Bank of America

Chase Fails to Design Email for Outlook’s Preview Pane

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Chase Bank, Credit/Debit Cards, Email Marketing, Email Samples

More than 70% of business-email users view most or all of their email messages in the preview pane.* Depending on screen size, resolution, and window sizing, the real estate available in the preview pane can be relatively small.

When designing messages, be sure to put the most important information in the upper-left corner to maximize visibility in the preview pane.

Here is a poorly designed email Chase sent to confirm posting of a credit card payment. It requires users to scroll right to view Chase's logo and log-in button. Here's how it looks on my 12-inch laptop screen running at 1024 x 768:

What not to do from Chase:

Chase email alert

Better design from Bank of America graphics flush left:

Bank of America email alert CLICK TO ENLARGE

(Note: BofA shows the last four digits of your account number; we changed them to xxxx in the screenshot above.)

Action Items
Even though it's just a routing email message, the poor layout makes it look like a phishing message. Chase could clean this up with just a few minutes of programming work. While they are at it, they should add a personal greeting and additional text disclosures to make it look less phishy. 

*For more information, read our Online Banking Report #129/139, Email Marketing for Financial Services.

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Bank of America Uses Radio to Drive Website Credit Card Applications

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Credit/Debit Cards, Search Engine Marketing, What NOT to Do!

At 8:30 AM today, we heard an unusual advertisement on classic rock radio for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines affinity card.

It wasn't the ad itself that was so spectacular, although it's not every day that you hear credit cards being pitched on radio. And it wasn't the offer that made the ad stand out, although 20,000 bonus miles is a pretty good perk.

What made it memorable was the call to action, "visit myalaskacard.com." They didn't even bother to throw an 800 number into the spot.

It's hard to say whether a radio spot will prove cost effective, but using a memorable URL should help. It's far easier to remember than a telephone number, and prospective applicants can be immediately greeted with an effective sales pitch reinforcing the product benefits and bonus offer.

Analysis
Google results for "my alaska card" However, once again BofA stumbles with its search engine support (see previous article). Searching on Google for "my Alaska card" brings up a single ad for a Web-based portal site, CreditStep.com (click on inset for closeup).

In fact, we tested every variation of "my" + "alaska" + "airlines" + "credit" + "card" and BofA was nowhere to be seen UNLESS we dropped "my" from the search query. Interestingly, Chase was an aggressive advertiser on several of the search terms offering a competing airline card with 15,000 bonus miles. BofA showed up as an advertiser only when we dropped the "my" from the search query.

The lack of advertising against "my alaska card" is especially damaging because the first few organic search results do not link to BofA or Alaska Airlines. Also, if you type a similar URL, such as www.alaskacard.com or www.alaskaairlinescard.com you either end up at a generic link site or an error page. At this point, potential prospects will either apply at the wrong place or give up on the search. 

If you correctly input the exact URL, you end up at the following landing page. It's OK, but should reinforce the impressive benefits of applying now, a free ticket right away and a $50 companion ticket every year on renewal (see screenshot below).

Action Items
Here's what you should do to ensure better search-engine support for your offline advertising:

  1. Advertise at search engines on likely search terms that would be used by consumers responding to your advertising
  2. Create a memorable URL that is not easily mistyped
  3. Register or purchase domains similar to the advertised URL (including common misspellings), or pay the owner to refer traffic to your landing page
  4. Design a landing page that boldly supports the benefits in your advertising and includes a prominent "Apply" button

BofA landing page for myalaskacard.com

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Bank of America’s $250+ Premium: Richest Ever?

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs

Bank of America is offering $250 for new customers willing to open a checking and savings account. And customers willing to play the "Keep the Change" debit-card game could easily rack up another $20 to $50 or more in freebies with the bank's three-month, 100% match (bonus averages $0.50 per debit card transaction). See our previous coverage here.

Wow! Even adjusting for inflation, that's about 10x the free toaster deal of the 1960s. Here's the link (screenshot below).

