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Wells Fargo Pitching Wachovia’s Way2Save Account at Login

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 10, 2011
Categories: Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Login/logoff marketing, Wachovia, Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo generally does a good job with its login product pitches. I like how the bank provides a "Remind me later" and "No thanks" option next to "Apply Now."

However, in today’s pitch for the rebranded Wachovia Way2Save account (see old logo, inset), the bank seems to have forgotten an important part of consumer decision process: explaining what the account is. There is no Learn More button to be found on the ad or landing page.

I had to leave the app and search the Wells Fargo website to determine the rate and unique features of Way2Save (see note 1). The main benefit: users receive a 3% APY on the first $500 in the account for one year, provided they use one or these automated savings features:

$25+ per month or $1+ per day transferred from Wells Fargo checking (outside accounts not an option, except for initial account funding)
Automatic $1 transfer from WF checking to savings with every debit card purchase or pre-authorized debit

After one-year interest drops to the prevailing rate, currently just 5 basis points, 1/60th the premium rate.

Online application process: Choosing Apply Now on the interstitial drops users directly into the bank’s generic online app where’s it’s difficult to even confirm what you are applying for (see upper right corner of second screenshot).

Since I only have a Wells Fargo credit card, the bank offers me a $5/mo checking account, which is free if I have direct deposit or $1500 on deposit. But the checking account is not required. You can setup a standalone savings account, though it won’t qualify for the interest rate bonus or be able to use the automation tools.

On the final page users can fund the account with a transfer from a Wells or non-Wells deposit account or they can deposit up to $500 via credit or debit card.

Bottom line: Automatic savings are a win-win. And offering a $15 interest bonus is a good way to improve signups. But Wells needs to explain the offer better so that customers customers are motivated to complete the application.

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Wells Fargo interstitial login ad for Way2Save (10 Nov 2011)

Landing page, which is the first page of the online application (link)

Wells Fargo online application (page 2)
Note: The bank is still disclosing at $3 debit card usage fee

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Notes:
1. Way2Save was inherited from Wachovia (previous posts). Here’s the cached 6 Nov page from Google. The page now redirects to Wells Fargo savings.
2. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia in 2008.
2. For info on online account opening, deposit gathering and much more, see our subscription newsletter, Online Banking Report.

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CNNMoney Highlights Lendio and On Deck Capital

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 10, 2011
Categories: Lendio, On Deck Capital

Lendio was featured in CNNMoney this morning, where it was referred to as a, “small biz loan matchmaker.”

The article goes on to describe the headache that an Alabama small business had when trying to secure funding. After being turned down by a bank, the business turned to Lendio and was able to secure funding within a week through On Deck Capital.

The article also shares some stats on Lendio:

Loans range from $5,000 to $1 million
2010 revenue was $8.6
Since March it has received 3,000 loan requests
Loan approval rate is 50-70%

To learn more about Lendio, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

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DoughMain Launches Financial Education Game Sand Dollar City

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 10, 2011
Categories: DoughMain

Financial education company DoughMain announced the beta of Sand Dollar City, a multi-player virtual world where pre-teens (age 8 to 12) can learn about finance through game play:

“Players learn fundamentals of earning, saving, budgeting, spending, smart shopping, credit, and more as they attempt to upgrade their business and balance their purchases between the luxury clothing and furniture they want and the equipment they need to succeed.”

To learn more about what DoughMain has to offer, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

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Bill.com’s Paperless Bill Management Wins Silver Award

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 10, 2011
Categories: Bill.com

Yesterday, bill payment startup Bill.com announced that its paperless bill management innovation was named by the Best in Biz Awards as a silver award winner in the Small or Medium Business Product of the Year category:

“Simple to use, but extremely powerful, Bill.com’s product offering was selected as a Best in Biz frontrunner due to its keen ability to help SMBs

streamline their tedious bill pay and receivables processes”

The award winners are selected by industry analysts and members of the press to recognize leading products from small and medium-sized businesses from companies of all industries. To learn more about the awards, click here.

To learn more about Bill.com, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

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Finovate Alumni News– November 10, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 10, 2011
Categories: Bill.com, Clovr Media, DoughMain, Dwolla, FeeFighters, Lending Club, Lendio, Linkable Networks, Monitise, Offermatic, On Deck Capital, Simple, Striata, ThreatMetrix, Tyfone

FeeFighters shares its web traffic spikes from being in TechCrunch articles.

