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Just-Launched P2P Lender Loanio Joins Finovate Conference Demo Lineup

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 9, 2008
Categories: Finovate, Loanio, P2P Lending, Pertuity

As noted here last week, Loanio launched its much anticipated peer-to-peer lending exchange Oct. 1.
And we are lucky that founder Michael Solomon has agreed to take the stage this Tuesday at Finovate to show everyone the results of his nearly two-year development effort.

The reason for the last-minute addition is that another P2P lender planning to launch at Finovate, Pertuity Direct, has delayed its grand opening to ensure that regulators are comfortable with its business. Given recent worldwide events, that’s understandable. We look forward to seeing its demo at Finovate 2009.

There are still a few seats remaining at the nearly sold-out event (registration is here). The complete lineup is listed here.

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Zopa to Close U.S. Operation

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 9, 2008
Categories: Lead Generation, Loans & Credit, Zopa

Article updated at 2 PM Pacific with quote from one of Zopa’s partner CUs, Affinity Plus.

Zopa’s U.S. social deposit/lending site will be shuttered, just 10 months after its launch (see previous coverage here). The site, which delivered loan applications and CD customers to six credit union partners, apparently was closed by Zopa. At this point the exact reason is unclear (see update below). Zopa blamed the U.S. credit situation and said it wanted to concentrate its efforts in other markets.

Here’s part of the statement from CEO Doug Dolton that appeared on the Zopa forum earlier today (also here’s the official blog entry at Zopa UK):

The facts are: Due to the extremely difficult consumer credit circumstances in the US, we made the decision to focus our ongoing efforts in the UK, Italy and Japan. We have six credit union partners in the US, and we have been working with them to modify our business model to offer our customers the best possible offerings, given the poor credit conditions in the US.

We’re certainly facing unprecedented economic times worldwide right now, but I am pleased to report that our UK and Italian operations are doing better than ever, and I look forward to continuing to develop those marketplaces. I apologise for any confusion regarding our circumstances.

As of this morning, the Zopa US homepage is unchanged, but you can no longer sign up as a new member and all the Learn More links redirect to USA Federal Credit Union.

Implications
It’s surprising that the company would throw in the towel on the significant investment it made here. However, if Zopa’s CU lending partners had curtailed, or stopped, making loans through the site, something noticed last week by the Prosper Lending Review blog, the whole strategy would no longer be viable (see update below).

But this has nothing to do with what Prosper, Loanio (which launched last week) and hopefully Lending Club (expected be accepting new lenders shortly) are doing with person-to-person lending. Zopa US, unlike Zopa UK, was NOT a P2P lending site, it was a lead-generation site for six credit unions. When those CUs stopped needing loan-leads due to the credit crunch, it took the legs out from under the U.S. division. Even continuing to just take deposits made no sense, since each depositor was required to assist a borrower by gifting a portion of the deposit interest.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see Zopa back in United States in the future as a true P2P lending site, copying the model of its U.K. and Italian divisions. The social aspect of its offering certainly resonated with consumers and industry players as well. The company was one of four Best of Show winners in our April Finovate Startup conference, an award by majority vote from the audience (video here).

For more information, see our Online Banking Report on Person-to-Person Lending. And those attending our Finovate next week will see two companies demo P2P lending.

Update: 2 PM PDT, 9 Oct 2008

As one of the credit unions who were partnered with Zopa, I would like to clarify that we have no credit availability issues and have changed none of our lending practices. This decision was made by Zopa.

— Sarah Mason, SVP, Affinity Plus Credit Union

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ING Direct’s $1 Million in FDIC Coverage (email)

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 8, 2008
Categories: Email Samples, ING Direct, Service

It’s not easy deciding what messages to send to customers these days (note 1), but there’s no doubt a clear email about increased FDIC coverage is a winner. For example, ING Direct does a great job with this simple and very clear message outlining the temporary increase in U.S. deposit insurance coverage.

I especially like how they demonstrate how easy it is for joint account holders to get $1 million in coverage (note 2). It’s so much easier seeing it laid out in a table. Here’s the email sent to customers this afternoon under the subject:

Subject: Your FDIC coverage just went up

Notes:
1. Jeffry Pilcher posted some interesting quotes with differing perspectives on how to approach “crisis communications” in his Financial Brand blog today.

