The Best of BAI Retail Delivery 2009

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: ANZ Bank, BAI Retail Delivery, Bank of America, Market Research & Metrics

imageLast week, I attended the BAI Retail Delivery conference in Boston (for more background on the event, see note 1). I enjoyed the show tremendously.

What’s not to like? Famous speakers, new products, several thousand attendees, statistics galore, and a floor filled with new bank tech. For me, the only disappointments were the non-industry keynoters, who are not why I attend, but are something to tell your friends and family about when you get home (note 2).

Like last year, I’ll cut to the chase and hand out my personal awards for the event. I saw only a tiny fraction of the companies, so the list below shows merely my favorites culled from about two dozen company interviews. 

The Netbanker awards

  • Biggest buzz: Person-to-person payments (we’ll cover it in Online Banking Report soon) 
    Runner up: Mobile banking and payments
  • Most likely to make the cover of FastCompany: Cardlytics (will cover next week)
  • New solution most likely to be used by 1000 financial institutions: Continuity Engine’s semi-automated, compliance task-management service
    Least likely: Microsoft Surface, as cool as it looks, I just don’t see banks deploying it in large numbers
  • Most audacious business plan: Moneta, winner of this very award last year, but did indeed appear in Boston with a major client win, SunTrust (see Celent’s Jacob Jegher’s not-at-all enthusiastic post on the announcement)
  • Best ah-ha moment: When Joe Salesky, Clairmail founder, observed that mobile banking is a 100% solution, meaning it’s for every customer NOT just the half that do online banking
  • Biggest surprise: The buzz around person-to-person payments and relative lack of buzz around online PFM
  • Most-talked-about vendor without a booth: PayPal which announced partnerships with three large bank tech companies: S1, FIS, and First Data’s STAR unit
  • Coolest online feature, not yet available: Credit card available-balance meter displayed directly on the user’s PC desktop, powered by Worklight
  • Coolest new GUI feature: Fiserv’s ebill snapshots
  • Best demo (I’d not seen before): Dynamic Card Solution’s instant issue of a credit card with my picture on it along with a background image I chose from hundreds available
  • Best-attended breakout session (that I attended): Checking 2.0 which analyzed what the product might look like if NSF/OD fee revenues are materially limited
  • Best number: From the opening remarks by BAI director, Debbie Bianucci: According to BAI research five years ago, one-third of consumers preferred to deal with their bank remotely; now, two-thirds do
    Runner up: Bank of America’s Doug Brown revealed in his presentation that BofA has 3.5 million active mobile banking users (see recent monthly growth below)image
  • Scariest number: A prediction from Sherief Meleis (Novantas) that new regulation could wipe out 20% to 40% of total checking account revenue
  • Missing in action: Security solutions
  • Coolest new event technology: Real-time text voting in the Checking 2.0 session
    Runner up: Wifi available conference-wide for the first time ever
  • Most intriguing co-brand opportunity: Getting the bank logo on PayPal messaging (FIS, S1) to payment recipients or during payment sessions (FirstData STAR)
  • Product I most wanted to use now: Digital Insight’s (Intuit) FinanceWorks with Turbotax integration
  • Best screenshot: Lamping on the iPhone (powered by ClairMail); I call it the “little red number” superimposed over iPhone icons, that tells you how many messages are available (see inset)
    Runner up: Worklight’s visualization of its widget running in four environments with essentially the same GUI (see below)
  • Best party: Geezeo’s blowout at Lucky’s
  • Best freebie on the floor: Fresh lemonade from the wonderful people with a booth by the front entrance
  • Netbanker spotting: Quote in BofA’s Doug Brown’s Powerpoint regarding BofA threepeat (in the mobile marketplaces)

And I’m always collecting usage stats and other numerical detritus delivered during the presentations. Here are my notes with (source in parenthesis):

