Cingular Archives

Why is Wachovia Advertising Mobile Banking on Seattle Radio?

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 20, 2007
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Cingular, Mobile Banking, Wachovia

Wachovia Bank is not exactly a household word in Seattle. According to the bank's website, the nearest retail branch is 627 miles away in Sacramento, California (see note 1). So I was surprised to hear an advertisement for Wachovia's mobile banking services in the middle of the afternoon on a relatively obscure alt-rock station in the heart of Seattle yesterday.

Wondering whether I'd missed an acquisition or maybe the launch of a direct banking effort in the Seattle metro area, I Googled "wachovia seattle" and confirmed there were no retail branches (note 1, 2). I double checked through wachovia.com's office locator which informed me there were no offices within 30 miles.

As for direct banking, there were no bank ads displayed for "wachovia," "wachovia bank" or "wachovia direct" on either Google or Yahoo, so I'm pretty sure Wachovia is not targeting Seattle on the direct banking front.

But searching "wachovia mobile" did result in a targeted ad on Google which led to a mobile banking landing page at Wachovia (see below).

And surprisingly, AT&T Wireless was advertising under "wachovia seattle." Unfortunately, they dropped interested parties on its wireless homepage (see below), not the mobile banking page. Finding mobile banking on AT&T's site requires using the search box. It's buried under the not-so-obvious "Ringtones & More" category (note 3).

Summary
I still don't know why Wachovia is advertising in Seattle. I suspect it was an inadvertent placement within a larger radio buy. And/or the advertising was orchestrated by AT&T Wireless, which has a large Seattle metro presence, but no mobile banking partner in the area. Perhaps Wachovia was dropped into the regionalized ad by default. In any event, it's wasted air time.

Note:
1. There are three Wachovia Securities brokerage offices, but those aren't even listed on the main Wachovia website.

2. Search conducted at 2 PM Dec 20 from a Seattle IP address.

3. Note to AT&T: Time to update your FAQs and webpage, which still say that mobile banking is "coming soon" at Wachovia.

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10 Ways for Banks to Leverage Apple iPhone Hysteria

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 7, 2007
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Cingular, Mobile Banking, Service

Apple's iPhone has garnered the kind of media hype we haven't seen since Windows 95 launched Aug. 24, 1995. I don't know if people are lined up at AT&T Wireless/Cingular stores yet, but I'm sure we'll see huge crowds mugging for the cameras at midnight, June 28.

But unlike 1995, when only Wells Fargo could brag about "Windows 95 compatibility," most banks offer services that will work on the iPhone, at least to some extent. While the phone has not been made widely available to third-party testers, the built-in Safari browser provides website designers with much of what they need to make website functions "iPhone compatible." One issue: The phone is not expected to support Java (see Design Issues below).

Product & Marketing Ideas

Here are 10 ways to jump on the iPhone bandwagon:

1. iPhone loans: It costs $500 or $600, not including the monthly AT&T fee. As a promotion, you could offer term loans, specifically designed for purchases of the iPhone (see note 1). (See our next post for more info on the Prosper loan listing to the right.)

2. iPhone rebates: Offer a $50 rebate for customers who buy an iPhone with your credit or debit card, then sign up for online banking/bill pay/estatements or whatever online service you are promoting.

3. Announce iPhone compatibility: You might want to hold off on this until you can run tests on an actual phone. But if you are compatible with Safari, you will most likely function fairly well on the iPhone.

4. Create an iPhone landing page designed specifically for the 336 x 168 screen, complete with its own URL <iphone.yourbank.com> or <yourbank.com/iphone>.

5. Advertise under "iPhone" or "iphone banking" on Google: There will be zillions of searches on this term this summer. If you had some type of iPhone-related promo this could provide significant (albeit expensive) traffic.

6. iPhone giveaways: You wont' be able to give them away for new accounts, but a sweeps with an iPhone prize would be a good attention grabber.

7. iPhone compatibility FAQs: As soon as you've tested the phone with your banking services, document it all with screen captures and post to your website. You can run a link of your homepage with an eye-catching, "see how to bank at mybank with your iphone."

8. Designate one or more customer service reps as "iPhone banking" support complete with their own Web page, email address, IM address, and mobile phone number of course.

9. Use the iPhone as an attention getter in general promotions for online banking or mobile banking: You can use the name recognition to further your mainstream marketing efforts, for example, "You don't have to have an iPhone to bank with us. Any web-enabled phone will connect with our mobile site, <m.yourbank.com>.

10. Create an iPhone banking users group, club, forum, or blog: To promote banking with you via iPhone, entice iPhone owners to register their phone with you and join the club. Club participants could get a special t-shirt and special attention from the bank such as a dedicated "iPhone banking" tech support rep (see #8) and iPhone tips and tools delivered via email/RSS.

