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Main / Retail Banking Strategies Weblog

To fund a study we’re conducting in our brokerage research, we recently attempted an online transfer of $5,000 from a Citibank account to a linked Charles Schwab account. We had done this before without any problem, and were surprised to note that Citibank recently reduced the daily limit for outgoing inter-institution transfers (IITs) from $5,000 to $2,000.

As we reported in this week's Bank Monitor Update (subscription required), Wells Fargo recently announced a new service that will allow customers to store electronic documents within their Wells Fargo online account. This new service, called vSafe, is supposed to allow customers to store "virtually any popular file format (e.g. Word documents, PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, photos, audio and video files)"; includes predefined folders such as "Medical", "Legal" and "Family" and customers can customize their own folders; and will allow customers to automatically upload their Wells Fargo bank statements.

When potential clients first visit a bank’s Web site, they are often presented with a myriad of choices regarding the types and styles of deposit accounts they might open with the firm. Indeed, if you look just at checking options Citibank has 6 types of accounts, JPMorgan Chase has 4 (not including student accounts), and Bank of America has five types of checking accounts. And this is just checking. If you include savings and CDs, the number of account options become overwhelming.

We received an email recently from PayPal inviting us to download their new plug-in, which streamlines the payment process at websites. However, this is not simply an auto-fill tool for forms like RoboForm. In fact, it allows you to use your PayPal account for purchases at any site that accepts MasterCard - even if the site you are purchasing from does not accept PayPal. This new Secure Card feature allows users to generate one-time MasterCard numbers for use in purchasing a product once, or a multiple-use number for repeat purchases at the same vendor.

She's baaaaack! Yes, it's everyone's favorite obnoxious British "woman"—Little Britain's Carol Beer, and she's up to more banking shenanigans.

It looks like marriage has taken another hit, it seems: This time at the hands of the banking industry. Well, somewhat. According to a study by Mintel conducted on behalf of the viewers of the BBC's Watchdog program, many in the U.K. are apathetic when it comes to seeking a new financial services provider versus opting out of a marriage, business partnership or employment.

It appears that banking will now become truly online thanks to a new service that CheckFree announced yesterday: Remote Deposit Capture. Essentially, this will allow retail customers who have a scanner and an Internet connection to deposit checks from their home without visiting the branch.

You may recall the hype that account aggregation produced several years ago when firms like Yodlee burst onto the scene. Banks and brokerages were quick to add these tools to their sites, fearing that if they didn’t, their competitors would. As fate would have it, these tools never really reached a tipping point among consumers. Why? Because most of the firms that used Yodlee or other screen-scraping technology never added any value to the aggregated data. Yodlee and the other aggregation vendors did their part in gathering the data, but there was always the question of "So what?" lurking in the background.

Happy New Year to all our readers. The holidays are over and some of us (including yours truly) are still trying to put things in order from the aftermath of having too many days off! But I think this week is when things will slowly settle down and everything will go back to the status quo.

But speaking of aftermath, I'd like to share with you a customer service disaster I experienced while traveling during the festive season.

By Michael Ellison - Corporate Insight

In the course of our weekly research of bank websites, we recently encountered a Chase Panel splash page when logging into our online account. The page announced that customers could join the Chase Panel, a forum designed to collect feedback from customers about Chase products and services through online studies and surveys.

While interviewing an executive from Bank of America for a mobile banking article, I learned of a new online banking function, the ability to transfer money from my account to that of another Bank of America customer.

Do you think your bank's Web site is the best out there? Well, now is your chance to gain some recognition for your online achievements.

Generation Y members and 22 million small business customers represent two huge untapped markets that banks can reach through online banking, according to a panel of experts and some bank customers during BAI’s Retail Delivery Show in Las Vegas on Nov. 15.

After an unsuccessful attempt to find a sandwich at lunch on Wednesday (Note to BAI: Next year, order more sandwiches), I wandered over to the large ballroom to hear Lynn Pike, president of Capital One, give a talk on innovation. Fine, a positive message like that could help take my mind off my hunger! And seeing the clips of the firm's well-known Visigoth TV ad campaign was good for a few laughs.

The cover story in this month's Bank Systems & Technology focusing on the nascent Web 2.0 movement among banks was very interesting. It is also interesting to note that in the broader retail financial services arena, one can argue that banks are actually taking the lead in this effort. Indeed, as we posted recently on the Wall Street & Technology blog, aside from a couple of firms dipping their toes in the Web 2.0 pool, we have seen little application of it from major brokerages.

There has been much discussion about online security for banks lately and generally it has centered around the obvious importance of keeping customer data secure. Aside from this fundamental need, there are ancillary benefits that accrue from successfully implementing such measures. Among them is the ability to provide enhanced customer service online, which not only can increase customer satisfaction, but reduce service costs as well.

I recently heard about a new approach to aggregation that a firm called Mint is taking. Essentially, it uses Yodlee's platform to aggregate users' credit card and banking balances and then analyzes the data to recommend other products and services to customers. It's an interesting approach, but one that ultimately relies on the consumer wanting to be sold to.

Welcome. My name is Mike Ellison and I am the EVP at Corporate Insight. We’re a firm that looks at the retail experience at a number of banking , mutual fund, and brokerage firms. From time to time, I’m going to be blogging on subjects related to retail banking - particularly the online customer experience. Much of what I will be talking about will come from our experiences in maintaining live accounts at the firms we follow in our research. When we uncover something I feel would generate some lively discussion, I’ll post it and hopefully you’ll chime in with your opinions.

For the October issue of Bank Systems & Technology, I wrote a piece on channel preferences and generational differences. The article cited a recent survey from the American Bankers Association that found that 37 percent of all consumers use the branch more often than any other channel, but the number jumps to 47 percent among the 55 and older set.

It happened with gasoline, it happens all the time with your cable bill and now it's happening (again) with ATM surcharges. Several major banks recently announced plans to increase the fees they charge non-customers when using their ATMs.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog titled, "Surprise! Kids Are Going to Bank in New Ways." I admit, the entry was a bit snarky and I was a little harsh on Celent's report, "The Millennials, Financial Services, and the Web."

It's just, as an almost Millennial, I wasn't thinking like a banker, or even a bank customer, who hasn't been using Internet banking, cell phones, or even ATMs, his or her whole life.

Banks should start up their own blogs, according to research compiled by Javelin Strategy. According to the research firm, 20 percent of all U.S. consumers read blogs and readership rises to 34 percent among the more affluent tech-wise surfers.*

By Nancy Feig

Consumer banking is the largest single area of technology-related spending in banking, according to Financial Insights. But how many banks are really getting the most for their money in retail banking? How many financial institutions are really gaining more consumer insight; building use of alternative channels; improving customer loyalty and retention; and ultimately increasing revenues and driving growth because of the investments they're making in retail and channel performance?

By Maria Bruno-Britz

I have always felt that a bit more automation on the account opening side at banks could go a long way. After my ordeal at a midsize, New York-based bank last weekend, I couldn’t feel more strongly about this idea.