  • 27% of U.S. households are now mobile only (Doug Brown, BofA)
  • New mobile customers at BofA last 3 months: 150,000 (Sep); 210,000 (Aug); 220,000 (July) (Doug Brown, BofA)
  • In U.S. and worldwide, text message volume has surpassed voice call volume (Doug Brown, BofA)
  • 99% of mobile users view balances, 90% view transaction detail, about $10 billion of funds have been moved via mobile transfers/bill pay; 15 million location-based searches being performed (annual run rate)
  • BofA has 35% of all mobile banking users (Doug Brown, citing ComScore numbers in 2009)
  • BofA has added 150,000 new checking accounts due to mobile offering
  • BofA seeing voice calls decline among mobile users, but online banking usage holding steady
  • In pilot, 94% of the users of TurboTax within FinanceWorks chose their host banks to deposit tax refunds (Digital Insight/Intuit)
  • More than 50% of iPhone users have used mobile banking in past 30 days (Javelin Strategy)
  • 33% of mobile banking users monitor accounts daily, 80% wee
    kly (Javelin)
  • Customer willingness to pay fees for (Novantas):
    — Teller transactions 8%
    — Bill pay 12%
    — Mobile banking 12%
    — Paper statement 19%
    — ID protection 27% 
  • At ANZ, 65% of its Yodlee-powered PFM (launched Oct 2008) users visit daily; 89% visit weekly (Doug Brown, ANZ; not a typo, there really were two Doug Browns)
  • 81% of its PFM users rated the service at least 7 points on 10-point scale (31% rated 9 or 10; 50% rated 7 or 8)
  • ANZ’s PFM is a standalone free service that can be used by anyone; so far, 20% are non-ANZ customers; the business case for the service was built on customer acquisition, but they also may charge certain users for certain functions
  • Yodlee-powered PFM users spend twice as much time online at the bank than regular users, and only 1.5% leave the bank each year compared to 7% of regular online banking customers 
  • Worklight case study results:
    — 8% to 15% of online customers install widgets within the first year
    — 95% of widget users are active
    — Customers conducted 15 to 30 sessions/month via widgets

Worklight widgets running on a variety of platforms (4 Nov 2009)

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Notes:
1. About BAI Retail Delivery Conference 2009
BAI Retail Delivery is an annual rite of passage for bank tech strategies, delivery system analysts, and product managers. At the peak, in 1999/2000, there were as many as 10,000 people there (attendees + exhibitors) and close to 500 exhibitors stretching perhaps three or four city blocks in each direction through cavernous exhibit halls. It was a little like Times Square but without the highrises. Some exhibitors had massive 10,000 square foot booths filled with hardware. And the show-floor routinely sold out.

Financial institutions brought teams of people to pour over the new machines and software solutions, be inspired at the general sessions where Bill Gates, Roll Perot, Scott Cook, and other tech-industry luminaries showed up to win over the bankers.

Fast-forward a decade. It’s still an awesome event which I highly recommend. I thoroughly enjoyed every conversation I had and most every session I attended. But the event has downsized considerably. This year, you could walk across the exhibit hall in a few minutes. And if you wanted to, you could have spent five minutes with all 180 companies during the show hours. That would have been impossible last year with around 300 exhibitors. But all-in-all, I’d say there was more energy on the floor this year because the attendee per square foot ratio seemed much better.

2. Unfortunately, on Thursday both Al Gore (planned) and Jack Welch (unplanned back problems) phoned in their keynote addresses via sat-link.

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Innovators: Incredible Bank Breaks the Direct-Bank Mold

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Direct Banking, Strategies

image The ink’s barely dry on the news that ING Group will divest its U.S. bank, ING Direct, within the next 48 months (note 1), when someone else has already launched a direct bank with a distinctive orange theme (note 2):

The new brand: Incredible Bank from River Valley Bank, an 18-branch, $900 million (assets) bank headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin.

image

The strategy: Like the original orange bank’s Electric Orange account, Incredible Bank offers a high-yield checking account, currently paying 2%, that’s 100% electronic. No paper checks (note 3), no paper statements. And unlike the hundreds of rewards-checking products, this one comes with no strings attached. The full rate is paid on all balances up to $250,000, then it drops to 1%.

Other account features:

  • Debit card
  • Free online bill pay
  • Unlimited ATM reimbursement
  • Overdrafts are $34 each with max 10 per day
  • Incoming wires are $5 each, outgoing are $20
  • Mobile banking (which is highlighted on the home page, see below and note 4)
  • ACH in/out (coming soon)

Analysis
I’ve always wondered why, other than ING Direct and Kiwi Bank, only the U.K. direct banks seemed capable of a light-hearted brand positioning online (see update below). While we’ve seen many good social media and microsite efforts using humor, few financial institutions have dared use this approach on their core websites. Leave it to those spirited cheeseheads in Wisconsin to break the mold finally (note 5).

