PNC Virtual Wallet Redefines the Online Banking User Experience

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Best of the Web, Personal Financial Management, PNC Bank, Website Usability & Design

image I have been using my new PNC Virtual Wallet account for a week now (previous coverage of the application process). The account takes a novel approach to core online banking and money management. Honestly, the user experience is so different, I’m still digesting it.

I think I love it, but I want to make sure it’s not just the novelty I’m attracted to. And that it really makes sense for users to interact with their bank accounts this way. I cover the PFM/OFM features in the most recent Online Banking Report and will publish a complete analysis in the future. But <spoiler alert>, I’ll reveal the account’s secret now.

Calendar view.

PNC did not invent the calendar approach to tracking finances. Most of the OFM/PFMs and online banking platforms we’ve had on stage in Finovate during the past three years, eg. Mint, Fiserv, Metavante, Intuit and others, have it. 

But Virtual Wallet (VW) defaults to calendar view. And they don’t let you change that. If you are a VW user, you will be managing your finances in calendar-flow mode. The designers took a risk here, but I think it pays off. They are targeting younger users, who have not grown up viewing reverse-chronological transaction lists, so why not train them from the get-go in how to manage the past, present, and future on a single page.

The first time you log in, the software asks when you get paid so it can add those happy events to your cash-flow calendar. Then as soon as you start making transactions they show up on the calendar along with your current balance in a blue bar at the top of each date (see screenshot below). Also, future events such as bill payments, are shown on the appropriate day to keep you from overdrawing your account.

It’s a good way to see what’s happening. But it also seems like a little more work. Like I said, I’m still evaluating the user experience tradeoffs here.

image

The Pig
image As much as I enjoy exploring the big-picture ramifications of this new user experience, the real reason I finally opened a VW account is for the pig. Maybe it’s the Iowa boy in me, but I’m a sucker for pigs.

VW has a cute feature, admittedly aimed at somewhat younger customer than your typical banking industry analyst, that allows you to make a checking-to-savings transfer by punching the pig graphic at the top of the screen (note 2). And the oinking sound, followed by a the cash register, kaching, punctuates the transfer perfectly.

But it was a little annoying to have to confirm each punch with a popup window asking if I really did want to send $1 to my savings account (see note 1). How about just building an undo button to protect those who get a little carried away clicking that little oinker (see the pig in the upper right in screenshot).  

Notes: 
1. Users can change the default transfer amount so that punches are equal to more than $1. 
2. Users can customize the look and sounds their pig makes. I switched mine to an orange flame motif, which I’m not sure my farming ancestors would approve of.
3. We awarded PNC’s Virtual Wallet with an OBR Best of the Web in our recap of the most important innovations of 2008 (OBR here).
4. For more on adding appropriate online financial management (OFM) features to your online banking offering, see our latest OBR published just yesterday: Online Financial Management 3.0.

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Wells Fargo Bank Offers $25,000 to Go to Paperless Statements

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Electronic Statements, Login/logoff marketing, Wells Fargo

image Full disclosure: I’ve always liked sweepstakes. Even though I’m a Diet Coke addict fan, I’ll gladly grab a different cola if it has an “instant win” cap. It’s like a free lottery ticket.

So when banks try to save a few coins switching customers over to estatements, I think it’s the perfect time to give some of it back in the form of a sweepstakes. You’ve created a little excitement in online banking and likely made it all back with a lift to the estatement response rate. ING Direct, Chase and many others have taken this approach in the past (previous coverage).

Wells Fargo’s current sweeps is pretty straightforward (link to details). For every account switched to paperless statements, customers get one entry in the sweepstakes. Ten customers will win $2500 each and one will get $25,000. A relatively small, but effective $50,000 prize pool.

The contest runs from April 12 through June 4.

Login splash screen (interstitial) (19 May 2010)

image

Landing page after choosing “Switch now” above
Note: Link to View Samples (see below)

image

Sample statement (click to enlarge)

image

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Many Thanks to our May 2010 NetBanker.com Sponsors

By Eric Mattson Posted on
Categories: About Netbanker

We’d like to take a moment to pause in our usual blogging to express our gratitude to the sponsors that help keep NetBanker free and high-quality.

In the last few weeks, we’ve been happy to welcome Intuit, MyBankTracker and Strands as new sponsors. Guardian Analytics and Murphy & Company are taking a short break in their sponsorship but will be back later this year.

And, of course, we are very thankful for the support of our long-term sponsors IntelliResponse, WorkLight and Yodlee.

Please consider supporting all our sponsors (listed below in alphabetical order) so they can continue to support us:

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

  • Intuit — Intuit is promoting their FinanceWorks platform. They’ve got a number of on-demand webinars that are worth checking out. 