2. Not that many people need that, but it’s still somehow comforting to know that if you had to deposit your lottery proceeds, or if you were Mark Cuban and you shorted the DJIA at 1100 with 8% of your net worth, you wouldn’t have to spend so much time opening accounts to deposit your windfall.

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Centrro Launches KnowBeforeYouApply.com

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 7, 2008
Categories: Credit Karma, Credit/Debit Cards, Launches, Lead Generation

Providing free credit scores in exchange for viewing a credit card offer seems like a reasonable value exchange (see note 1). That’s why we gave Credit Karma our OBR Best of the Web award in August and why it is on stage next week at Finovate (see previous coverage here, video at Finovate Startup here).

It’s also no surprise that others would try the same model. Credit crisis or not, credit-worthy borrowers are still a valuable commodity. Case in point, Bankaholic’s recent acquisition by BankRate for a reported $15 million, or $50 per unique visitor (Mashable post here).

The latest entry in free-credit-score lead generation is KnowBeforeYouApply (KBYA) from Centrro, a financial-search company founded in 2006 by Ike Eze and Tuyen Vo. Eze was a founder of QSpace, an OBR Best of the Web winner in 1997 when it became the first company to make credit reports available online (archived OBR article here). QSpace was acquired by Experian several years later.

KnowBeforeYouApply launched on Sept. 3, but was put on the map with Mr. Eze’s post today in The Huffington Post entitled, “Stay Away from Me, Credit Card Crisis” (see note 2). The article discusses the value of tracking your credit score and using that knowledge to find the best credit offers. Eze mentions his company along with Credit Karma, Quizzle from Quicken Loans, two other Finovate presenters, Mint and BillShrink.

Using KnowBeforeYouApply.com
It would be difficult to make the site any easier to use. Customers type in their name, address, email address, and last four digits of their social security number. Apparently, that’s all that’s needed to access your credit file and return a letter grade of A through F.

The whole process takes about 30 seconds (there is no need to enter an entire social security number), and KBYA steers clear of those pesky out-of-wallet authentication questions. Users can get an update of their credit grade every 90 days. In comparison, Credit Karma, which provides an exact 3-digit credit score, will update it daily if the user so desires.

KBYA also has a simple and intuitive sales platform. Just two offers were highlighted in the main screen, one from Chase and one from American Express (see first screenshot below). However, clicking through to “see all offers” led to 25 pages of credit cards, displayed five to a page (121 total for A-grade credit). A handy index along the sidebar allows users to find various categories that most appeal to them such as “travel rewards” or “0% intro rate” cards (see second screenshot).

KBYA appears to use the API from CardOffers.com to build a portion of its database of card offers. CardOffers.com offers its affiliates up to $20 per application or up to $160 per approved application. KBYA also appears to be an affiliate of Credit.com and Discover Card (see note 3).

The site is focused solely on credit cards for now. But a Home Loan tab is built into the user interface, with a “coming soon” label.

Analysis
All in all, it’s a good service. The site needs to beef up its FAQs, About Us, and other educational materials so users can better understand who is behind the service and what exactly the credit grade means. But as a month-old beta service, it’s presumably coming.

While I prefer the precision and peace of mind of seeing my actual credit score, a letter grade every 90 days will be sufficient for many users and should help keep costs down. And the speed of the application process and lack of social security number are real benefits.

Financial institution opportunities
Banks, credit unions, and card issuers should consider offering similar functionality both inside online banking, where private info would already be known, and on the outside where prospective loan customers could use it. With info about the customer’s credit grade, lenders could deliver tailored offers that could lead to increased application volume and approval rates. See our recent Online Banking Report for more info on lead generation sites (note 1).

Know Before You Apply main page after login (7 Oct 2008)

KnowBeforeYouApply all-offers page (7 Oct 2008)

Notes:
1. For a thorough discussion of the topic, see our August 2008 Online Banking Report on New Models for Lead Generation.

2. Strangely, the article doesn’t specifically disclose Mr. Eze’s affiliation with Know Before You Apply, although clicking on his name does show he’s CEO of Centrro. However, it’s left to the reader to discover on their own that Centrro is the parent of Know Before You Apply. Hopefully, that oversight will be corrected.

3. The affiliate relationships
are inferred from the redirects that take place when clicking on the Apply Now arrow.

4. This is one of the ten online finance companies that launched in Sept. (post here).

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Last Chance for Finovate 2008 Conference Tickets

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 6, 2008
Categories: Finovate

Putting on a conference is nerve wracking in the best of times, but in this environment, it’s doubly so. So we are especially pleased to announce that we are within a dozen or so seats of selling out the Crowne Plaza ballroom for Finovate 2008 next week. Register here if you’d like to join us.