Initially, it’s the 2% rate that will bring cash to Incredible Bank. But longer term, for any direct bank to add value to the parent’s franchise, it must create loyal customers who won’t bolt to the next newcomer offering a 15-basis-point rate advantage. This is a good start for River Valley, but they’ll need a lot more than this bare-bones website to create long-lasting relationships.     

Hat tip: Bank Deals blog.

Update 9 Nov: The Financial Brand’s Jeffry Pilcher reminded me of two good U.S. examples, GMAC’s Ally Bank and (how could I forget?) Redneck Bank.

Incredible Bank homepage (9 Nov 2009)

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Notes:
1. In his Retail Delivery presentation, always one of the highlights of the show for me, Second Curve principal Tom Brown said ING Direct would be an attractive acquisition for any number of deposit-seeking large financial institutions; however, he did not name any.
2. Full disclosure: I have a strange weakness for the color orange, perhaps the result of many trips to Florida as a child. So, take anything I say in this post with a huge grain of salt. 
3. Normally, I think paper checks should still be made available, even if they are discouraged with fees. However, in cases where the direct brand will cannibalize deposits at the parent, it can make strategic sense to cripple the direct brand’s checking account in this way. That way, fewer River Valley customers will simply move their entire checking account over.
4. The bank has created a mobile site with shorter URL: ib4you.com. 
5. While Incredible Bank is quite different, the main River Valley Bank brand remains typically conservative, at least in its online presence. They don’t even dare mention the Incredible brand anywhere on its website.
6. See our Online Banking Report: Growing Deposits in the Digital Age for a dozen more strategies.

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Numbers: Remote Deposit Penetration at Randolph-Brooks FCU

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Best of the Web, Market Research & Metrics, Mobile Banking, mShift, Remote Deposit Capture, USAA

image In an article in today’s Austin Business Journal about the coming launch of mShift-powered mobile remote deposit at Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, the CU revealed its penetration number in its EasCorp-powered, home-scanner-based service, eDeposits:

Total members: 300,000
Total checking account customers: 202,000
% of checking using remote deposit: 5%
Number of remote deposit users: 10,000 (derived)
% of members using remote deposit: 3+% (derived)

The San Antonio, TX-based credit union expects more mobile users than in-home users. The product, which debuted at Finovate on Sep. 29, is currently being tested with employees before it rolls out to select customers.

imageUSAA was the first major financial institution to launch mobile remote deposits in August.  But WV United beat them to market in July earning our OBR Best in the Web award. And this week, speaking at BAI Retail Delivery, Bank of America’s Doug Brown was bullish on the feature, leading many to believe that the giant would add the feature to its mobile offering at some point (see note). And if that happens, it’s not inconceivable the feature could show up in television commercials, either from BofA or Apple.

Note:
1. In response to an audience question after his presentation, Brown said that the bank was seeing 1 million envelope-free deposits made at ATMs every day, and “there was an obvious use-case in mobile”. Note that he did not specifically say, or even directly imply, that BofA would launch it, but he also didn’t dismiss the idea. 

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SunTrust Partners with Moneta to Test the Alt-Payment Waters

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Alt Payments, BAI Retail Delivery, PayPal, SunTrust

imageI’ve been waiting 10 years to write this story. A major U.S. bank has finally dared enter the space PayPal has all-but-owned since the first part of this decade (see note 1, 2): secure, non-card-based payments at the point-of-sale, which do not require handing over private info to the merchant. 

imageYes, Bank One, Citibank and Wells Fargo all failed at person-to-person payments in 2000/2001, but this is much different. Those were payment services between individuals, not a point-of-sale option like PayPal, Google Checkout, and most recently, Amazon.com.

SunTrust’s partner Moneta is an Atlanta-based startup that debuted its alt-payment system at FinovateStartup earlier this year (video here). The joint effort was announced at BAI Retail Delivery in Boston earlier today (press release).

The program is already being tested on a large group of SunTrust online banking customers who recently received an email offering a $10 cash-back incentive to make a purchase of $50 or more from one of the handful of merchants currently accepting Moneta-powered ACH payments. The biggest merchant is Delta.