  • Guardian Analytics — Giving away a free copy of the new 2010 Business Banking Trust Study they conducted in partnership with the Ponemon Institute. The research examines the challenges of fraud and its effects on business banking relationships. Grab a copy today!

  • Murphy & Company — Promoting a new series of tools to help financial institutions comply with the recent changes to Regulation E that require “opt-in” consent from consumers before charging overdraft fees on certain transactions. Check ’em out! 

  • MyBankTracker — MBT is a new financial community built by avid fans of the banking world. Check out how they’re innovating at MyBankTracker.com. 

  • Strands — Promoting the white-label version of their PFM platform, which recently won a Webby award. They’re offering a video tour and a case study of their implementation for BBVA, Tú Cuentas, that attracted 250,000 online banking users in 4 months.

  • WorkLight — Watch a free recording of their recent 1-hour webinar on “Widget Banking” that addressed the “5 Questions You Should Answer Before Launching Widget Banking.” Or simply head over to their website for more info on their complete offering.

  • Yodlee — Sign up today for Yodlee’s latest webinar (Thursday, June 10 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT) on Online Account Opening and how to drive more ROI from it.

Thanks for taking a moment to check out our sponsors. Please let us know if you ever have any feedback on these companies or our blogging. Speak of which — back to it!

P.S. If you want to join these companies in supporting NetBanker, please drop me an email at eric@netbanker.com.We’ve almost sold out of advertising space for 2010 and will soon open the doors for 2011 space.

ericphoto.jpgEric 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.

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What is Bank Simple?

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Alt Payments, Bank 2.0, Launches, Twitter, Website Usability & Design

image There’s a new “banking entity” in formation, Brooklyn, NY-based Bank Simple operating (temporarily I assume) at the .net version of its name <banksimple.net>. I chatted with the founders, Josh Reich and Shamir Karkal earlier this year and am anxiously awaiting more info on the launch.

From reading its trademark application, website, and blog, I have a feeling Bank Simple will launch as a banking front-end (eg. Mint, Obopay), and not as an actual bank. Given the market’s (and Washington’s) appetite for startup banks right now, they may have little choice. But who knows where they go from there. It sounds like they want tight control over the user experience, so they may eventually need to be a bank.

But from their FAQs and a few tidbits found through deep Googling, it sounds like Bank Simple will be much more than web-based software. Initially, it is launching a card-based service with combined debit/credit and rewards built in (de-coupled debit again?). Here’s what they say in the About section:

We will launch later this year with a simple card with in built checking, savings, rewards and a line of credit. As we add more competitive banking services, you can personalize your features as your needs change.

Bank Simple talks about customer service (answering the phone), taking deposits by mail (and this is a rumor, by mobile remote deposit) and other traditional banking activities. So that is much more than an online PFM (can we agree to call that OFM?).

They made the tech press this week when they added a new co-founder, Alex Payne, one of early engineers at Twitter. So expect streaming information, ala Blippy and Swipely, and social networking to be a crucial part of the mix.

The startup is looking for summer marketing interns, but there are no permanent jobs posted, another reason to believe they will not be operating a full-blown bank in the near term.

It sounds like a good plan. Marry the utility of PayPal with user experience of ING Direct. Throw in a little Mint-like design and some Twitter hype, and it’s a VC’s dream. 

Bank Simple’s pre-launch placeholder homepage (18 May 2010)
Note: Site is in closed beta, request an invitation through the “join” button

image

Note: In Online Banking Report, we have written about creating a virtual bank, sans the charter, several times in the past 15 years. The most recent full report was in Oct. 2000, Creating the Amazon.com of Financial Services. But we updated the tables (now called Creating the Facebook of Financial Services) last year in our 2010 Planning Guide.

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Logout Marketing: PayPal’s 20-Word “Bill Me Later” Sales Pitch

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Login/logoff marketing, PayPal

image Although it usually takes me 40 pages or more to get my points across in Online Banking Report, I am a strong believer in succinct online copy. I especially love online pitches that take no more words than Google’s homepage (the gold standard).

Today I found a great example after logging out from my PayPal account:

You are Pre-Approved to use Bill Me Later!
One Click. Two Questions. No Third Degree.

Choose Bill Me Later when you checkout with PayPal.

20 words. Point made. Give the copywriter a bonus.

PayPal’s logout pitch (14 May 2010)

image

Landing page (link)

image

Note: I’m counting Bill Me Later as one word since it’s a brand name.

