Blog |

Banking the Holidays: 2009 Edition

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 24, 2009
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, PNC Bank

It’s a bit of a holiday tradition at Netbanker (note 1), checking out the top-20 banks to see if they’ve upped their retail game during the year-end holiday period. Or at least pushed out a holiday greeting to visitors, such as Google’s greeting to Gmail users yesterday (inset).

It was pretty much business as usual at most large bank sites. The only top-10 bank with any major holiday message this week was PNC Bank, with its clever Christmas Price Index, which values the items listed in the 12 Days of Christmas song. The total this year: $21,500, up 1.8% over 2008 (press release).

PNC has calculated the price index for 26 years and displays a bar graph at their CPI microsite (below). It’s been online for a number of years; we first blogged about it in 2004.

This year, we surfed the 20 largest U.S. banks on Dec. 22 and Dec. 24 (screenshots are in the next post; note 2). On the first visit, we found six top-20 banks with a holiday mention on the homepage (rank in parenthesis). We took a tour again this morning expecting to find a few more holiday messages. There was only one newcomer, ING Direct, and surprisingly, three of the original six had pulled down their holiday ads already. In all only four top-20 banks have a holiday message today (24 Dec., 9 AM Pacific time).

December 22 December 24

5. PNC Bank 5. PNC Bank

13. TD Bank 15. Regions Bank

14. Citizens (RBS) 16. Fifth Third

15. Regions 17. ING Direct

16. Fifth Third

20. Harris Bank (BMO)

Luckily, an astute reader emailed yesterday to let us know that their bank was decked out in the holiday spirit, $2 billion (deposits) Union Bank and Trust (below) headquartered in Bowling Green, Virginia.

Union Bank & Trust (24 Dec. 2009)

Note:
1. Previous Netbanker December holiday-marketing posts (2007, 2006, 2006, 2004)
2. Rankings based on deposits on 31 Dec. 2008 (list here)

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Screenshots of Holiday Promotions at Top-20 US Banks

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 24, 2009
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, PNC Bank

Here are the screenshots that support our previous blog entry.

Holiday Promotions and Themes from Top-20 Banks

5. PNC Bank (22 Dec. 2009)

Landing page <pncchristmaspriceindex.com>
Note: According to Compete, received 25,000 unique visitors in Dec. 2008

13. TDBank (22 Dec.)
Note: The promotion was gone when we checked back today (24 Dec.)

Landing page

14. Citizens (RBS) (22 Dec.)
Note: The gift ad was gone when we checked back today (24 Dec.), but the free electronic calendar (to the left of the gift ad) was still running.

Landing page

15. Regions (22 Dec.)

16. Fifth Third Bank (22 Dec.)

17. ING Direct (24 Dec.)

20. Harris Bank (BMO)
Note: The points ad had been pulled down when we checked back this morning (24 Dec.)

Note:
1. Previous Netbanker December holiday-marketing posts (2007, 2006, 2006, 2004)
2. Rankings based on deposit on 31 Dec. 2008 (list here)

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Out of the Inbox: ING Direct’s Year-End Pitch for IRAs

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 22, 2009
Categories: Email Marketing, Email Samples, ING Direct, Retirement savings

This is one of the better times of year to market tax-deferred accounts. ING Direct targets consumers plotting New Year resolutions with this intriguing headline:

————————————————
Subject: Is an IRA on your “to do” list?
From: saver@ingdirect.com
Received: 22 Dec 2009, 5:07 PM Pacific
————————————————-

There’s not much to the message. No offer. No graphics. No tease. Just a solid message reiterating the potential tax benefits and emphasizing ING Direct’s no-fee options.

Grade: B+

Email screenshot
Note: This message was sent to an existing customer with a savings account and Sharebuilder account, but no IRA.

Landing page (link)
Note: Landing page URL is <retirement.ingdirect.com>

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Little Things Matter: Holiday Hours at the Top of Mercantile Bank of Michigan’s Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 22, 2009
Categories: Mercantile Bank of MI, Website Usability & Design

Every year at this time, I poke around the financial Web looking for holiday themes. While Mercantile Bank of Michigan hasn’t posted a virtual Santa snow globe, it’s done something more useful: posted holiday hours on the top of its homepage. The bank should also note its telephone and online support hours, if different.