Moneta’s appeal to merchants is relatively straightforward: Incremental sales from customers unwilling or unable to pay via credit card online AND reduction in interchange costs by moving card-based transactions to Moneta transactions, with much lower interchange.

For banks, the business case is not as obvious. The hope is that Moneta-issuing banks share of interchange revenue will more than offset what the bank might lose in card-based interchange. While that may turn out to be the case, the more compelling benefit for banks is the brand and relationship value of offering a new payment choice with more perceived security and privacy advantages. There are also intriguing possibilities to add other revenue-producing value to those transactions.

image Last year in my notes from the BAI conference, I named Moneta as the “most audacious business plan.” Right now, it’s too early to say whether Moneta can become a legit competitor to PayPal. But with SunTrust on its side, that audacious plan is MUCH closer to realization.   
Notes:
1. For the historical perspective, see our first report on person-to-person payments (published, Nov. 1999). 
2. In somewhat-related news: A year after PayPal CEO Scott Thompson made a keynote appeal to bankers at last year’s Retail Delivery, FIS and PayPal announced a partnership today (press release) as did S1 (press release) that could bring PayPal-powered peer-to-peer payments to hundreds of financial institutions.

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Off-topic: Seth Godin is a Marketing Genius and Only Accepts PayPal

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Email Samples, PayPal

image Seth Godin is a true marketing guru. And unlike some authors, he also practices what he preaches.

Case in point: At 10:49 AM Eastern today, he announced via post on his blog that he was selling a special boxed set of five of his books (here):

  • Limit one per customer
  • 800 total sets, with no more to be printed ever
  • Price = $64 + $10 shipping
  • Payment via PayPal only.

By 1 PM, when I ordered, only 176 remained. By the time I returned from this afternoon’s BAI Retail Delivery program, they were all gone (note 1).

And of course, I received a clever thank-you note from Mr. Godin a few hours later (see below).

Relevance to Netbankers: This doesn’t really have anything to do with financial services other than being one more bit of evidence of PayPal’s ubiquity online. This is just a great example of how to create retail excitement with a combination of clear value, simple check-out process, a nice webpage (see screenshot below), and a blog entry. It’s more challenging to do it in financial services, but it is possible. 

Seth Godin’s webpage sold a limited-edition box set for a few hours (link, 3 Nov. 2009)

image


Thank-you email (three hours after purchase)
Apparently, part one in a series

image

Note: If you must have it, there’s one up for auction on eBay. Starting price $1.

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Out of the Inbox: Upbeat Customer Email Message from Umpqua Bank

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Email Marketing, Email Samples, Public Relations, Small Business, Twitter

image I recently opted in to the Umpqua Bank email list. And even though I’m not a customer, I received an upbeat message this morning from bank president Ray Davis (screenshot below).

This email appears to be geared towards businesses (see the closing line below). And that makes sense because I’d recently been looking into its business social network (note 1). But the message is on-target for consumers as well.

The well-written 185-word letter covers three main topics:

  • A cautiously optimistic message about the overall economy
  • Some tangible evidence (new banking division, new lending teams, new capital, and 20,000 hours of community service) that the bank is a forward-moving survivor
  • Reassurances to customers that they were well-capitalized and moving closer to repaying TARP money

The tone was completely soft sell. There is a link to its online switch kit at the bottom and links to its LocalSpace business social network and Twitter feed (note 2) on the right. It’s more “we’re in this together” than sales pitch and closes with this wonderful line:

As we wrap up 2009 and look ahead, I encourage you to commit to the spirit of recovery and take action that positions you for the future.

We recommend that every other well-capitalized bank and credit union send a similar message before the holidays. We are about to move into the annual “year in review” exercise in the media, and this year’s 100+ U.S. bank failures will be high on the list. Remind your customers, members, employees that you are still a vital member of the community. And that for every financial institution that went under, there were a 100 like yourself that did not. 

image

Notes:
1. For more info on the small-business market, see our latest Online Banking Report: Small Business Online & Mobile Banking.
2. Umpqua dreamed up one of the most compelling reasons we’ve seen to follow a bank, or any company for that matter, on Twitter (with the possible exception of the tweeting bakery): updates on its truck handing out free ice cream (Umpqua Twitter page).