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Bobber Interactive, Expensify, oFlows and Wikinvest Named Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2010

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Finovate

image Thanks to everyone who made Finovate 6 the biggest and best so far. Four presenting companies receiving the most audience votes were named FinovateSpring 2010 Best of Show.

At the end of the day, each audience member (not associated with a presenter) chose their three favorites. The four companies with the most votes received awards. In alphabetic order, the winners are:

image          Bobber Interactive: Launched a youth-oriented online 
          banking/savings program with gaming and social features.  

image   Expensify: Demoed new tools for managers to track and monitor 
   employee spending via “expense reports that don’t suck.”

image                oFlows: Showed its new end-to-end paperless loan-
                application system.

image      Wikinvest: Launched its new Hurricane stock information
      system to deliver real-time info faster than other outlets.

Congratulations! And thanks to everyone who participated.

Note: Videos of each demo will be posted on the Finovate website within a few weeks.

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Finovate Spring Launches Today

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2010

Finovate 6 kicks off today with MoneyAisle
stepping up to the demo plate at 8:30 AM (Pacific time). The event is sold out and we are looking forward to the largest
Finovate audience ever, more than 500 banking and fintech execs.

For
background on the 36 demoing companies, see our
previous posts (logos below). You can follow the days
announcements here or by following our Netbanker Twitter account or watching the
#finovate hashtag on Twitter.

The event will not be broadcast
live, but we’ll have videos available here in about two weeks.

See you at the show!

image

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FinovateSpring 2010 Launches Tomorrow

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Finovate

image Finovate 6 kicks off tomorrow with MoneyAisle stepping up to the demo plate at 8:30 AM (Pacific time) Tuesday. The event is sold out and we are looking forward to the largest ever Finovate audience, more than 500 banking and fintech execs.

For background on the 36 demoing companies, see our previous posts (logos below). You can follow the day’s announcements via our Finovate website, by following our Netbanker Twitter account, or watching the #finovate hashtag on Twitter.

The event will not be broadcast live, but we’ll have videos available on our website within two weeks.

image

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How to Do a Great Demo #2 — Ask for Something

By JR Design Works Posted on
Categories: 154 Consulting, BrightScope, How to do a great demo

This is a guest post from John Fishback of 154 Consulting — the firm that helps us coach the innovative fintech companies selected for Finovate on their demos.

brightscope.png Finovate’s
unique format is exhilarating for attendees, but it puts real pressure
on demoing companies to leave the audience with something to remember
and act on. The demo from BrightScope at Finovate 2009 in New York (video) is an excellent example of a demo, and especially a conclusion, built to drive the audience to act.

Ryan
Alford, BrightScope’s President and head of product development, speaks
to three audiences with his demo: individuals relying on their 401(k)
for retirement planning, plan sponsors, and advisors. For each, he
offers something that makes BrightScope compelling. More importantly,
he asks each group to take action at the end of the demo.
Ryan
spends most of his time speaking to plan participants, and shows how
BrightScope helps them understand how their 401(k) plan stacks up. In
this first section, Ryan highlights a feature that helps participants
and BrightScope work together to their mutual advantage: requesting a
rating for your plan. This is a savvy choice. By spending time on this
feature, he turns participant’s mental dialogue from “I should check
this out if my plan is covered” to “I should check this out no matter
what.”
Ryan’s
other two audiences, plan sponsors and advisors, get less time on their
value drivers. But Ryan effectively illustrates their needs and shows
how BrightScope meets them. For plan sponsors, the honest desire to do
right by participants is supported by BrightScope’s dashboard, which
shows what drove plan ratings. For advisors, their hope to generate
business in advising poorly performing plans is clearly supported by
BrightScope’s advisor tools.
To
this point, Ryan has done a good demo. He has a unique product and
he’s letting it speak for itself. But his conclusion is head and
shoulders above most. He asks each of his audiences to complete a specific task, saying:

“If you are a participant, you should get your plan rated. 

If
you are a plan sponsor, you should request a free demo of the dashboard
to see if this tool will help you understand and improve your plan. 