There is only one "catch" to the offer. It applies only to consumers outside the bank's sprawling branch network; however, we were able to see the offer no matter what state we entered into the initial screen.

But as long as you live in Nebraska, North Dakota, or other non-BofA states, it's very easy to earn the $250. Just drop $100 in savings and $25 in checking and the bank will triple your outlay. There's no direct deposit or online bill payment requirement, the norm for most online offers. However, the MyAccess checking account is only free if direct deposit is used, otherwise it costs $5.95/mo.

Bank of America $250 offer CLICK TO ENLARGE

Credit for first posting the offer goes to SlickDeals.net. We saw it first at BankDeals. 

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Bank of America’s Multimedia No-Fee Mortgage Promo Omits Key Search Term

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Mortgage, Refi & Home Equity, Search Engine Marketing

When Bank of America launches a new product, you might as well try to ride on their coattails rather than fight it. One obscure loan-referral website is doing just that.

Bank of America's product-du-jour, at least in our Seattle market (UPDATE 10 Jan 2007: Confirmed as a market test in this article here), is a unique no-fee mortgage that comes with a built-in "refi" option. The refi feature allows users to lower their underlying mortgage annually if rates drop. It's a product that makes a ton of sense for today's savvy mortgage holders, who know when to hold 'em and also when to fold 'em into lower-rate loans.

The bank has been blitzing the market with branch, Web (see End Notes), and radio advertising for the product. Today's mid-day radio spot included a URL in the call to action, <bankofamerica.com/nofeemortgage>. Typing that URL directly into the browser leads to the correct Bank of America landing page (see screenshot in End Notes).

However, for a good portion of listeners that navigate with Google, typing "bank of america no fee mortgage" brought search results that did NOT include the bank as an advertiser although they were the second organic result listed (see screenshot below).

Google search results for "bank of america no fee mortgage"

Google search for "Bank of America no fee mortgage" CLICK TO ENLARGE

Surprisingly, the top advertiser, YourQuoteOnline, was running an ad that was rather deceptive (see screenshot above). It fooled me into thinking it was a BofA ad.

A similar search for "Bank of America mortgage no fee" did bring up the bank's Google ad (see below), although it linked to a "$2,000 savings" landing page (see End Notes) instead of the no-fee promotional page. Evidently, Bank of America has not properly coded their search-word criteria to include the more obvious search term or to send searchers to the current no-fee campaign page. The bank is leaving money on the table by allowing some of the traffic generated by its advertising to be funneled off to other companies.

Google search results for "bank of america mortgage no fee"

End Notes (click continuation link for footnotes)

Banner advertising at About.com's banking blog <bank.about.com>

Bofa_ads_aboutdotcom

Landing page for direct navigation to <bankofamerica.com/nofeemortgage>

Bofa_nofeemortgage_url

Landing page from bank's Google ad on "bank of america mortgage no fee"

Bofa_mtg_landing

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Bank of America Adds 760,000 Users in Third Quarter

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Epayments, Metrics & Market Research

Although growth has slowed, as it must when you have the penetration of Bank of America, the company still managed to add 760,000 active* online banking users and 430,000 active* bill pay users in the latest quarter. The bank's $15 enrollment bonus surely helped boost the total (see Aug. 11 post).

Excluding PayPal with 31 million active users (includes international accounts, see previBofA active users CLICK TO ENLARGEous post), Bank of America continues to hold a large lead over the next largest U.S. online banking base, Wells Fargo's 8 million.

Although the bank posted an impressive 6.3 million gain year over year, about 4.5 to 5 million of that appears attributable to the MBNA acquisition (see chart below).

Bank of America Active* User Base
Qtr  Online Banking   Bill Pay
2006 (includes MBNA)
Q3….20.6 million   10.8 million 
Q2….19.8 million   10.4 million
Q1….19.6 million   10.1 million

2005 (excludes MBNA)
Q4….14.7 million    7.3 million
Q3….14.3 million    7.0 million

*BofA defines Active as having used the service in the past 90 days.