Mercantile Bank of Michigan homepage (22 Dec. 2009, 2 PM Pacific)

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Out of the Inbox: Costco Email Gives PayPal’s Bill Me Later Top Billing

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 21, 2009
Categories: Alt Payments, Email Samples, PayPal

I rarely open emails from retailers, especially around the holidays. As someone who has checked the “send me offers” box on registration forms for a decade, I’m inundated. But every once in a while I check out the Costco email to see what outrageous deals they are offering and, more importantly, whether any financial services are being showcased. For example, in March we wrote about the $90 Sharebuilder promo from Costco.

Last Friday, the big-box giant did not disappoint. It had two financial offers above the fold:

Extended-payment option: A surprisingly large and prominent pitch for PayPal’s extended-payment program, Bill Me Later (see inset and upper-right corner in screenshot below). The BML option allows Costco customers to defer payment for an unspecified amount of time interest-free if paid in full by the due date (typically a few months out), or to pay the amount back over time at an 18.99% APR.
Costco cash cards: While it’s no surprise that the retailer is pitching store cards 7 days out from Christmas Day (see landing page below), I was surprised they weren’t merchandising them more aggressively. The problem was that even with rush delivery, the plastic card wasn’t guaranteed to arrive before Christmas, so it wasn’t a great gift option. The retailer could use an online giftcard option for instant delivery.

Costco holiday email (Friday, 18 Dec. 2009)

Bill Me Later landing page (link)

Costco prepaid card landing page (link)

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Welcome to IntelliResponse, a new NetBanker.com Sponsor

By Eric Mattson Posted on December 21, 2009
Categories: About Netbanker, IntelliResponse

We’re pleased to welcome IntelliResponse as a new sponsor of NetBanker.

IntelliResponse is, in their own words, “the Instant Answer Agent.”

Their technology enables companies “to quickly and effectively address their customers’
questions with ‘One Right Answer’ across a wide variety of interaction
channels, including corporate web sites, agent desktops, social media
platforms and mobile devices.”

IntelliResponse is offering a free white paper on mobile self-service and how it can help your business. Definitely worth a download.

Thanks! And happy holidays! Now back to our usual blogging.

Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Stanford Federal Credit Union Readies Launch of Geezeo-Powered MyMo PFM

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 18, 2009
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Geezeo, Personal Financial Management

It looks like we are just days away from the launch of the first Geezeo-powered private-branded online PFM. Fifty-thousand-member Stanford Federal Credit Union, one of the first financial institutions in the world to offer Internet banking in the mid-90s, has been promoting the soon-to-be-launched personal financial manager for several months.

The service, called MyMo is currently in final testing with SFCU employees. It will run both online (screenshot 1 and 2, below) and through a mobile app (inset).

MyMo has been the lead story in the CU’s in-house newsletter for two months running (see screenshots 3 and 4). In November, the service was said to coming “this month.” Then in December, it hedged with a “coming soon” message. There’s still no specific info on when MyMo will launch, but there’s a promotion running on the middle of the SFCU’s homepage and Facebook page (see screenshots below), so it must be soon (note 1).

The future: While private-branded online PFM is not new, Bank of America has several million users of its Yodlee-powered solution, the concept appears to be gaining momentum. Intuit/Digital Insight are now powering hundred of FIs while Wesabe and Jwaala have also made in-roads into the CU world. We’ll see lots of innovation in this area in the coming decade (see note 2).

1. MyMo desktop: Dashboard view (link)

2. MyMo desktop: Add a goal

3. SFCU’s November 2009 newsletter (link)

4. SFCU’s December 2009 newsletter (link)

5. SFCU homepage (17 Dec. 2009)

6. SFCU Facebook page (link)

Notes:
1. While I think it makes sense to run a teaser campaign for a new product, SFCU should provide more detail on when the service will launch and why it’s been delayed. Members want the service to be fully tested, so they won’t mind waiting a bit longer as long as the CU is upfront with them about the timing.
2. For more information on the PFM space, see our Online Banking Report on Personal Finance Features.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Blippy: Do We Really Want to Automatically Tweet our Purchase Transactions?

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 16, 2009
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Facebook, Launches, Personal Financial Management, Twitter

I love startups. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, along comes someone doing something that no one would have ever thought of five years ago, or in this case one year ago.

The latest inspiration: Blippy. The service allows you to automatically broadcast your credit or debit card purchases using the Twitter/Facebook model (see screenshot below; note 1).