Design Issues
From a design standpoint, the main concern is how your website, and online banking area, appear on a 168 x 336 pixel screen size (3.5 inch screen). The screen is designed to display the entire webpage with users using the touchscreen to zoom in on specific areas for better readability (see below). Apple has a good demo of how it works here.

If you have a standard 800 x 600 layout, it will be shrunk to about 50% of its normal size when viewed on an iPhone. Another design complication: user's can rotate the phone 90 degrees and instantly go to portrait mode (336 x 168) (see example screenshots an Marketing Pilgrim here).

Here's how Fandango looks in full-screen mode and then zoomed in on the box-office list:

Financial Institution Action Items
Of course, step one is convincing your boss you need an iPhone right away for research purposes. Then, at a minimum, address iPhone compatibility in your FAQs as well as briefing your service reps that deal with website access questions.

Whether you go decide to ride the wave further depends is up to you. And looking back at this list, I realize I probably should have stopped at five. But the point is, banks and credit unions can use current events to drive traffic, generate buzz in your community, and let your customers/employees know that you are "with it." And please send us picture of you with your iPhone on June 29th and we'll post it here.

P.S. For those of you who want to understand the broader mobile banking trend and how the iPhone fits into it, check out the new mobile banking report from Online Banking Report.

—

Note:

1. Alternatively, you could offer an iPhone banking package with "free" iPhone. For example, bundle an iPhone with a checking account, credit card, credit line, etc. and sell for $20/mo with 3-year commitment (and early termination fee), with the customer paying the AT&T monthly charges separately.

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NY Times Reviews Citi Mobile

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 24, 2007
Categories: Cingular, Citibank, Firethorn, Microsoft, Mobile Banking

The May 24 New York Times contains a generally favorable review of Citibank's new mobile phone service (article here). Writer John R. Quain also touches briefly on Bank of America's WAP service and gives Firethorn's application a spin via BancorpSouth's mobile service.

For followers of the space, there's not much new information here. But a 1,200-word article in the NY Times is significant for the mere fact that the editor's found the subject newsworthy.

The only downside cited, and it's a HUGE one, is the cost from the carrier. In the author's test, it cost him $2.59 in data charges for what sounded like a single Citi Mobile banking session (he did not have a data plan). Ouch.

Here's the exact passage near the end of the article:

For example, checking my balances, making a transfer and confirming a few payments totaled 244 kilobytes, plus one text message, on Citi Mobile. Total charges from AT&T: $2.59.

Update: Drew Sievers, CEO of mFoundry, the vendor powering Citi Mobile, emailed to say that the data charges cited in the NY Times article included the initial download. Subsequent sessions, would cost just pennies each, even without a data plan. He also said that the typical user attracted to mobile banking will already have a data plan, making mobile banking essentially free, at least from the carrier.

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Wachovia, SunTrust, and Regions Bank Team with AT&T Wireless and Firethorn for Mobile Banking

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 26, 2007
Categories: Cingular, Firethorn, Mobile Banking, SunTrust, Wachovia

Once Citibank and Bank of America started making mobile banking noises, we didn't expect it to be long before others jumped into the market (note 1). So it came as no surprise today that SunTrust, Regions, and Wachovia announced full-service downloadable mobile banking apps (see press release here). No firm dates were released, but according to the Washington Post (here), AT&T will include the Firethorn software in handsets beginning in mid-year and support the launch with a multi-million dollar ad campaign.

It's a huge win for the Atlanta-based startup Firethorn Mobile, who in a single day picked up contracts with the fourth, eighth, and fifteenth largest U.S. consumer banks (see chart below). Just four months after its coming out party at BAI's Retail Delivery Conference, Firethorn boasts a partnership with one of the biggest consumer spenders on the planet and three of the largest banks the U.S. Not a bad quarter.

In addition, Firethorn's beta partner, BancorpSouth officially launched the production version today (press release here). The free service works only at AT&T/Cingular and only with the following five phone models: Motorola V3 Razr, V551, V557, L7 SLVR, or the LG CU500. See previous coverage here.

The BancorpSouth website today had a promotional link for mobile banking in its online banking area (see banner above) and a brief webpage and signup form (click on screenshot right for closeup).

Update: American Banker's Steve Bills reported that Wachovia is planning an October rollout and SunTrust is looking at a "test" of up to 100,000 customers later this year, with full rollout in 2008 (full article here).

Note:

1. See our full forecast in Online Banking Report 138/139.

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Apple’s iPhone to Provide Even More Reasons to Bank on the Go

By Jim Bruene Posted on January 9, 2007
Categories: Cingular, Mobile Banking, Strategies

Yesterday, I wrote about how new downloadable search apps were likely to spur mobile banking adoption as users grew more accustomed to using their phones for more than just voice calls (see post here).