BofA bill pay volume CLICK TO ENLARGE On the bill-pay front, the bank processed $49 billion in payments for its users during the quarter, up $2.1 billion over the previous quarter (+4.5%). The average payment amount was $4,500 per active bill pay user, or $1,500 per month with 84% of the payments delivered to the payee in electronic form (ACH).

The bank also reported e-bill delivery volume of 21 million in the quarter from 370 billers.

Thanks to Scott Loftesness at Payments News for digging through the bank's 47-page earnings supplement for these gems (see pp. 18-19).

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Bank of America Pitches Identity Theft Protection at Logoff

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Credit Reports & ID Theft Protection, Website Usability & Design

While there's nothing unusual about the product or offer, with 50% market share in online banking, everything Bank of America does at its website is news.

After reviewing my credit card balance online today, I was greeted with a 30-day free trial offer for Bank of America's Privacy Assist Premier, a daily credit-monitoring, three-bureau service priced at $12.99/mo.

Below is the splash screen displayed after logging out from online banking:

We were a bit surprised at the lack of disclosure on this screen; not a single word about the eventual $156 annual cost, to which even the most well-heeled BofA clients may take exception.

Another surprise: Clicking the Accept button simply dropped us back on the home page with not a word of thanks or any confirmation that our selection was accepted.

However, most users will be smart enough to choose Learn More before signing up. On that landing page the cost is well documented appearing in the first bullet point in the shaded box (see below).

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Webby Award Deadline Oct. 27

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Allstate, Bank of America, PayPal, Website Usability & Design

Webby_logoThe 11th annual website beauty contest, The Webby Awards, is accepting entries for the best websites and interactive advertising campaigns. Financial institutions may compete in any of the advertising categories, or one of the three website categories:

  • Best Banking/Bill Pay
  • Insurance
  • Financial services (everything other than banking or insurance)

Allstate_nowwhat_1Last year the winners were Bank of America in Banking/Bill Pay; PayPal in Financial Services; and Allstate's nowwhat.com in the Insurance category (see inset).

Early entry deadline is Oct. 27. Fee is US$125.

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Bank of America Pays $15 to Enroll in Online Banking

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Bank of America

Bofa_15onlinebanking_home What's better than free online banking and bill payment? Getting paid 15 bucks to sign up. In a late summer effort to bump up the size of what is already the world's largest online banking program, Bank of America is paying non-users $15 to sign up for online banking. And it's not a subtle statement-stuffer program: the large banner dominates the bank's homepage today (click on inset for a closer look and see the landing page below).

BofA checking customers must merely complete the online sign-up application before Sept. 1 to receive an extra $15 in their accounts before Thanksgiving. They aren't even required to use the service after the initial signup.

Analysis
First, why Bank of America, already synonymous with FREE online banking, would pay to get more users is beyond me, but I'm sure they have research to back up this move. And even if you agree it is worth paying for enrollment, $15 seems like too much. Why not $10 or even $5? If the bank is just trying to nudge fence-sitters into online banking, it doesn't seem like the dollar amount needs to be very high. Even a sweepstakes might do the same thing.

–JB

Bofa_15olb_landing

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Best Internet Banks from Global Finance Magazine

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Citibank, Metrics & Market Research, Wells Fargo

Globalfinance_logoIn its seventh annual Internet-bank "beauty contest," Global Finance Magazine <gfmag.com> named Bank of America the best consumer Internet bank in the United States and Citigroup the best corporate Internet bank. Apparently, the magazine loves Citigroup's work, naming it the best corporate Internet bank in 46 countries and best consumer Internet bank in 11 countries including Germany, United Kingdom, and Indonesia (see list of complete winners, by country, by clicking on the link at the bottom of this article). 