The first question everyone asks is why? (see comments at TechCrunch) But really, it’s not much different than broadcasting personal details via Twitter or your whereabouts via Foursquare, especially if you limit viewing to friends. The founder, serial entrepreneur, Philip Kaplan explains in the TechCrunch interview, that he has one credit card for “social purchases” broadcast on Blippy and another for purchases he prefers to keep private.

Blippy will contain privacy controls that allow users to share everything or keep it within a closed loop of friends. The company also envisions many other privacy controls to turn the service off and on, allow users to approve transactions before publishing, suppress certain merchants, or merchant categories, and so on.

The use cases shown so far are centered around media purchases, for example using it to automatically tweet (blip?) what song or movie you bought on iTunes or social “check ins” where the service lets people know you just bought coffee at Starbucks. But I can see where it would be helpful for spouses to “broadcast” purchases only to each other. Or for a salesperson to broadcast their purchases to their assistant to build expense reports on the fly.

The service is in closed alpha (only in use by a handful of friends and family, note 2) as the three-person company gears up for a launch. You can follow Kaplan on Twitter (@pud) for more info.

My take: I like the idea of easily sharing purchases with joint-account holders or a bookkeeper. But many (most?) online banking systems and PFMs already allow this through the alerts system. You may want to boost education efforts on this capability.

As for Tweeting about songs downloaded via iTunes, wouldn’t most users prefer to maintain more control over that by simply using Twitter or Facebook to directly type a short note? But we know from experience, if there’s a way to do something with less effort, it stands a good chance of succeeding.

I’m not expecting widespread adoption any time soon, but I think there is a market for sharing spending transactions.

Here’s something for innovative FIs to consider: Add a “share this” button next to credit/debit card transaction and let users send the info via email, Twitter or Facebook with a couple keystrokes (see inset from FiLife).

I know it sounds far-fetched, but it might be just the thing to make your card stand out with heavy users of social media.

Blippy homepage showing spending stream (16 Dec. 2009)

Note:
1. For more info in Twitter, see our Online Banking Report on the technology published in May.
2. Twitter’s Evan Williams is using Blippy as shown in screenshot taken by CNET’s Rafe Needleman in his article earlier this week.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Thanks to our NetBanker December 2009 Sponsors

By Eric Mattson Posted on December 16, 2009
Categories: About Netbanker

We’re very lucky to have the support of some great companies that help us keep NetBanker a high-quality and free resource to you and the rest of the fintech community.

Please support our sponsors (listed below in alphabetical order) so that they continue to support NetBanker:

Digital Insight, an Intuit company — Showcasing their FinanceWorks (Online Banking + Quicken) solution. Check out a free recording of their recent webinar.

New Sponsor! IntelliResponse — Get a complimentary whitepaper on how self-service via the mobile channel can improve your customer service and benefit your business.

New Sponsor! Wesabe — Promoting introductory pricing on their new Springboard product — a white-label version of their personal finance capabilities and community for financial institutions. Take a look!

Worklight — Check out this new demo of how Worklight helps businesses securely engage their customers via widgets, social networks, iPhone apps and other consumer tools.

Yodlee — Download a new free whitepaper from Yodlee on “The Fast-Changing Market of PFM: What Consumers Really Want, And Why Banks Can’t Afford to Wait.”

Now, back to the regularly scheduled blogging.

P.S. If you’d like to join these companies in supporting NetBanker, please drop me an email at eric@netbanker.com.

Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

New Online Banking Report Published: Making the Case for Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 15, 2009
Categories: Alt Payments, Online Banking Report, P2P Payments, PayPal

We just published the latest Online Banking Report:

Making the Case for Person-to-Person Payments
Does mobility provide the tipping point for bank-branded P2P?

Author: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder
Published: 10 Dec. 2009
Size: 40 pages, 10,000 words
Author: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder
Cost: For OBR subscribers: $0, all others US$495
Abstract/Table of Contents: Here (PDF)
Download or purchase: Here

Background:
If you’ve been around the industry a while, you probably remember the last time there was a lot of hype around person-to-person (P2P) payments. It was ten years ago and PayPal had just launched and was competing with three well-funded efforts from large banks: Wells Fargo, Bank One (now Chase) and Citibank.

The battlefield at the time was eBay, which desperately needed a trusted payment mechanism, to remove the friction from person-to-person commerce. Well, PayPal won that battle, taking out all three bank competitors and becoming the payment standard at eBay.

But the incumbent banks and credit unions have not lost the war, yet. They still own the customer payments relationship. And even though more than 70% of U.S. online shoppers already have a PayPal account, there are millions of customers that still want an easy way to transfer money to family members, friends, or acquaintances. And increasingly, they will want to send the money via their mobile phone.