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New Online Banking Report Published: Serving Small Businesses with Online & Mobile Banking

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Online Banking Report, Small Business, Strategies

image Since we began publishing Online Banking Report in 1995, we’ve taken a deep dive into the small- and micro-business online banking market five times. The latest was published yesterday (here). Online Banking Report subscribers can access it now as part of your subscription  (note 1). Others may purchase it for US$495 (abstract here).

Small business banking is one of my favorite subjects. It’s near-and-dear to our hearts because we’ve experienced first-hand the frustration of trying to manage our business with neither the resources, nor frankly the interest, to tap sophisticated business-management tools.

So, we’ve hobbled along over the years using Word, ACT, Excel, Microsoft Money, a hand-written ledger, and a moderately customized ecommerce back-end on our website. But we’ve clearly paid a price (note 2) for our lackadaisical approach to business finance.  

The reason I share our foibles is to point out the need for banks (note 3) and others to look at the opportunity more broadly. You can do so much more than simply help small businesses manage their checking accounts and credit lines. It’s the day-to-day business drudgery, billing, account receivables, record-keeping, tax prep, payroll, compliance, and so on, where small and micro businesses really need help.

As I’ve said many times over the past decade, I’d gladly pay $500 per MONTH for an online, small-business financial management service that handled ALL our needs. Ultimately, it would save us thousands per year, while delivering much more timely info about the health of our business.

Our latest report is a true product-manager’s guide to small-business product/service development with 76 pages of ideas plus examples from leading banks worldwide. We tie it all together with detailed descriptions of four levels of small-business package accounts (starting on p. 45 in the OBR Small Business Report; note 4):

  • Virtual Checking Account: A transaction-oriented service priced at $25 or so per month
  • Virtual Business Manager: Organizes most financial management duties for $50 to $100 per month
  • Virtual CPA: Handles most business-management functions including customer relationship management and billings for a monthly fee of $100 to $250
  • Virtual CFO: The works for $500+ per month

The report also includes data on the size of the U.S. market and a forecast for online banking usage for the next 10 years.

Notes:
1. Printed copies will be mailed late next week.
2. According to our accountant, we’ve spent well into five-figures more than necessary, mostly in extra taxes. Then again, we’ve avoided paying bookkeeping and software expenses that could have been just as high. 
3. Why do I think this is an opportunity for banks and credit unions, when it is outside of their core deposit and credit offerings? Very small businesses have neither the time nor resources to search for solutions, and then perform the due diligence necessary to determine whether the solution provider or professional services firm is trustworthy. On the other hand, while business owners may not always hold their bank in the highest regard, they at least trust them to safeguard their info. An army of regulators and class-action lawyers makes sure that the bank does not take its fiduciary responsibilities lightly. 

But few financial institutions will look to build sophisticated financial management features in house. Most will look to outsiders, both startups such Outright.com and established bank-tech firms such as Intuit, to build and maintain the business-management features.
4. See also, our recent post on small-business dashboards. 

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myFICO Forum Wins 2009 Forrester Groundswell Award

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank 2.0, Bank of America, Intuit, Social Media

image Fair Isaac’s popular forum (powered by Lithium; screenshot below) which supports its myFICO retail credit score/report unit, took first prize among 16 entrants in the Business-to-Consumer Supporting category in the recent Forrester Groundswell awards (winners list).

The Groundswell awards are based on business results using various social technologies. In total there are 16 categories.

The myFICO forum is currently receiving:

  • 120,000 unique visitors in Sep 2009, up almost three-fold from a year ago (see chart below)
  • 20,000 new posts added each month…with more than 500,000 posts archived
  • 400,000 searches per month
  • 10,000 new registered users per month

image According to information supplied with the application, the forum is helping Fair Isaac in the following ways:

  • Lowering call-center volumes: Total call center volume was down 1% in 2008 compared to a 23% gain the prior year.
  • Reducing call-center talk time: 10% of callers are referred to the forum for more information and/or help from other users.
  • Driving traffic: Traffic to myFICO.com from the forum equals about 40% of the volume from search engines.
  • Improving sales: The average amount spent by a customer grows by two-thirds after they join the forum and 13% of all myFICO sales online involve a forum view.