The magazine also named winners in specific categories. In the United States, the winners were:

Consumer Internet Banks:

Best investment management services: Bank of America

Best bill payment and presentment: Bank of America

Best online consumer credit: Wells Fargo

Best website design: Wells Fargo

Best integrated consumer bank site: Bank of America

Best information security initiatives: Bank of America

Best online deposits acquisition: TD Bank Financial Group
–

Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks:

Best online cash management: Citigroup

Best trade finance services: Citigroup

Best website design: Wells Fargo

Best integrated corporate bank site: Wells Fargo

Best information security initiatives: JPMorgan Chase

–

–

Global Finance Magazine's Best Internet Banks for 2006

Country

Consumer

Corporate/Institutional

Argentina

Banco Rio de la Plata, S.A.

Citigroup

Australia

HSBC

Citigroup

Austria

RZB

RZB

Bahrain

Citigroup

—

Belgium

Citigroup

—

Bolivia

—

Citigroup

Brazil

Banco Bradesco

Banco Bradesco

Brunei

HSBC

—

Cameroon

—

Citigroup

Canada

TD Bank Financial Group

TD Bank Financial Group

Chile

Citigroup

BBVA

China

Ind. & Com’l Bank of China

Citigroup

Colombia

Citigroup

BBVA

Congo

—

Citigroup

Costa Rica

—

Citigroup

Cote D'Ivoire

—

Citigroup

Dominican Republic

—

Citigroup

Dubai

National Bank of Dubai

National Bank of Dubai

Ecuador

—

Citigroup

Egypt

Citigroup

Citigroup

El Salvador

—

Citigroup

Finland

—

Citigroup

France

—

Citigroup

Gabon

—

Citigroup

Germany

Citigroup

JPMorgan Chase

Greece

Citigroup

Piraeus Bank/Winbank

Guatemala

—

Citigroup

Haiti

—

Citigroup

Honduras

—

Citigroup

Hong Kong

HSBC

Citigroup

India

ICICI Bank Ltd.

ICICI Bank Ltd

Indonesia

Citigroup

Citigroup

Ireland

—

Citigroup

Israel

—

Citigroup

Italy

—

Citigroup

Jamaica

—

Citigroup

Kenya

—

Citigroup

Korea

—

Citigroup

Kyrgyzstan

AsiaUniversalBank (AUB)

AsiaUniversalBank (AUB)

Malaysia

HSBC

OCBC

Mexico

Banamex

Banamex

Netherlands

—

Citigroup

Nigeria

—

Citigroup

Oman

BankMuscat

—

Pakistan

Citigroup

Citigroup

Panama

—

Citigroup

Paraguay

—

Citigroup

Peru

BBVA

Citigroup

Philippines

Citigroup

Bank of the Philippines

Poland

Bank Millennium

Citigroup

Portugal

Millennium BCP

Millennium BCP

Puerto Rico

Banco Santander

Citigroup

Qatar

Qatar National Bank

Qatar National Bank

Russia

ZAO Raiffeisenbank

Citigroup

Saudi Arabia

Samba

Samba

Senegal

—

Citigroup

Singapore

Citigroup

—

Spain

BBVA

Citigroup

South Africa

—

Citigroup

Sri Lanka

HSBC

—

Switzerland

—

Citigroup

Taiwan

Citigroup

Chinatrust Com’l Bank

Tanzania

—

Citigroup

Thailand

Citigroup

Citigroup

Trinidad & Tobago

—

Citigroup

Turkey

Garanti Bank

Akbank

Uganda

—

Citigroup

United Arab Emirates

HSBC

HSBC

United Kingdom

Citigroup

HSBC

United States

Bank of America

Citigroup

Uruguay

—

Citigroup

Venezuela

Banco de Venezuela

BBVA Banco Provincial

Zambia

—

Citigroup

Source: Global Finance Magazine <gfmag.com>, July 8, 2006

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Bank of America’s Expandable Landing Page

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Bank of America, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs

Bofa_keepchange_msn_landingBank of America is back on the MSN front page (see End Notes) using its clever, if somewhat misleading, Keep the Change program to lure new checking account customers (see End Note below). The pitch is similar to the last time we looked at it (see NB 2/13/06), but the bank has redesigned the landing page (click on inset for closeup).