As we argued last week (here), current industry problems make placing the correct technology bets even more important. Granted, there may be less revenue during the next few years, but the show will go on. Fundamentally, there is still as much demand for financial services today as a year ago.

To meet that demand, financial institutions will increasingly look towards lower-cost, non-branch alternatives. And 24 of the best will be demo’ing Oct. 14 at Finovate (see here for list):

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eBay Acquires Bill Me Later for Almost $1 Billion

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 6, 2008
Categories: Ebay, Epayments, PayPal

I won’t belabor the irony that the nearly $1 billion ($945 million) paid by eBay for Bill Me Later values the alternative payment and credit provider at more than Washington Mutual Bank and nearly half as much as Wachovia, at least before Wells Fargo entered the bidding.

The underlying credit product is relatively simple, a 19.99% credit account underwritten by Utah-based industrial bank CIT (terms and conditions here, see also note 1). But the distribution system, providing quick-and-easy delayed payment at the point-of-sale at 1000 online merchants, is what created the billion-dollar valuation. To use Bill Me Later at checkout, consumers simply provide their birthdate, last four digits of their social security number, and their billing address (see Amazon.com screenshot below).

According to today’s investors presentation the company will do more than $1 billion in transaction volume in 2008 and serves 4 million customers (see note 2).

I was initially surprised at the price ($945 million), but given that eBay is projecting $150 million in revenues and $50 million in profits, it makes some sense, especially if CIT is taking most/all of the credit risk. Hoped-for synergies with PayPal, which already operates a similar program, is the stated upside for the deal.

Ebay says Bill Me Later earns 4.1% on each payment transaction, which amounts to $10 per $250 purchase (note 3).

Bill Me Later’s simple signup demonstrated at Amazon’s checkout
(5 Oct 2008)

Notes:
1. CIT is not without its own problems with a market cap that has dropped more than 80% from a year ago. The company is now valued at $2 billion, just double the purchase price of BillMeLater.

2. Some historical usage numbers: An undated entry on the CIT website says that BillMeLater has served 2.5 million consumers. In a Dec. 2006 press release announcing $640 million debt-financing from Citigroup, Bill Me Later said it had served 2 million consumers.

3. Here are the revenue and cost numbers taken from today’s investor’s presentation (expressed as percent of transaction amount):

Income
Transaction fee from merchant = 2.4%
Customer interest = 6.5% (note APR is 19.99%)
Customer fees = 3.6% (note late fees are generally $29 or $39 depending on balance)
Total revenue = 12.5%

Expense
Acquisition and servicing = 2.9%
Net credit/fraud losses = 3.4%
Cost of funds = 2.1%
Total cost = 8.4%

Net profit = 4.1% of transaction amount

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Mobile is the New Online: IBC Bank Puts Mobile Banking on Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 2, 2008
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, mFoundry, Mobile Banking

Eventually the distinction between mobile and online banking will disappear as the devices and services converge (see note 1). But until then, mobile banking, because it’s perceived as cutting edge, is more interesting to many customers. That’s why Bank of America, Chase, Citi and many others have featured mobile banking in on- and off-line media (see previous coverage here).

But it’s not just a mega-bank game; any financial institution can play up its mobile capabilities. Texas-based IBC Bank, in the top-100 with $11 billion in assets and more than 200 branches, flaunts its mobile capabilities with a large banner on its homepage (see screenshot below). The mobile banner currently rotates with an identity-theft-protection pitch.

IBC Bank homepage featuring mobile banking (2 Oct 2008)

IBC Bank releases iPhone app
Last week, IBC became just the second U.S. Bank to release a native iPhone app in the Apple iTunes App Store. The mFoundry-powered application was the 36th most popular finance app yesterday, out of about 120. Following is a screenshot of the application’s entry in the App Store. Bank of America, which launched its app on the first day of the App Store, is the other App Store participant (see previous coverage here).

mFoundry will demo its latest innovations at our Finovate Conference Oct. 14. Video of its previous demo is here.

Note:
1. For more info, see our Online Banking Report on Mobile Banking.

