Blog - Page 1124 of 1288

Happy New Year!

By Jim Bruene Posted on January 1, 2012
Categories: Advertising Age, Holiday promotions, Website Usability & Design

On the first day of 2012, we found a few financial institutions wishing their customers well, while also informing them of holiday branch closures. Always festive Amplify Credit Union (Austin, TX) had a great look as did First Federal Bank of Florida (see below).

First Federal also remembered to address New Years Eve hours on Saturday, a more likely question.

Final note: While you're at it, also mention holiday hours in your call center and online banking support.

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Amplify Credit Union (1 Jan 2012, link)
Note: Amplify switches out its header graphic and logo treatment on major holidays. Here was their Valentine's look in 2010.

First Federal Bank of Florida (1 Jan 2012, link)
Note: First Florida had the best New Years graphics. They not only ran two banners, but also used subtle animation to cause the logo and top banner to twinkle when it was moused…

Out of the Inbox: Repossessed Vehicle Auction Announcement

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 29, 2011
Categories: Account opening, Email Samples, Loans & Credit

As a semi-reformed eBay addict, anything with auction in the title still grabs my attention. And of the thousands of emails I get from banks every year, I believe this one from Ohio Valley Bank is the first ever for a vehicle auction.

If you are selling off repos and REOs, you should let your customers get on a mail list announcing them. You could even turn it into a membership benefit, giving customers first crack at the deals and/or providing preferential financing.

Ohio Valley offers preapproved auction financing for its repo sales. A good move, although its landing page and online app could use a facelift (see second and third screenshots).

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Ohio Valley Bank email announcing vehicle auction (link; received 29 Dec 2011; 6:35 AM Pacific)
Note: I am not a customer of the bank, but anyone can sign up for its emails.

Landing…

Holiday Promotions from Credit Unions and Community Banks

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 27, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, BancVue, Holiday promotions

Last week we looked at the holiday efforts (or lack thereof) of the 20 largest U.S. banks. But aside from PNC Bank's "Christmas cost index" and ING Direct's "12 days of mobile," not much this holiday season was particularly noteworthy (inset for Midland Bank gift cheques, circa 1956, see credit below).

For inspiration, you need to look at the smaller banks and credit unions. Here are five we found through random googling today:

1. Michigan State University FCU: 6.9% Holiday Loan (homepage promo #2)

2. Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union: Visa Gift Card (homepage promo #2)

3. OnPoint Community Credit (Oregon): Mobile gift cards (homepage, promo #1) , Visa Gift Card (promo #2)

4. Community First Credit Union (Florida): iPad giveaway for eStatements (homepage, promo #3; landing page)

5. Texas Bank: "Stash the Christmas cash" (homepage…

2011 Funding for Finovate Alumni– Over $423 Million Raised

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 22, 2011
Categories: Bill.com, BillGuard, Bobber Interactive, Braintree, Cardlytics, CashStar, Continuity Control, Credit Sesame, Dynamics, edo Interactive, eToro, eWise, Finsphere, FTRANS, Guardian Analytics, Kabbage, Kony Solutions, Lending Club, Lendio, mFoundry, MiiCard, MOOTWIN, On Deck Capital, peerTransfer, Plastyc, Prosper, SecondMarket, SecureKey, Silver Tail Systems, Simple, Xero

To wrap up 2011, we've compiled a list of all of the funding Finovate alumni received over the course of the year.

The results were impressive: A total of 34 companies received funding, some more than once The companies collectively raised over $423 million dollars The months with the highest number of companies receiving funding were June August, both with 8 companies The highest amount of funding came in the month of June, when the alumni brought in over $124.4 million Here is a month-by-month breakdown of funding received: January -- $40.8 million raised by 3 companies Kabbage: $6.7 million -- Blog post Kony Solutions: $19.1 million -- Blog post On Deck Capital: $15 million -- Press release February -- $10.3+ million raised by 3 companies eToro: $8.3 million -- Press release Plastyc: $2 million -- Blog post SecureKey: Undisclosed -- Blog post March --…

IP Commerce’s Solution Used in Billing Service Group’s New Web Checkout Platform

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 22, 2011
Categories: IP Commerce

Yesterday, Colorado-based IP Commerce announced an alliance with Billing Services Group, a payment solution company whose OrderBridge payment gateway will use IP Commerce's Payments as a Platform Service to power a program called Secure Hosted Payments for Web Checkout:

"This valuable solution for quick, branded and secure online payments provides instant access to multiple payment services, payment providers, value-added capabilities, and customizable payment options. Secure Hosted Payments (SHP) for Web Checkout, protects customer credit card information, drastically reducing PCI Compliance scope and expediting future development requirements."

Billing Services Group chose IP Commerce for the Secure Hosted Payments for Web Checkout because its open platform approach is solid, tested, and scaleable.

To learn more about IP Commerce, watch its FinovateStartup 2008 demo.

Capital Access Network Helps Banks Give Small Businesses Alternative Funding

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 22, 2011
Categories: Capital Access Network

Last month, Capital Access Network (CAN) revealed two new services that help banks find alternative funding for small to medium sized businesses who don't qualify for traditional loans. Its Different Look and Pre-Look programs were developed to fill the gap between the increasing number of loan requests and the bank's lacking ability to meet those requests with traditional loans.