It now features three compelling benefits:

  • Free money through "Keep the Change"
  • Extra security through Sitekey (powered by PassMark/RSA)
  • Free online banking

The bank has found an effective way to keep the landing page concise, but still discuss all the benefits of these three programs. Each of the three main features has a small box on the landing page (see right). Each box has a "more details" link that expands the box yet does not open a new browser window (click on before and after pics below). Finally, for users needing even more info, there's a link in the larger box to another page with full details.

Before expansion

Bofa_keepchange_box_1

After expansion

Bofa_keepchange_box_expanded_1

—JB >>>>click below for End Notes

End Notes: Playing the "Keep the Change" game
Although we have mixed feelings about the value of the program overall, there's no doubt it has strong appeal for new account aquisition due to the 100% bank-match during the first three months. It creates a "game" for the user, incenting them to immediately begin using their new debit card to rack up free cash from the bank. That means new customers will need to deposit signficant funds, probably their paycheck, in order to fund the purchases needed to maximize the gains.

Assuming one debit card purchase per day, users will gain $10 per month from the bank, or $30 for the three-month introductory period. After that, the bank match drops to 5%, or $0.50 per month in this scenario.

Hard-core debit card users with two or three purchases per day could earn $60 or $90 during the matching period, And those gaming the system, splitting a $10.20 grocery bill into two $5.10 transactions (earning $1.80 from BofA), could drive their bonus into the $100+ category (the bank caps the rebate at $250, and doesn't pay it until the one-year anniversary). 

BofA Banner on MSN Homepage (July 11)

Bofa_keepchange_msn

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Bank of America Aggressively Courts Small Business

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Bank of America, Small Business

You couldn't miss BofA's bright-red, full-page spread in the business section of yesterday's New York Times (national edition, printed in Seattle, code YT, p. C9). In two-inch reverse type the ad screamed:

Payroll Free.

Below the heading:

Introducing Business 24/7, a suite of remarkable new online banking tools for small business owners.

Then in smaller print under the red box:

Business 24/7 is a remarkable new way to manage your small business finances. Online Business Suite only from Bank of America lets you send invoices and receive payments online so you get paid faster. Easy Online Payroll is the first complete online payroll service that's free.* Visit your nearest Bank of America banking center to open a business checking account and take advantage of these services.

To learn more visit bankofamerica.com/business24-7

Fine print:

*Easy Online Payroll is free when all your employees have direct deposit to a Bank of America  account. Otherwise, there is a monthly fee of $5 per employee up to a maximum of $15 per month.

Bofa_smallbiz_landingThe landing page specified in the print ad, opens to an impressive Flash animation that's a lot like watching an interactive TV ad. You can see what it looks like by clicking on the screenshot right, but you should look at it live to see how voice and animation are used to create an excellent sales pitch.

To leave the commercial, users select the "Get Started" button in the lower right, which leads to another landing page highlighting five key aspects of the service: Business Checking, Easy Online Payroll, Online Business Suite, Small Business Health Insurance, and Business Credit (see screenshot below right).

Bofa_smallbiz_landing2The core of the account from an online banking perspective, is the Online Business Suite. It is comprised of three modules, as shown below. The payables and receivables modules are optional, but the online banking is required. The total package runs $35/mo as follows:

  1. Online banking for $15/mo
  2. Online accounts payables (bill pay) for $10/mo
  3. Online accounts receivable (invoicing) for $10/mo

 

Analysis
Like bill payment, BofA is using FREE online banking services to grab attention, a tried-and-true technique. In this case, the free payroll isn't as free as bill payment, since it requires the employee to have direct deposit with the bank. But with the fee capped at $15 per month, most small businesses won't be complaining about payroll fees.

And the entire account is far from free. In addition to the cost of the checking account, the Business Suite runs $35/mo, payroll for three or more is $15/mo additional, bringing the entire online package to $50/mo. This won't appeal to the microbusiness market, the under-$50,000 crowd of part-time entrepreneurs, but for a full-time business with three or more employees, it's a good value (businesses must be under $20 million in revenue to use this service). When BofA adds remote deposit-capture capabilities, it will be even better.

—JB

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