Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes

Sounds much better when David Bowie sings… anyway, the last 2 weeks saw GoT die an undignified death, the Big Bang Theory go out with a bang, and the Toronto Raptors make the NBA finals for the first time in franchise history! Change!

We all know the clichés… “a change is as good as a rest”, “the only constant is change”, “by changing nothing, nothing changes.”  For some reason, change has gotten a negative connotation rather than being perceived as the positive, necessary progression that it is.  

So, let’s start by putting some things in perspective.  When I started my banking career 35 years ago, life was a little different! Banks were just starting to incorporate computers into day to day banking. There weren’t any debit cards, ABMs, online banking or “tap and go” terminals.  Now we bank from home or on the go, you can pay with your phone, and you’ll never see someone write a cheque at the grocery store.  Change!

There were no laptops or cell phones…a computer that had the same capacity as your iPhone would have been the size of large board room.  There was no Google or Wikipedia…we had libraries and encyclopedias. We had video... but you carried the camera on your shoulder… not in your pocket.  There was no Facetime or Skype, if you wanted to see someone, you had to go visit them. There was no Facebook…if you posted something, it wasn’t immediately uploaded...it took 7-10 days provided it didn’t get lost in the mail.   Change!

There was no Spotify, iTunes or Google Play…we had Columbia House and AM/FM radio. There was no Twitter… we had CB radios and lots of twits, but no tweeters. There was no Instagram or Snapchat…we had Polaroids and 1-hour photo booths.  Change!

There were no emoji’s...the closest thing we had was a happy face drawn by a server on your receipt.  There was no Bluetooth...if you saw someone on the street and it looked like they were talking to themselves, you moved to the other side.  Change! 

The fact is time changes everything; sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly.   The market changes, your financial position improves, a new product is developed, you expand, you export, you import. 

Even the greatest man-made structures in the world require ongoing maintenance.  Nothing can be built to last forever.  Having your banking and merchant services agreements reviewed by an independent, experienced source with broad market knowledge is a positive change.  The ROI is well worth the effort. 

“The art is not in making money, but in keeping it.” -Proverb