, would carefully scrutinize each photo he took, marveling at the detail.
Likewise, the thousands who borrow more than $400 million from McWhirter's bank might not remember Brownie, the bank cat, who "signed" her own checks to pay for veterinary care, but many have heard McWhirter talk about "taking a pad of ink and inking her paw."
Those who do business at Peoples Bank & Trust Co., the largest and oldest commercial bank based in Indiana, want to know who they're dealing with. And McWhirter can oblige with stories of cameras and cats and of the time the clock that now hangs refurbished in his office was once a battered appliance used by his father and grandfather.
For 107 years, four generations of McWhirter men have built one-on-one relationships with their customers by telling stories, safeguarding deposits, lending money and lending an ear when needed. Since before his election as bank president in 1984, Mac McWhirter has cultivated the bank's reputation for friendliness.
Every week he looks forward to one or two visits to customer sites, where he soaks in what they love about their businesses and why. "It's like going on a field trip," says McWhirter, who offers similar accessibility to his clients.
People's might have only 12 banking locations, but accessibility is not a problem. A case in point: Once at a roundtable discussion with most of the other bankers in town, McWhirter stunned his colleagues when the facilitator asked how someone should go about getting in touch with them. After every other banker explained who the intermediary would be in his particular case, McWhirter stood up, recited his...