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Design: Bank of Internet Puts "Request More Info" on New Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 6, 2011
Categories: Sales Techniques, Website Usability & Design

Citibank wasn’t the only one with a new homepage this week. Bank of Internet also launched a new look today.

It’s more traditional than Citibank’s, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s more copy, but it’s still pleasing to look at it, easy to navigate, and focuses attention on two core products:

1.25% APY rewards checking
4.10% APR mortgage refinance

I like the bank’s new Request More Information box in the lower left corner. It allows visitors to quickly request more info on the following three topics simply by typing in their email address.

Deposit accounts
Mortgage loans
Multi-family loans

Bottom line: While most financial institutions invite visitors to call, few make it easy to leave your email address for a future discussion. I’m not sure how many people will see this box tucked away in small type below the fold. But with a little more emphasis, it could be an effective sales tool.

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New Bank of Internet homepage (6 Oct 2011)

After submitting an info request the box changes to a thank-you message

Previous homepage (2 March 2011; Source: Internet Archive)

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Credit Karma’s New Feature Graphically Compares Credit Card Clientele

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 6, 2011
Categories: Credit Karma

Using data collected from 5+ million credit cards it tracks, Credit Karma recently released a new feature called Credit Card Statistics. It can be used by consumers, or banks, to compare the customer attributes of various cards or card issuers.

The following portfolio metrics are available:

Credit-score distribution (see example below)
Average credit-limit distribution
Average balance distribution
Credit limit-utilized distribution
Age-of-cardholder distribution

It also provides a Yelp-like platform where clients can write and read reviews about the credit card.

To learn more about Credit Karma, watch its FinovateStartup 2009 demo.

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Dynamics Announces Multiple Agreements with Card Issuers

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 6, 2011
Categories: Dynamics

Yesterday, Dynamics announced multiple volume agreements with undisclosed card issuers to implement its next generation payment-cards technology such as:

MultiAccount
Hidden
Redemption
Dynamic Credit Card

Dynamics CEO Jeff Mullen states:

“This step is an important milestone for Dynamics. Card issuers have acknowledged the importance of our technology to empower customers with choice at the point of sale. Dynamics is very pleased with the growing roster of leading issuers that have endorsed and adopted our next-generation magnetic stripe technology.”

Initial orders have already exceeded 1 million units. To meet this demand, production will begin immediately and scale through 2012.

To learn more about Dynamics, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

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Finovate Alumni News– October 6, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 6, 2011
Categories: BillGuard, Credit Karma, Dwolla, HelloWallet, Kashoo, Offermatic, Simple, TILE Financial, Xero, Zecco

Netbanker highlights BillGuard’s monthly credit/debit card scan report.

Offermatic unveils OfferMatch, a pay-for-performance marketing channel that brings customers.

NBC Chicago names Ben Milne, Dwolla CEO, as a person to watch during Ideas Week.

WealthTouch partners with TILE Financial to create portfolio-reporting offerings for high net worth young adults.

Wall Street and Technology lists Zecco as 1 of 6 brokerages leading the way in social media.

New York Times blog reports BankSimple to go live on the Web next month.

HelloWallet announces its fall webinar series.

Business Daily Africa compares Xero and Kashoo accounting services with QuickBooks.

Credit Karma’s new feature graphically compares credit card clientele.

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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BillGuard’s Monthly Credit/Debit Card Scan Report

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 5, 2011
Categories: Credit/Debit Cards, Fee Income, Security & Privacy

We’ve been impressed with BillGuard since we first learned about it earlier this year. And they wowed the crowd at Finovate two weeks ago with a great demo, dynamic presentation and more importantly, a product that resonates with consumers across many demographic segments.

One great thing about becoming a trusted consumer watchdog, like identity theft monitoring services, is that your monthly emails are actually read by customers. And unlike FICO scores which usually don’t fluctuate that much month-over-month, there’s usually something new to look at when BillGuard scans a month’s worth of card transactions looking for oddities.

For example, my scan for September across two credit card accounts showed the following activity (see first screenshot below):

Green: 61 transactions that were identifiable as "normal" activity
Orange: 2 transactions that were "unknown"
Red: None were flagged red indicating suspected fraud

Clicking through to the website, I can mark legitimate transaction "OK" and that information is fed back to the network and disseminated to other via the Merchant Transaction Reliability score (see second screenshot).

Bottom line: This is the kind of value-added service that FIs could bundle with other products, even a debit card for example, that could help justify a monthly fee. $5 perhaps?
(Note: BillGuard is currently offering free of charge to expand the customer base.)

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1. BillGuard emails a monthly Scan Report to customers (4 Oct 2011)

2. At the BillGuard website, each merchant’s score across all users is tracked
Note: Apparently, 17 BillGuard customers are using Quickbooks Online and none have flagged the transaction (which makes sense)

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Lendio’s Partnership With Prosper Will Facilitate Small Business Funding

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 5, 2011
Categories: Lendio, Prosper

Earlier today, Salt Lake City-based Lendio announced a partnership with Prosper. Lendio CEO Brock Blake cites:

“In the short period of our partnership, about 80 Lendio

clients have been approved to list through Prosper, resulting

in excess of $1,000,000 in potential loans.”

Through this partnership, Lendio and Prosper hope that they will enable more small businesses to secure funding through loans.

To learn more about Lendio and Prosper, watch Lendio’s FinovateSpring 2011 demo and Prosper’s FinovateStartup 2008 demo.