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Loanio Launches New Person-to-Person Lending Service

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 1, 2008
Categories: Launches, Loanio, Loans & Credit, P2P Lending

Add one more company to the list of recent launches: Loanio went live today after a lengthy “coming soon” process (previous coverage here). The thousands of people on its email list received a message this morning announcing the launch (see below).

Founder Michael Solomon demo’d the product back in April at our Finovate Startup event (video here). Today’s live version looks similar to the April build. The key differentiating features of Loanio’s product are:

Ability for anyone to borrow, if they have a creditworthy co-borrower
Optional enhanced pre-verification process (costs $35 for single borrower, $45 for co-borrower apps) allows borrows to boost their credibility by submitting the following documentation in advance of posting their listing:
– Photo ID
– Income documentation
– Bank account statement
– Employment documentation
– Postal address documentation
Longer loan terms
— up to 5 years compared to P2P lending standard of 36 months
Borrowers have the option of accepting partial funding of their loan request as long as it’s at least 35% funded

Several other tidbits from the FAQs:

Experian provides the credit info on borrowers
Lenders pay a 1% service fee on all outstanding loans
Buyers pay an origination fee as follows, equal to the greater of $95 or:
— Loans with one borrower: 2% for A and B credit grades, 3% for all others
— Loans with co-borrower: 3% for A, B and 4% for all others
Borrowers may seek loans of $1,000 to $25,000
Lenders must put in at least $100 to participate with a minimum bid amount of $50

The first borrower listing appeared on the site within the last hour or so, a C-grade credit seeking $2800 for debt consolidation (see screenshot below, note 1).

Screenshot of Loanio home page with first loan listing (1 Oct 2008)

State coverage limited
At launch, Loanio has gathered licenses to lend in only 22 states (see note 2). However, 10 of those have interest rate caps of 12% or less, so lending will be limited to the highly credit worthy, and one (Minnesota) caps the loan amount at $2550. Here are the 12 states which Loanio primarily competes in today:

State         Max Interest Rate

Alabama 30%

Georgia 30%

Mississippi     30%

New Mexico      30%

North Carolina 30%

Indiana 21%

West Virginia 18%

Wisconsin 18%

Alaska 16%

Nebraska           16%

New Jersey 16%

New York 16%

These are the 10 states that allow borrowing from Loanio but cap the rate so that only those with excellent credit are likely to receive funding:

State Max Interest Rate

Tennessee 12.25%

Hawaii 12%

Louisiana 12%

South Carolina 12%

Virginia 12%

Connecticut 12%

Arkansas 11.25%

Delaware 11.25%

Kentucky 10.25%

Pennsylvania 6%

Washington D.C. 6%

As you can see, there is no lending in major population centers of California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts and for the most part in Pennsylvania with a 6% rate cap. But there are ways to change that and Loanio can at least get started in 10 states while it fine tunes its business and develops methods for lending in all 50 states. Prosper and Lending Club both originate loans nationally through Webbank before passing them to the individual lenders. This allows nearly full geographic coverage, while usually bypassing state-mandated maximum loan rates.

Loanio joins Prosper, Lending Club, GlobeFunder, Fynanz, GreenNote and Virgin Money in the U.S. P2P lending space (currently, only Prosper, Fynanz, and now Loanio, operate true P2P exchanges). The others are either closed to individual lenders temporarily (Lending Club, GlobeFunder) or require borrowers to find their own funds from friends and family (GreenNote, Virgin Money). For a complete look at the market, see our Online Banking Report on Person-to-Person Lending.

Email: Loanio now open (received 10:39 AM Pacific time 1 Oct 2008)

Note:
1. Unfortunately, this loan is unlikely to be funded due to the max interest rate of 6%, likely because she is a Pennsylvania or Washington DC resident where the rates are capped at 6% (see table).
2. Just about anyone 18 or older can be a lender regardless of where they live. Only South Dakota and Pennsylvania residents are currently ineligible to lend through Loanio.

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Moneytrackin’ is First Major Online Personal Finance Management App to Make it Into the Apple App Store

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 30, 2008
Categories: Apple, Buxfer, iPhone, Mobile Banking, Moneytrackin', Personal Financial Management

I’m certain most major PFM providers will have an iPhone app within the next six to 12 months. It’s a valuable product extension from a functionality standpoint (see note 1). Even more important are the marketing benefits from blogger/press coverage and the App Store listing itself.

Mint posted a blog entry last week reviewing ten iPhone finance apps. The post drew two dozen comments, most asking when a Mint app would be released for the iPhone. Mint Product VP Aaron Forth replied, “We are busy working on one now.”