While PayPal can handle that type of transaction, it’s not necessarily top of mind with consumers when considering how to send $65 to their sister to pay their share of mom’s birthday party.

This is something PayPal recognizes, so they are actively pursuing bank partners to offer co-branded Powered by PayPal P2P payment services. Just last month, PayPal announced deals with S1, FIS, and First Data to make PayPal solutions available to their thousands of clients. The first S1 client to publicly announce the program is Mercantile Bank of Michigan, which is already telling customers about its Q1 2010 launch of PayPal-powered mobile payments (see previous post).

About the report: Published last week, the latest Online Banking Report includes:

An overview of the product and market size
Analysis of features and benefits
A look at potential revenue streams
Forecast for online and mobile P2P payment usage (United States only)
Review of the offerings from key solutions providers and financial institutions, including the latest launch from Univest National Bank & Trust, which just launched a home-grown P2P payments service (see screenshot below)
Project priority guidance for various types of financial institutions

Companied mentioned: Amazon Payments, American Express, Bank of America, Bank One (Chase), BECU, CashEdge POPmoney, CircleUp SmartPay, First Hawaiian Bank, Fiserv, Geauga Credit Union, ING Direct, iPay Technologies, MasterCard MoneySend, Mercantile Bank of Michigan, Mobile Money Ventures, mPayy, MoneyGram, Obopay, Nokia Money, Patelco Credit Union, PayPal, Revolution Money, TwitPay, Univest Bank & Trust, US Bank, Wells Fargo, Western Union

Univest’s new P2P service featured on its homepage (15 Dec 2009)

Note: The report will be mailed to subscribers later this week.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Sneak Peek at Mercantile Bank’s Powered-by-PayPal Mobile P2P Payments

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 11, 2009
Categories: Alt Payments, Mercantile Bank of MI, Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, P2P Payments, PayPal, S1

Mercantile Bank of Michigan is riding the wave of free publicity from being first to market (probably) with iPhone-based P2P payments powered by PayPal. That’s a triple play in both alliteration and PR value. See the teaser ad on the bank’s website below (first screenshot).

The new service, a joint effort from PayPal and S1, is expected to go live in early 2010. It will allow customers to send money directly from their iPhone to any other individual on the worldwide PayPal network. All the sender must know is the recipient’s mobile phone number or email address. According to the five-question FAQ on the landing page (see second screenshot), the service will be available to all MercMobile customers and will be free of charge.

Mercantile Bank has become one of the most innovative banks we follow. Congratulations to CIO John Schulte and his team for leading the industry on several fronts and providing great material for Netbanker (previous posts here; note 1).

————

For more on the P2P payments market, see our latest Online Banking Report, published earlier this week, Making the Case for Person-to-Person Payments.

Mercantile Bank’s powered-by-PayPal mobile P2P app (7 Dec. 2009):

Mercantile Bank of Michigan homepage (8 Dec. 2009):
Note: MercMobile P2P Payment teaser in lower left and home-based remote-deposit capture on the top banner.

P2P payments landing page (link)

Note:
1. Mercantile even earns its very own category at Netbanker: <netbanker.com/mercantile_bank_of_mi>.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Welcome to Wesabe, a new NetBanker.com Sponsor

By Eric Mattson Posted on December 11, 2009
Categories: About Netbanker, Wesabe

We’re pleased to welcome Wesabe as a new sponsor of NetBanker.

Wesabe is, in their own words, “a community of real people dealing with real money issues.”

They describe themselves as building “easy-to-use, Web-based software” that “gives members a better
understanding of how they spend money” plus the “Wesabe community shares tips
and advice to help each other make better financial decisions.”

Wesabe is currently promoting introductory pricing on their new Wesabe Springboard product which is “designed specifically for
banks and credit unions that want to add personal finance
management (PFM) tools to their online
banking sites.” It includes features like online signup, instant availability, and easy integration.

Please consider checking out Wesabe Springboard if you’re interested (you can also watch their demo video of it from the spring 2009 Finovate conference here).

Thanks! Now back to our usual blogging.

Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

December 22	December 24
5. PNC Bank	5. PNC Bank
13. TD Bank	15. Regions Bank
14. Citizens (RBS)	16. Fifth Third
15. Regions	17. ING Direct
16. Fifth Third
20. Harris Bank (BMO)