If you are an advisor, please contact us to learn about how you can gain access to our advisor tools.”
In
my line of work, we call these “calls to action” or “asks.” They’re the
actions you want your audience to take, and it’s always important to
make them very clear. 
It’s
even more important at Finovate. Finovate’s format of seven-minute
demos with a minute-long break between each provides a lot of
excitement, but it also gives the audience an immense amount to think
about. After each demo ends, there are only about twenty seconds to
really think about the demo before Finovate’s master of ceremonies,
Eric Mattson, thanks the presenter and begins introducing the next
company. Those seconds are when the audience decides what to do.
At
the Finovate 2009 event in New York, a third of presenting companies
left the stage with no call to action. They simply summarized their
main points or key messages and thanked the audience. Just over a
quarter did better, finishing their demo by asking for a specific
action that could take place anywhere.  
The
rest? Forty percent of presenting companies ended their demo with some
version of “come see us at our booth.” That’s not a bad ask,
particularly because Finovate explicitly builds in networking sessions
between demos. 
But
after too many demos end with “see us at our booth,” the audience
starts to tune the phrase out. Several people tweeting on the
Finovate 2009 demos on Twitter remarked about the constant refrain of “come to our booth,” and lamented that they didn’t know why they should.
So how should a demo end if the next step you’d like the audience to take is actually to come visit your booth? Use the moment to start the conversation you’d like to have one on one. Rather than a generic invitation to visit the booth, invite the
audience to see some specific aspect of the product you haven’t had a
chance to show. Or focus on a possible objection (e.g. “If you’re
interested in seeing how we integrate quickly and easily with 95% of
all core processing systems, we’ll be walking through that at our
booth”).
No
matter what you specifically close with, use the last moment you have
everyone’s attention as BrightScope did – by asking the audience to
take the next step.

JTFHeadshot.jpg

This is a guest post from John Fishback. John is the principal of 154 Consulting and directs 154’s Financial Services Product Group, which combines message development and presentation advice services with financial services industry experience to help financial services companies, startups, and vendors develop and market products that speak clearly to customers’ needs. He can be reached at john@154consulting.com.

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Chase is First U.S. Bank with a Native iPad App

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Chase Bank, iPad, Mobile Banking

Last week, Spain’s BancSabadell and “la Caixa” became the first banks in the world with iPad apps. But the U.S. was still shut out until today, when Chase became the first U.S. bank with a native iPad app (iTunes link). It doesn’t yet show in the Finance category of my iPad. But if I search for Chase, it appears as a download option.

imageIt successfully downloaded, and about 60 seconds later, I was looking at my Chase account. Unlike some banks, it was not necessary to activate the app in online banking. First-time users log in to the app with their online banking credentials. Then an 8-digit code is sent to a pre-existing phone number or email address. Users then enter this code into the iPad.

Chase’s app is basically a stretched-out version of its iPhone app. But the extra real estate does make it easier to accomplish tasks, such as sending a bill payment (right screenshot). But the biggest initial benefit of the iPad app is all the blog posts and news articles it will generate. 

Chase is betting big on the iPad platform, taking a reported six-figure sponsorship of the NY Times iPad app (see inset, click to enlarge). The bank really had no choice but to support that advertising expense with a banking app of its own. Chase launched its iPhone app in Dec. 2008.

Chase Bank’s native iPad app (5 May 2010)

image    image

Note: For more on mobile banking and payments, see the most recent issue from Online Banking Report.

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FinovateSpring Final Lineup Revealed; Get Your Tickets Before it Sells Out

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2010

Just one week from tomorrow, three dozen of the hottest financial
tech companies come to the Finovate stage in San Francisco. We’ve
already written about how there are less than 50 tickets remaining, we’ve listed the amazing group of attendees who’ll be there May 11, the twelve main conference themes you’ll experience, and the original list of 32 demoing companies.

Today, we announce the final four presenting companies:

image        image  image   image          

Come meet the founders and top execs of these fintech leaders next week. Register here.

The final FinovateSpring lineup:

  • Backbase
    		•
  • Fiserv
    		•
  • Pageonce
    		•
  • Bill.com
    		•
  • FTRANS
    		•
  • Point of Wealth Systems
    		•
  • Billeo
    		•
  • The Garland Group
    		•
  • SafetyPay
    		•
  • Blippy
    		•
  • Gratio Capital
    		•
  • Segmint
    		•
  • Bobber Interactive
    		•
  • Ideon
    		•
  • Silver Tail Systems
    		•
  • Continuity Control
    		•
  • Jemstep
    		•
  • SmartCredit.com
    		•
  • Controlabill
    		•
  • Kabbage
    		•
  • TransUnion Interactive
    		•
  • Cortera
    		•
  • Liqpay.com
    		•
  • TSYS
    		•
  • Cross Commerce Media
    		•
  • Mint.com (Intuit)
    		•
  • UBank
    		•
  • DebtGoal
    		•
  • MoneyAisle
    		•
  • Visa
    		•
  • eRollover
    		•
  • MPOWER Mobile
    		•
  • Wikinvest
    		•
  • Expensify
    		•
  • oFlows
    		•
  • WorkLight
    		•

    Finally, a thanks to our four FinovateSpring sponsors:

    image  image  image  image

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