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Finovate Alumni News– October 5, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 5, 2011
Categories: Clovr Media, mShift, PayPal, ProfitStars, Simple, Wonga, Zopa

The Future of Media blog refers to CLOVR Media as a disrupter in the industry.

Mindful Money lists Zopa as an alternative to receiving bank funding.

Josh Reich, CEO of BankSimple, speaks up on why he thinks traditional banks suck.

ProfitStars introduces Gladiator Enterprise Security Monitoring Module for NetTeller online banking clients.

Wonga CEO named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for eCommerce, UK.

CU Times reports MShift helps Alaska CU provide iPhone and Android Apps to its customers.

PayPal to Open a brick-and-mortar pop-up store in Manhattan.

edo Interactive is awarded DMA Innovation Award.

Lendio’s partnership with Prosper will facilitate small business funding.

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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edo Interactive Awarded DMA Innovation Award

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 5, 2011
Categories: edo Interactive

Earlier this week, Nashville-based edo Interactive was presented with two awards from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) for its Prewards Performance Marketing Platform:

Early Stage winner
Innovation Award winner in the Real Time and Trigger Marketing category

The purpose of the DMA awards is to recognize the innovative advances being made in marketing technology.

To learn more about edo Interactive, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo video.

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PayPal To Open A Brick-And-Mortar Pop-up Store in Manhattan

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 5, 2011
Categories: PayPal

Today, TechCrunch reported that PayPal is opening a brick-and-mortar pop-up store in downtown Manhattan to showcase its new tools and technology:

“The space will be located at 174 Hudson, which is located in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. Over the next three and a half months, PayPal will be inviting merchants to visit the space where they will have the opportunity to get real-time demos of the technologies in realistic point-of-sale scenarios.”

The store is set to open November 1 of this year.

To learn more about PayPal, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo video.

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Finovate Alumni News– October 4, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 4, 2011
Categories: Cartera Commerce, Equifax, findabetterbank.com, HelloWallet, Lending Club, Lighter Capital, Offermatic, T8 Webware

Mountain Top Financial Services reviews Lending Club.

Bank Innovation discusses how Cartera Commerce and Offermatic are changing the daily deals space.

Equifax purchases Charleston-based e-Thority software company.

Lighter Capital searches for a company to fund that makes or sells sweet things.

San Francisco ABC 7 recommends findabetterbank.com in order to avoid bank fees.

T8 Webware CEO Wade Arnold discusses Grip on the Silicon Prairie’s PrairieCast.

The Washington Post profiles HelloWallet.

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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Design: Citibank Remodels Main Consumer Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 3, 2011
Categories: Citibank, Website Usability & Design

The folks in charge of Citibank’s website are sure brave. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this dramatic of a change overnight in a major banking website (see before and after screenshots below). The bank rolled out the new site Sunday night and it seems to be running smoothly today.

My first impression is positive. Banking websites tend to be too cluttered. So they either overwhelm prospective customers or cause existing customers to tune the whole thing out. This seems like a step in the right direction, but only the company’s web analytics team knows for sure. I’m sure it’s been an interesting Monday for everyone involved.

The bank moved the majority of the previous homepage links (see last screenshot) into drop-down "mega menus" that are only displayed when clicking on one of the seven primary navigation items at the top of the page (see second screenshot). The drop-downs only appear after an actual click, so the don’t cover up the page when you accidently hover over them with the mouse.

While the new site is clearly less busy overall, the bank has actually added two new items on the main (top) navigation bar:

Rewards & Offers: Highlights the bank’s ThankYou rewards program, AAdvantage co-branded card, and other programs. Given the bank’s emphasis on rewards, this is a good addition.
Services: This is a catchall leading to sections on online banking, mobile banking, and unusual features such as PopMoney p2p payments. Most items are repeated in the main Banking navigation item. While it seems redundant from a navigation perspective, perhaps it’s a marketing tool for prospects looking for "banking services."

The new site renders nicely on an iPhone, displaying the login box, then navigation items in a vertical format (see inset). I’m not sure if this is a change from the previous site. Note the banner ad at the top promoting the bank’s @AskCiti Twitter site.

There are also numerous changes in the online banking area, notably the addition of PFM features powered by Yodlee’s FinApp development platform. I’ll look at those in a future post.

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1. New: 3 Oct 2011
Note: The main graphic, a young woman feigning delight over a bag of gift cards from Citi, is the same in both the before and after shots. But the new version is a mirror image of the old.

2. New design with Banking "mega menu" displayed over graphic

3. Previous: 30 Sep 2011 (from Google cache)
Note: The yellow highlights are on Google’s cached copy only, they would not have appeared on the actual Citi website.

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CashStar Announces Its MobileGiftReward Mobile App

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 3, 2011
Categories: CashStar

CashStar announced its plans to roll out a mobile app called MobileGiftReward early next year that will be piloted by undisclosed financial institutions. The app will allow consumers to use unredeemed rewards points held by banks. The goal of this app is to remove the hassle from converting rewards points into usable items:

“With the app… users can convert unused rewards points into gift cards usable at CashStar client merchants.”

The merchants include The Gap, Starbucks, Home Depot, and many others. Here’s how it works:

“Users can choose the brand they want. The app then generates a bar code that can be scanned at any of that brand’s stores. In cases where the merchant doesn’t have a scanner at checkout, the clerk can key in a 16-digit number that appears with the bar code.”

CashStar demonstrated this app at FinovateFall 2011 last month in New York. A full-length demo will be posted within the next two weeks.

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