Here's how they work:

Different Look

After a small business' loan application is denied, this reactive approach uses non-traditional underwriting methods that leverage CAN's Daily Remittance Platform to find alternative funding products.

Pre-Look

Based on a client's profile information, CAN uses its behavioral modeling, a consideration of 90 different variables, to determine who will need capital over the next 12-18 months. This proactive approach also leverages the Daily Remittance Platform, but allows the bank to offer the applicant alternative funding even before they apply for a loan.

Quick facts:

5 days:…

Finovate Alumni News– December 22, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 22, 2011
Categories: CashStar, Dwolla, PayPal, Zecco

Best Buy Canada & Future Shop are the 1st major retailers in Canada to offer eGift Cards via CashStar. The Street interviews Zecco CEO, Michael Raneri. Fox News interviews Dwolla CEO Ben Milne about the startup's business model. PayPal partners with Fandango to allow users to purchase movie tickets using PayPal. This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Holiday Promotions at the Top-20 U.S. Banks

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 21, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, BB&T Bank, Chase Bank, Holiday promotions, ING Direct, Key Bank, PNC Bank, TD Bank

Since I began blogging in 2004, I've usually run a year-end post looking at the holiday marketing efforts of the top-20 U.S. banks (links below). This year, only 7 of the 20 banks are using holiday or seasonal imagery on their homepages. That's a decrease of 3 over last year.

As usual, PNC Bank is the gold standard for holiday bank promotions, with its long-running (25+ years) "cost of Christmas index" which quantifies the cost of procuring all the items mentioned in the famous song, "12 Days of Christmas." Following is a quick overview of the promotions, including a 1-to 5-bulb rating.

Previous posts: 2010, 2009 part 1, 2009 part 2, 2007, 2006, 2006, 2004

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Big banks in the holiday spirit
(rated 1 to 5 bulbs)

PNC: Christmas cost index

Cost of Christmas based on the song 12 Days of Christmas

Score:

Homepage

…

HelloWallet Gives Away 20,000 Free Subscriptions in 2011 to Families In Need

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 21, 2011
Categories: HelloWallet

Subscription-based PFM, HelloWallet, announced yesterday that it donated 20,000 free subscriptions to its PFM service in 2011:

"As part of their charitable mission to give away 1 free subscription for every 5 sold, online financial guidance company HelloWallet announced today that they have donated 20,000 free subscriptions to community organizations that serve families in need across the country in 2011..."

The goal of the donations is to provide families in need with a tool to better plan their finances. Based on the deals it recently signed, the startup estimates that it will give away 40,000 free subscriptions in 2012.

To learn more about HelloWallet, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Linkable Networks Partners with Mphoria, Becomes Mobile in First App

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 21, 2011
Categories: Linkable Networks

Today, card-linked offer innovator Linkable Networks (formerly CLOVR Media) announced a partnership with mphoria, a mobile and social merchandising platform:

"This agreement will transform retail deals available on the mobile web and via mobile apps into linkable offers." The startup also announced that CardStar will be the first mobile app to feature its card-linked offer technology: "Both partnerships mark the launch of the Linkables mobile API and the first mobile deployment for the card linked offer industry. Now any type of restaurant, service provider, retailer or brand may capitalize on card linked offers in a mobile environment."

The two developments bring Linkable Networks into the mobile environment and allow retailers and service providers to benefit from mobile card-linked offers.

To learn more about Linkable Networks, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– December 21, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 21, 2011
Categories: Check Point, Expensify, HelloWallet, Lending Club, Linkable Networks, Ping Identity, Prosper, Simple, Xero

Fox News discusses how Prosper & Lending Club help small businesses. The Chicago Tribune profiles Simple. BizReport examines card-linked offers from Linkable Networks (formerly CLOVR Media). Check Point announces Anti-Bot Software. ReadWriteWeb's Richard MacManus lists Xero as #8 in his 2011 list of top 10 web products. Inc Magazine lists Expensify as 1 of 8 startups to watch in 2012. Ping Identity makes the top 10 list of most exciting IT security vendors. Come see Ping Identity's live demo at FinovateEurope. HelloWallet gives away 20,000 free subscriptions in 2011 to families in need. This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

The Demise of the Branch (for real)

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 20, 2011
Categories: Branch Banking, Strategies

In Demise of the Branch, a report we published in April 2006, we opined that the branch's influence in retail banking had peaked. But it was perhaps a bit premature. It turned out that strong retail banking revenues (for example, interchange and overdrafts from the massive uptick in debit card usage) would fund the overbuilt branch network for a few more years.

But the good times are over, at least from a brick-and-mortar perspective (see note 1). And as much as I feel for the tens of thousands who will lose jobs, based on my personal experience, I am OK saying good riddance to the branch. While the people I've encountered have been super friendly when I hand over deposits, when there has been even the slightest complication, the experience has ranged from poor to abysmal.

And it wasn't that the people were uncaring or unintelligent.…