Baltimore-based Provident Bank <provbank.com> with $4 billion on deposit from 590,000 accounts, is the largest U.S. bank to segment its online banking access into two levels, My Account Online and Premium Internet Banking with Bill Payment.

As the name suggests, the primary difference is bill payment. But also the premium version provides a combined statement whereas the basic version still requires separate logins for
each product. Premium also allows downloading into Quicken/Money (click on inset for an account comparison).

Basic online banking is free; premium is priced at $5.95/month, a popular price point in the days before bill payment became free. The bank encourages trial of the premium service with a generous 6-month fee-free period.

Analysis
It’s a good start, but it would be more effective if the premium version had more benefits such as extra service, more security, longer archives, and so on. The bank also needs to support the product better with website graphics, copywriting, and imagery that reinforces the premium image.

Reference: See OBR 109, for a report on online banking segmentation.

—JB