Most of the better-funded PFM companies are likely working on an iPhone app, but the approval process at Apple can easily take a month or more (one developer’s story is chronicled here). So we expect to see them trickle out over the coming months.

The first established online PFM to make it into the iPhone App Store is Moneytrakin’, the Barcelona, Spain-based multi-language, multi-currency PFM (note 2). We covered its launch more than two years ago (here).

The company recently announced it had surpassed 5 million transactions tracked. Assuming 250 per customer, that’s 20,000 active users. According to Compete, U.S. website traffic averages 1,000 to 2,000 per month. But many (most?) of Moneytrackin’s customers are outside the United States.

The Moneytrackin’ program, released on Sept. 19, is currently the seventh most popular app in the Finance category.

Notes:
1. For more information, see our Online Banking Report on Personal Finance Features.

2. There are at least a dozen check registers and mini PFMs in the App Store, but none are from established online PFM providers. The only exception is iBuxfer, which claims to work with Buxfer using its API, but was not developed by the company. And in fact, according to the comments in the App Store, may be violating Buxfer’s terms of service. All the more reason to get your own app into the store before someone else does.

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Why New Financial Technology Remains Important

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 29, 2008
Categories: Finovate, Mobile Banking, Strategic Planning, Strategies

With all the bad financial news circling the globe, you may not have been thinking about innovations in financial technology. While that’s understandable, this is not the time to ignore the fundamental changes occurring in the consumer marketplace (see below).

Yes, we are biased towards new technology, but with registrations to our upcoming Finovate Conference running 75% ahead of last year, there seems to be plenty of people who agree. By the way, this is the last day to save $100 on your ticket (register here) and ensure your ring-side seat on Oct. 14 to see these 24 inventive financial companies showcase their latest improvements.

But let’s address the elephant in the room. Is this the time to be concerned about new bank tech products, or is it time to just hold on and ride out the storm? While good arguments can be made on either side of that issue, here are two interesting examples that made bold bets on online technology in the middle of Internet gloom and doom:

ING Direct, launched during the depths of the dot-com bust (Sep 2000), is on track to become a top-10 U.S. bank by the end of the decade (note 1)

PayPal, also launched right before the low point (Nov. 1999), now has more customers that any other financial-services provider in the world other than the payments gateways themselves (Visa, MasterCard)

Who will be the ING Directs and PayPals coming out of the current crisis? Your guess is as good as mine, but my vote goes to the companies that do the best marrying online services with mobile delivery.

Why financial technology remains important
There’s no doubt that budgets will contract in 2009 and beyond. But new technology usually holds the promise of cutting costs or at least making it easier to serve more customers without adding resources. Here are the trends you cannot afford to ignore in your 2009/2010 plans:

1. Always-connected mobile consumer: Consumer services continue to move online as ubiquitous broadband and cellphone connectivity keeps most banking households connected 24/7 at home, work, and now with mobile, everywhere. Apple’s iPhone, and the next generation of competitive devices, are changing the game in mobile. There are already more than twice as many mobile phones in the world as there are credit cards (note 2). And location-based technology allows users to interact with merchants and payment providers in new and potentially more secure ways.

Implication: Mobile services today are about where the Internet was in 1996. And globally, mobile banking and payments will be even more important than online banking and payments.

2. Over-extended consumers seek guidance: Just as millions of amateur stock traders learned a harsh lesson about risk vs. return in 1999/2000, tens of millions of consumers will are learning the downside of extensive debt and leverage in 2008+.

Implication: This is a great time to get consumers hooked on tools that help them manage their spending, savings, and debt. And virtually all the activity will take place online with mobile support.

3. Branch exodus intensifies: The U.S. over-investment in branches will come to a screeching halt in 2009. With several of the big branch builders, especially WaMu, being acquired, there will be less of a competitive imperative, not to mention less capital, to build fancy new branches on every street corner. Some of the savings will be funneled into alternative delivery. Even the fanciest website can be built today with the fraction of the cost of a single urban branch.

Implication: Increasingly, financial institutions large and small will compete online.

4. Online research is the norm: According to a 2007 study published in November by the National Association of Realtors, 84% of households used the Internet in their search for a house. And in a dramatic change compared to ten years ago, online sources were nearly as important as humans in locating the house that was ultimately purchased (29% found it online first vs. 34% who said their agent told them about it). Similar numbers are reported for autos and other big tickets items.