Monitise launches mobile checkout service.

Fox Business News mentions how Tyfone is helping to retrofit cellphones with NFC capability.

Reuters reports how Lending Club uses consumer sentiment towards banks as an opportunity.

Striata selected by Securitas, a growing security company in South Africa, to provide eBilling & ePayment to customers.

ThreatMetrix deploys multi-layered data encryption architecture in new release of Cloud-Based Fraud Prevention Platform.

Iowa-based UNI CU and W.Va-based WV United FCU sign on for Dwolla’s FiSync.

MyBankTracker compares Offermatic to Groupon and Womply.

Linkable Networks (formerly Clovr Media) partners with 24/7 Real Media to tap into card linked offers.

Wade Arnold, T8 Webware CEO, is selected for The Courier’s Class of 2011 20 Under 40 award.

ReadyForZero launches new blog.

Bill.com’s paperless bill management wins silver award.

Simple explains its new “Simple” name.

DoughMain launches financial education game Sand Dollar City.

CNNMoney highlights Lendio and On Deck Capital.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Capital One Driving Mobile Use with Sweepstakes

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 9, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Capital One, Credit/Debit Cards

Boosting mobile engagement has a promising ROI. Among other benefits, the potential $6+ saved per displaced call center inquiry can have a meaningful impact on the bottom line (note 1).

And while volumes are growing, Capital One says mobile usage is up 5-fold compared to last year, it’s still a lightly used channel compared to phone (voice) and online.

Yet, for a card issuer, mobile is THE most important channel for the NFC/Square/GoogleWallet future.

So it makes a ton of sense to pull out the stops now to get customers using the bank’s mobile app. Capital One in particular, as one of the last majors to get into the app store, likely has an awareness problem with mobile cardholders. Even if the CapOne native app was downloaded, it’s buried so deep on the iPhone’s screens, that users forget about it. In my case, it’s on screen number eight and I rarely see it even though I use my card almost every day.

To attract more mobile uptake, the card giant launched a usage sweeps today. Between now and Jan 6, each cardholder will get one sweepstakes entry every day they log in to the mobile app or mobile web (SMS activity does not appear to count). One person will win a 16GB Wifi iPad2 each day. And a grand prize of a Chevy Volt will be awarded at the end (full rules). The total prize package is $80,000, less than the cost of one 30-second spot on an about-to-be-cancelled sitcom.

The sweeps is being promoted with a small homepage link and a prominent mention on the main mobile banking page (see second screenshot below).

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Capital One mobile sweeps landing page (link, 9 Nov 2011)
Note: The call to action, text “power” to 80101, was not working in my test.
Update 10 Nov: Fixed

Main mobile banking page (link)

Notes:
1. Of course, you also have to put in place a mobile channel strategy that actually does displace call-center inquiries. That’s easier said than done. Also, financial institutions paying mobile vendors for each active user, may not want to boost mobile usage in this way.
2. Despite the name of our subscription newsletter, Online Banking Report, we cover mobile issues almost every month.

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Expensify Creates Four Pricing Plans

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 9, 2011
Categories: Expensify

Expensify, the expense reporting system that “doesn’t suck,” now supports 650,000 users across 90,000 organizations.

To accomodate their different needs, the company is now offering four service tiers:

Personal: For individuals who want to test out the app. Up to 10 free scans per month.
Professional: Intended for power users and contractors. Includes Freshbooks syncing capability and the ability to exceed 10 scans per month by purchasing them for 20 cents each.
Team: Provides the abilities to create and share expense policies and sync expenses with Quickbooks. This subscription costs $5 per submitter per month and 20 cents for extra scans.
Corporate: Adds a level of administrative control over employee accounts, enhances expense policies with customizable rules, and provides the ability to reimburse employees via direct deposit. This subscription costs $10 per submitter per month and 20 cents for extra scans.

Receipt scanning will be free until the end of the year.

To learn more about Expensify, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

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Billeo Launches ShopSmart To Bring Consumers Relevant Discounts

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 9, 2011
Categories: Billeo

Billeo, the registration and checkout assistant with 1.5 million users, launched a new app earlier today. This free app, called ShopSmart, brings consumers relevant discounts from over 1500 merchants and instantly alerts users of deals available from their loyalty or rewards programs.

