Amber & Penny Arcade

I love Commerce Bank. They give you lollipop and novelty pens and bright red C-shaped banks and they're friendly and the whole time I used them (2001-2004) they never made any mistakes.

But what I love most of all is the Penny Arcade. I had been saving up change for quite a while and finally went last week. I did a bad job of guessing how much change I had. I guessed in the mid $7 range but it turns out I had $11.49, baby! (I used that to buy the loose Earl Grey tea that had been on my shopping list for over two weeks and still have like $6.49 left over! Plus: Jimmy brought me some Earl Grey from Porto Rico, so I got double the tea and $11.49, baby!)

Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves Penny. Fast Company raves about their customer service, and particularly Penny.

The Penny Arcade is more than a mere convenience[...]. The real appeal -- and the payoff -- is that it's fun. Kids want to use it. Pack rats need to use it. People waiting in line at the teller counter can't help but watch when someone steps up to the machine lugging a coffee can filled with coins.

In its own small way, the Penny Arcade transforms the bank into a more interesting and appealing place. And that, says Hill, is how you create traffic. Last year, Commerce's Penny Arcades handled 750,000 transactions, which totaled $71.7 million. Now that's real change.

Plus, if you guess how much you have right? You get a prize. I can't wait to have more change.