Finovate Blog

While not the first bank to experiment with eBay auctions (see note 1), Zions Direct is the first to open a dedicated site within eBay and the first to sell "new-account vouchers" (see screenshots below).

Apparently the vouchers, listed in the gift certificate category, skirt eBay rules against auctioning financial services. The buyer of the certificate can redeem them for a cash deposit into their Zions Direct brokerage account. Zions Direct also auctions CDs every week directly on its website (see previous coverage here).

Bidding starts at $0.99 for the vouchers which range in value from $500 to $1,000. Bidders can pay via PayPal or check. The amount of the voucher is deposited directly into the buyer's Zions Direct account, which is required to redeem the voucher. So not only are buyers receiving cash at a discount, they also can earn frequent flyer miles and a free grace period if their PayPal account is connected to a rewards credit card. There is no requirement that buyers be new customers, nor are their limits on how many certificates can be purchased. In fact, bidder shecdoggy bought 5 of the vouchers totaling $4,000 at a total discount of $72.50.

So far the bank has sold 16 vouchers worth at total of $12,800 to 9 unique bidders for an average of $12.50 less than face, a discount of 1.6%. And there are currently 10 vouchers up for auction (see screenshot below). As more people have caught on, the spread has been reduced to less than 1% on recent auctions (see past and present listings here, Zions Direct eBay store here).   

Analysis
From a marketing perspective, this is brilliant, at least in the short run. For a cost of $15.95/mo for a basic store, and $30 to $40 per voucher (mostly in eBay/PayPal fees), the bank gets its name on eBay, numerous mentions in blog posts and press stories, a cool ad on its homepage (see screenshot below), positions itself as innovative and provides customers a nice little spiff.

Long-term, however, the terms will have to be adjusted or the bank will just be handing over easy money to the "gamers." The certificates will be purchased at face, or slightly over, by existing customers who rack up frequent flier miles and a do a little interest arbitrage during their credit-card grace period. The bank will need to lower the amount of the vouchers to $100 to $200 to reduce the potential for gaming, or if possible, restrict purchases to one per customer. Another cost reduction tactic would be to disallow PayPal payments, but that would reduce the effectiveness of the promotion. 

Zions Direct Auction Listing

Zions Direct eBay Store

Zions Direct Homepage (18 Jan 2008)

Note:

1.  In the late 1990s PNC Bank was the first to try CD auctions. In 2004, WaMu used eBay technology in a market test (see previous article here).