For financial institutions:

“The app gives Billeo’s network of financial institution and program provider partners the ability reach, engage and incentivize iPad users during the holiday shopping season.”

In addition to alerting users of their rewards, it also serves as a platform to help them organize their daily deals and share them on Facebook.

To learn more about Billeo, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

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Finovate Alumni News– November 9, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 9, 2011
Categories: Billeo, Dwolla, eWise, Expensify, GoalMine, Intuit, Lendio, MiiCard, PayPal, Simple, Xero, Zecco

Read Write Web argues the mobile payments capital of the US is Des Moines, IA thanks to Dwolla.

Fox Business News reports GoalMine seeks to level the investing field.

PayPal updates its Android app with support for NFC payments.

eWise hires Alexandre Gonthier, former Boku CTO, as new CEO.

Lendio makes its business loan matching service free.

Finextra reports Intuit partners with AT&T to take on Square in the emerging mobile card processing market.

Xero updates its app: increases speed and improves UI.

Business Insider lists Dwolla and Simple as 2 of 20 most innovative startups in tech.

Billeo launches ShopSmart to bring consumers relevant discounts.

Zecco hosts $500 sweepstakes.

miiCard gives first 10,000 users free accounts for life.

Netbanker: Top 10 Reasons Why BankSimple Dropped the Bank.

Expensify creates four pricing plans.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Top 10 Reasons Why BankSimple Dropped the Bank

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 8, 2011
Categories: Simple

When I started my company in 1994, I was told by the state that I couldn’t have “bank” in the name unless I was one. So one of the first questions I asked BankSimple founder Josh Reich early last year was how they were getting past that issue. He said it was not a problem since BankSimple was just a brand name. The company name was, and still is, Simple Finance Technology Corp.

So evidently, the startup wasn’t forced to change. That got me to thinking about why they moved away from BankSimple, which is a great description of their initial product set. Here is what I came up with.

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Top 10 Reason for Changing the Name from BankSimple to Simple
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10. While it may be OK in the United States for a non-bank to use “bank” in a brand name, that may not be the case in other markets the startup hopes to eventually conquer

9. There’s been lots of bank bashing the last few years; so it avoids negative connotations

8. One word names are cooler than two-word mashups

7. It allows them to move into other less “bankish” areas such as payments and offers

6. It allows them to partner with credit unions, card companies, and other non-bank financial companies

5. Can add any other word to “simple” to create great product names, e.g., “Simple Billpay”

4. The generic word, beginning with S, is being used by the highest-valued fintech startup in the world, Square

3. Much easier to riff off of “simple” for killer taglines (see login screen above)

2. They don’t have to worry about anyone saying “occupy simple”

And the most important reason (drum roll):

1. Tweets can have 4 more characters (ba dump bump)

Yes, BankSimple made a good strategic move, though I’ll miss the old name, which had a nice oxymoron-ish quality to it.

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eToro Launches iOS Mobile App for On-The-Go Trading

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 8, 2011
Categories: eToro

eToro announced a non-native mobile app to trade currencies, commodities, and indices on their mobile devices:

“The Mobile Trading application is based on HTML5 that runs the eToro OpenBook™ social trading platform and its award winning CopyTrader™ functionality and supports IOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) and all Android mobile devices including tablets. eToro also provides a native Mobile Trader application for Android™ which was launched September of last year.”

Javier Paz, Senior Analyst at the Aite Group notes that the new app makes it easier for users to check their account performance, search for people to follow, and find a user to copy.

To learn more about eToro’s trading platform, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

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BankSimple Launches to the Public, Changes its Name to Simple

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 8, 2011
Categories: Simple

This morning, BankSimple made two big announcements.

1) It opened its service to a select group of non-employee customers for the first time:

“We want to understand what works for them and what can be improved. We also want to learn how our customers prefer to reach us so that we can intelligently grow our customer relations team. Using this feedback, we’ll rework and revise; the experience we’re launching today will continuously evolve.”

2) It changed its name to Simple

(Simple.com). This is a logical move because the word “bank” was a misnomer. In fact, Simple is not a bank, but a consumer-facing product that partners with chartered banks that hold your money in FDIC-insured products:

“Simple is a better representation of what we aspire to. It releases us from the constraints of an industry in desperate need of innovation.”

To learn more about Simple, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

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