Implication: A good web presence is crucial to landing new customers.

Note:
1. Industry consolidation is helping them move up the ranks, they jumped two spots in the past week alone.

2. Source, Communities Dominate Brands blog, 8 Jan 2007 (with updates)

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Online Financial Services Scorecard: June 2008

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 26, 2008
Categories: Compete, Metrics & Market Research

The June financial shopping numbers released by Compete revealed a mixed bag as interest in credit cards, home equity, and purchase loans fell double digits compared to a year ago. However, deposit activity moved in the opposite direction.

More specifics:

Although credit card application volume was relatively flat (down 1% for the year and down 4% for the month), the number of shoppers decreased 39% compared to a year ago. Although the data shows only application volume, there has likely been a sharp drop in approvals, as underwriting standards stiffen and credit-worthy applicants stay on the sidelines.
In June there was a slight drop in checking shoppers (down 4%) and applications (down 5%) compared to May. However, year-over-year both were up with a 32% increase in shoppers and a 6% increase in applicants.
However, savings shoppers increased 51% from last year and 7% from May with applications up 43% compared to last year and 24% over last month.
High-yield savings showed similar gains compared to a year ago, with 31% more shoppers and 30% more applications.
Home equity and purchase mortgage activity were both off compared to the previous month and also a year ago. The only good news was an increase in refi activity with 10% more shoppers than May and 27% more than a year ago. But application volumes were down 21% from May and down 34% compared to last year.

About the financial services scorecard
A little over a year ago, we introduced the Financial Services Monthly Performance scorecard produced by Compete. It summarizes the overall performance of 23 large U.S. financial institutions and lead-generation sites. Refer here for the detailed methodology as well as companies tracked.

Notes:
1. Year-over-year comparisons were added to the chart beginning in March 2008. Because of ongoing methodology tweaks, the percentages in this table may be slightly different than if you went back to the data from a year ago and calculated the change.

2. Leads/applicants = Leads or applications depending on whether the site tracked is a lead-generation site or an actual lender.

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Visa Announces Android and P2P Mobile Initiatives

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 25, 2008
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Chase Bank, Credit/Debit Cards, Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, US Bank, VISA

Visa today put a stake in the ground to be viewed as the innovation leader, a position that American Express has claimed for some time with its chip cards, social media efforts, and even an online lab site. At today’s “innovation briefing” in NYC, Visa announced several pilots and upcoming initiatives.

Mobile person-to-person transfers
The most far-reaching announcement was the ability for Visa cardholders to transfer funds from one card to another via mobile device. So far, just one bank is participating in the pilot. US Bank says it will make the service available to a few thousand cardholders as a test later this year. PaymentsNews has more details here.

It sounds good, but as always the devil is in the details. For instance:

Through what hoops will cardholders have to jump to enable their card and phone for the service?
Will the transfers be treated as cash advances triggering fees and finance charges?
Will it be available to all cardholders using any mobile phones?

Visa jumps on the android bandwagon
A more immediate innovation is a location-and-alert-based service built for Google’s android platform, a new mobile system launching in late October. Visa’s new service, to be rolled out initially by Chase Bank (no time frame given), promises some important new developments:

“Near real-time” purchase alerts (see note 1) so you can see immediately whether your server added an extra digit in front of your tip on that bar tab. The real-time alert pilot was announced a month ago (here) involving several thousand accounts at PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank, US Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, and Vancity.
Visa merchant finder based on your location-based/GPS technology (nice!) with targeted marketing offers (hmmm??). The merchant locations will be integrated with Google Maps.

Again, PaymentsNews has the entire press release here.

Notes:
1. Visa says that the alerts will arrive “typically before (the consumer) leaves the store.”

2. For more information, see our Online Banking Report on Mobile Money & Payments.

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State	Max Interest Rate
Alabama	30%
Georgia	30%
Mississippi	30%
New Mexico	30%
North Carolina	30%
Indiana	21%
West Virginia	18%
Wisconsin	18%
Alaska	16%
Nebraska	16%
New Jersey	16%
New York	16%

State	Max Interest Rate
Tennessee	12.25%
Hawaii	12%
Louisiana	12%
South Carolina	12%
Virginia	12%
Connecticut	12%
Arkansas	11.25%
Delaware	11.25%
Kentucky	10.25%
Pennsylvania	6%
Washington D.C.	6%