While myFICO was the only financial services winner, Bank of America was one of four finalists among 23 entries in the B2C Talking category for its Morris on Campus student-banking campaign as was MasterCard Brazil for What’s Priceless to You? 

Significance to Netbankers: myFICO’s busy forum shows that despite the proliferation of blogs and social media, an old-school online forum is a good way to build a community and off-load the tech support burden. Of course, forums don’t run themselves, and you’ll spend a considerable time moderating them. But considering the alternative, it’s an expense worth considering, especially if community-building is part of your strategic goals. Intuit has also had great success with its community forums, attracting 130,000 monthly unique users (see chart below).

myFICO forums (link, 29 Oct 2009)

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Website traffic for myFICO and Intuit forums from Compete (link, 29 Oct 2009)

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For more info:

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The Missing Link for Small Businesses: Banking, Finance & CRM Dashboard

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Personal Financial Management, Small Business, Website Usability & Design

I finally finished our latest report on small business online banking last night. Just as I was about to upload it, I realized there was something missing in the “dream online banking solution” for small businesses.

So I stopped the “presses” and added it to the report. What was the missing piece? A financial and business management dashboard integrated with online banking.

I poked around the web today and found a few interesting products (see update below), none of which were quite what I was looking for, and had no direct connection to financial institutions:

  • image MyBizHomepage has a dashboard that integrates with QuickBooks and sounds pretty slick. But there website hasn’t been updated for more than a year, so not sure if this is a viable business or just a hobby site. I have an inquiry in to the owner.
  • image DreamFactory Software also offers QuickBooks-integrated dashboards. I found it in the new Intuit App Center for QuickBooks add-ins (here). It’s a powerful program, but not the kind of plug-and-play dashboard I’m looking for.
  • image iDashboards: Has impressive sample dashboards to view. None integrate directly with online banking, but many include financial data (see screenshot below).

So I’m still looking for financial institution examples. Know any? Comment below or email me. It’s too late to make our report, but we’ll report it here.

iDashboards mockup of a healthcare “billing scorecard” (link, 28 Oct 2009)

image 

Update (29 Oct 2009):

Here’s another QuickBooks dashboard from QuickGauge.com:

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Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces Join Forces to Influence Lawmakers with the "Coalition for New Credit Models"

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Lending Club, P2P Lending, Prosper

image Caught up in the regulatory crackdown in all things financial, new models that would transparently originate consumer and small business loans between individuals, the so-called P2P marketplaces, have struggled mightily to satisfy SEC requirements (my feelings about that). In fact, all three peer-to-peer U.S. lenders had to shut down for extended periods in 2008/2009 to reengineer their marketplaces. See our previous coverage here (note 1).

Earlier this year, Lending Club spearheaded a largely marketing-oriented campaign called UnCrunch America, which brought together several companies including Credit Karma, Virgin Money, Geezeo and On Deck Capital to publicize alternative lending. You can see our previous coverage, but that program appears shuttered with the URL redirecting to Lending Club.

This week, a new multi-company effort called, Coalition for New Credit Models, officially launched (press release). This group is spearheaded by rival loan marketplace Prosper, whose founder Chris Larsen has spent considerable time lobbying federal and state legislators during the past year.

The coalition’s stated goals are largely political, hoping to influence legislators to reverse the SEC ruling that classified P2P loans as security offerings as well as adopt new programs to help support new methods for consumers and businesses to access capital.

Chris Larsen’s quote in the press release compares the need for financial innovation to that needed to solve energy problems:

This country has been in an energy crisis for years, and we are now in a financial crisis. America’s economic future depends on new and alternative credit models being embraced in the same way green technologies are being nurtured by policy leaders to help solve the energy crisis.

It’s a worthy effort, and we hope their voices will be heard on Capital Hill. With traditional bank financing still a pipe dream for many small businesses, this is an ideal time to test new methods of getting capital to entrepreneurs who can productively put it to use. 

About the coalition members
We are proud that five of the seven (Credit Karma, Loanio, Prosper, The Receivables Exchange, and SecondMarket) have appeared on stage at FinovateStartup and three of those (Prosper, Credit Karma, and Loanio) have also presented at Finovate in NYC (note 2).

