E*Trade using $175 New Checking Account Bonus

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, E*Trade
Although it takes some work to get the whole thing, E*TradeBank’s $175 new-account bonus is the richest we’ve seen for a new checking account. Here are the bonus levels (see file for download below): $75 Open a checking account with at least $1000$75 Begin a direct deposit of at least $1000 per month$25 Pay 2 bills online within 60 days$175 Total For screenshots and the fine print, download the following file: Download may_21_financial_innovations_etrade.doc

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MBNA Might Acquire Egg

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Credit/Debit Cards, ING Direct, MBNA, Mergers & Acquisitions
MBNA Egg.com? The Wall Street Journal today reported that MBNA was considering a purchase of Egg, the UK-based Internet bank and credit card issuer. While the primary purpose of the acquisition would be to pick up the bank's 2.8 million card accounts, MBNA would likely consider expanding the Egg.com Internet banking franchise into the United States. We think the U.S. market is ready for another innovative Internet banking brand. Look at what ING Direct (USA) has accomplished in under four years: built a successful franchise with more than one million accounts and $16 billion in deposits (year-end 2003).

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Local Option Boosts Google AdWords Appeal for Financial Institutions

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Google, Search Engine Marketing
Now that Google has begun identifying search engine users by their IP addresses, advertising via Google has become a whole lot more lucrative for community banks and credit unions. Financial institutions now have the ability to target their keyword ads via city, state, or MSA. See OBR 95 for a full report on search engine marketing.

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Ebay Toolbar Provides Phishing Defense

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Ebay, Phishing
   We’ve been a proponent of increasing your presence on the desktop through browser toolbars, pushed content, and other means . We were looking at it from a usability and marketing standpoint. It turns out there’s another use, as a security enhancement. Leave it to eBay to come up with the first proactive anti-phishing system. Ebay toolbar users received the Account Guard upgrade in February. It has two functions. First, whenever a user visits a valid eBay URL, the background color of the account-alert section of the toolbar changes to green. It’s a subtle but effective technique – quite noticeable when a spot on the top browser controls suddenly changes color, and much more effective than a locked or unlocked padlock in the lower corner. Second, an optional feature launches an alert box whenever you type your eBay username into a non-eBay URL. It’s not a foolproof system. It only…

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Who Has the Best E-Service?

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Customer/Tech Support, Service
It’s difficult for outsiders to judge a bank’s service levels unless you interview a number of customers as Vividence and others are doing or use the bank’s products yourself. However, the bank’s website does provide clues to the relative value placed on e-service. Here are the things we would look for as a prospective customer, all of which are affordable even to the smallest organization: Table 35Ten Clues You Are Dealing with a Top E-Service Organization 1.       Help function accessible from every page 2.       Easy-to-find prices (not buried on the eighth page of the account agreement) 3.       Contact Us or About Us section prominently displays telephone numbers, email, and mail addresses 4.       Service standards and guarantees prominently posted 5.       Detailed and up-to-date FAQs 6.       Customer feedback encouraged; for example, suggestion box or satisfaction survey 7.       Third-party endorsements/affiliations displayed, such as Member Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, TrustE, etc. 8.      …

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The Critical Role of Web Self-Service

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Customer/Tech Support
By Annette M. Jacobs, CEO SafeHarborOnline banking is no longer a competitive advantage. Today, the value is to offer an experience that is simple, user-friendly and provides the highest completion rates. Customer satisfaction with the quality is critical. Online banking customers have high expectations regarding system reliability and content quality. The level of sophistication among this customer segment is also driving the need for site integration and personalized service options. It can be difficult for online banking programs to duplicate the high touch of personalized service that customers have grown to expect from a branch-bank experience. Offering customers effective online support can substitute for most of the personal attention offered by the neighborhood teller. Whether customers are finding answers for themselves through a FAQ page or by using assisted alternatives like on-line chat or telephone support, financial institutions need a comprehensive program maintain high customer satisfaction while decreasing support costs.…

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What to Do Now Regarding Self-Service and Customer Service

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Customer/Tech Support
Customer service is one of those topics that engender passionate calls to action at staff meetings, but little follow-through. Why? Because it’s tedious work, difficult to measure, and expensive. Yankee Group estimates the total cost of a $200,000 Web-based self-service application is $1.3 million over five years, including IT support, knowledge-based maintenance, user training, and so on (see Table 30, below). However, if you expect to profit from your online services, you must pay attention to the subject. Following are several tables to help you prioritize your investments. Table x lists the high-level priorities. Table y lists 10 ways to get the biggest bang for your buck today. Finally, we list more than 50 techniques for delivering service beyond customer expectations, while deflecting calls from your call center and branches. Online Service Rules # 1: Anticipate questions and tripping points; remove the ambiguity in the product-design phase # 2: Email…

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Responsive Service Techniques – Email Support is the Key

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Customer/Tech Support
Techniques: Email, Web inquiry, chat, instant messaging, call back, co-browsing   Web self-service may be the key to cutting servicing costs online, but email support is the key to retaining customers. Responsive support (chat, email, and telephone) is preferred by about 70% of online banking users according to Vividence . Concerned, distraught, or impatient customers aren’t about to wade through FAQs looking for answers. They want immediate assurances that their concerns are valid and will be addressed. Typically that’s required a telephone call, but more and more users are turning to chat and email options. What’s holding back email today is poor service. In a recent Forrester survey, only 25% of respondents expressed satisfaction with email service, a satisfaction rate barely one-third that for traditional branch and phone channel. Once financial institutions provide a user experience on par with telephone and branch, email will dominate as the primary medium for…

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Ten Self-Service Lessons From Online Retailers

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Service
Because online customer service is required for survival, ecommerce companies often have the most highly evolved self-service facilities. One Drive users through self-diagnosis To maintain high customer satisfaction without driving servicing costs through the roof, online retailers and consumer service companies attempt to answer basic questions through a Web-based self-diagnosis. Only after the user has finished the diagnosis is the option given to submit questions via webform. Even then, a newer technique called email deflection uses automated logic to attempt to answer the user’s free-form text question, before it’s submitted to a human. Cloudmark, an email filter provider, uses email deflection powered by iPhrase Financial institutions should use this approach, especially in the tech support area. But take it slowly, walking before you try to run. Most customers still prefer the telephone for service problems, so they may resent your attempts to at call deflection. Most have spent years dealing…

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