After a solid decade ignoring the financial management features of online banking (see note 1), we now have two banks doing very interesting things melding transaction accounts with personal financial management.
Frost Bank is the latest visionary, launching its Momentum Account this week (press release). The account melds high-yield checking, goal-oriented savings, and financial management into one online offering. Unlike PNC Bank’s VirtualWallet, which is clearly aimed at the youth market (see previous coverage), Momentum goes directly to the online sweet spot, 30- and 40-somethings trying to manage their money in a more systematic way.
The account
Basically, it’s a fee-free, interest-bearing checking account with the usual freebies: debit card, online banking, bill pay. After the first three months, balances of $15,000+ earn 3% and those under $15,000 earn basically zero. However, the bank has added an interesting twist they call “DIY APY (see screenshot below). For every 10 monthly debit card transactions, they add 5 basis points to the interest rate, up to a maximum gain of 0.25% (for 50 debit card transactions).
That’s a piddling amount, earning about a buck a month (pre-tax) for someone with $25,000 in the account typically doing 10 to 19 debit card transactions monthly. Yet most consumers like the feeling of winning the rewards game, so it should be good for marketing and retention.
Like PNC’s VirtualWallet, online account opening is powered by Andera.
The innovations
Besides the DIY APY gimmick, the new account is noteworthy because it incorporates goal-oriented savings and transaction tracking into the interface. Users can allocate funds to one or more savings goals and set up automated transfers to the savings sub-accounts.
The interface also includes budget-categorization features using the folders metaphor. And the usual charting and graphing functions are available. Unfortunately, there is no online demo, so I could see only the features in the bank’s demo video.
Is it trendworthy?
I’m not ready to say that two examples make a trend, but given all the interest by investors and the press in online personal finance, I think this is the beginning of an interesting period in online finance product development.
Frost Bank homepage announces “DIY APY” (30 July 2008)
Note:
1. See Online Banking Report: Personal Finance Features for Online Banking for more information on the pros and cons of various personal finance features.