Here they are in alphabetic order:

  • Credit Karma: The San Francisco-based Finovate alum (video) launched in 2008, displays free credit scores and credit report info in an ad-supported business model. 
  • Loanio: This Nanuet, NY-based peer-to-peer lender launched at Finovate 2008 in October 2008 (video). However, it suspended business activities a few weeks later to register its securities with the SEC. It has yet to reopen.
  • ProFounder: The Palo Alto, CA-based startup provides a platform where entrepreneurs raise seed funding from their social network and affiliates.
  • Progreso Financiero: The Mountain View, CA-based firm provides loans to underbanked Hispanic families using a proprietary credit score enabling it to make loans to families without FICO scores. 
  • Prosper:  The San Francisco-based startup, which presented at the inaugural Finovate in 2007 (video), has facilitated $180 million in p2p loans since launching Feb. 2006.
  • The Receivables Exchange: The New Orleans-based startup showed its account receivable marketplace at FinovateStartup this past April (video).  
  • SecondMarket: The NYC startup and FinovateStartup alum (video) is the largest centralized marketplace for illiquid assets such as auction-rate securities, bankruptcy claims, CDOs, private-company stock, whole loans, and more.

Notes:
1. For more on peer-to-peer lending, see our Online Banking Report: Peer-to-Peer Lending (Dec. 2007)
2. Uncrunch America members Lending Club and On Deck Capital are also Finovate alums.

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Bank of America App Shown in Sprint Android Microsite

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Android, Google, Mobile Banking

image Once again, the first mover gets the attention. Bank of America, long a fixture in Apple iPhone advertising, now figures prominently in Sprint’s marketing for the Google’s Android marketplace.

In a whirling dervish of apps on the Sprint microsite, Bank of America’s mobile banking app appears in the second set of four apps displayed (see screenshot below). 

Spring microsite featuring BofA app (link, 21 Oct 2009)

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Android market has BofA mobile banking on the second page of top free apps (link)

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Note: For more info on mobile banking via apps, see our Online Banking Report: Mobile Banking via iPhone (March 2009)

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Bank of America Offering 1 Year Free McAfee Internet Security at Online Banking Logout

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Bank of America, Login/logoff marketing, Security & Privacy

image This is one of the most valuable freebies I’ve ever been offered simply for being a customer. Bank of America online banking customers, new or existing, are being given a one-year free subscription to McAfee, worth $70 at retail.

The fine print is relatively clear (reprinted below, after the screenshot). The main “catches:”

  • Must not have a current McAfee subscription (see Results below)
  • The subscription auto-renews at $34.98/yr, a 50% discount
  • While in progress, the BofA offer never mentions number of users covered (the normal $69.99 subscription from McAfee covers three users, see note 1); however, during checkout, after accepting BofA’s offer, the product description confirms three users are covered with the subscription

Bank of America is also publicizing the offer on its main website (here). To accept, users must log in to online banking first.

Results: I signed up for the account this morning and was surprised to find that you are not required to use Bank of America for payment. In fact, BofA is never mentioned again after leaving the original landing page (see second screenshot). The McAfee cart offered the usual choice of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal and others. 

Opportunity for financial institutions: Assuming you can swing a deal with McAfee that requires no out-of-pocket expense, offering your customers a year’s worth of anti-virus protection is a win-win. The primary downsides are a few extra calls to customer service and a few irritated existing McAfee customers who do not qualify for the freebie.

Bank of America logout screen (21 Oct 2009; 7 AM Pacific)

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Fine print on bottom of page above:
This exclusive offer is available only to Bank of America Online Banking customers. Online Banking customers receive McAfee Internet Security for PC free for 12 months, a $69.99 value. At the end of the 12-month period, Online Banking customers are eligible to renew for another 12-month period at 50% off MSRP or $34.98. Customers with a current McAfee subscription are not eligible for this offer. Bank of America reserves the right to modify this offer and eligibility requirements at its discretion.

Landing page (link)

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Same offer on BofA website (link)

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Notes:
1. The service is currently offered at a discount at Intel’s software store for $32.95 for one year for three users. Intel’s offer was positioned via paid ad at the number-one position on a Google search for “McAfee Internet security.”
2. For more information on online banking security, see Online Banking Report: New Security Techniques (Sep 2008)

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