Today, a potentially bigger driver was unveiled. The much-anticipated Apple iPhone which was such big news that the company's homepage was given over to a single image of the iPhone (see screenshot right).

Given Apple's recent track record, the combo iPod/phone/camera/browser may do even more to spur adoption of mobile services than the Google/Yahoo/Microsoft offerings (see note 1).

Why? Because, the user interface appears to do an excellent job of exposing the non-phone functions. While the same can be said of Blackberry's and Treos, this phone, co-marketed by Apple and Cingular, is expected to be a mass-market hit along the lines of the iPod (see note 2). As one blogger put it, "Apple didn't unveil a phone today, they unveiled a $500 fashion accessory" (see note 3).

While the built-in Safari browser and magnification function will spur mobile browsing and banking via standard and WAP websites, there is no indication if and when the iPhone will support True Mobile Banking via downloadable third-party applications. The demo phone on the Apple website <apple.com/iphone> does includes a stock tracking widget (see inset).

However, given Cingular's involvement in mobile finance, with pilots underway with MasterCard, BancorpSouth/Firethorn/ CheckFree (see our coverage here), we expect that bank's will have the opportunity, most likely at a significant cost to add a widget to the phone (see our Wells Fargo iPhone mockup at right; see note 4).

Bonus prediction: Within two years one of those buttons on the iPhone will activate contactless card payments via MasterCard, Visa, or American Express.

Notes:

Apple's iPhone will ship with integrated Google and Yahoo search.
Apple is forecasting 10 million unit sales in 2008, but at least one analyst has already called that low according to today's Wall Street Journal. Worldwide iPod sales are expected to be 40 million units in 2006. However, no one expect the iPhone market share to get anywhere close to the iPod's 80%. Competition is far more advanced and intense in phones than it was in MP3 players.
I can't recall where I read this, still looking for the attribution.
We added the Wells Fargo logo to the iPhone image; the bank has no known relationship with Apple or Cingular.

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BancorpSouth Mobile Banking Trial

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 18, 2006
Categories: Cingular, Firethorn, Mobile Banking

While doing a little end-of-year cleaning, I came across these screenshots from November. They are from Google's cache of BancorpSouth's <bancorpsouth.com> website on Oct. 22, 2006. The pages are no longer available online.

They detail the bank's efforts to recruit 400 volunteers to test mobile banking from their Cingular cellphones. This is the program engineered by Firethorn Mobile (see previous post here.)

The first page below explains the trial, and the second page is the application required to participate. To be eligible, customers had to meet the following requirements:

Be BancorpSouth online banking customers
Be current Cingular Wireless customers
Use a Motorola V-series or SLVR phone
Have Internet access from this wireless phone

Participants who completed all three surveys doing the 4- to 6-week trial were to receive a $100 Visa gift card.

See the screenshots below for more details (click to enlarge).

Main BancorpSouth explanation of the mobile banking trial (click to enlarge)

Application to participate (click to enlarge)

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Has Mobile Banking Finally Arrived?

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 16, 2006
Categories: BAI, BAI Retail Delivery, Cingular, Firethorn, Mobile Banking, Strategies

During 11 years of publishing Online Banking Report, we've written about 500 words on so-called "mobile banking."

Even though it was a much-hyped topic in the late 1990s, our answer when asked about mobile banking was, "Fix your Web-based banking, add email alerts, and mobile will take care of itself."

But it looks like times may be a-changing. Cingular is throwing its considerable muscle into a phone-centered service using Firethorn's <firethornmobile.com> new platform (see homepage right), and the U.S. market for wireless services is enormous (per MasterCard & Cingular during their Nov. 16 presentation at BAI's Retail Delivery Conference):

2 billion mobile phone users worldwide, including 218 million in United States (per Cingular)
Nearly 80% of U.S households own one (per Forrester)
$660 billion of revenue for voice, messaging, and data services
75 million U.S. mobile phone users sent a text message in September (per M:Metrics, 20 Nov. 2006)

Even more interesting, ClairMail shared market research showing that nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers aged 18 to 34 have used text messaging during the past three months, demonstrating that even in the laggard U.S. market, a core group of consumers is ready, willing, and able to use the phone for more than just voice calling.

Analysis
There are three main reasons why mobile banking's time has arrived:

1. It works on common phones: Previous generations only worked on a subset of high-end PDAs; now most mobile phones can handle mobile banking.

2. It has a business case: Mobile banking can both increase fee income by being a core component of a Premium Online Banking service (see Online Banking Report #109) AND lower costs by migrating voice calls away from the IVR and into self-service.

3. The youth movement: Younger consumers interact with each other in real time via text and instant messaging. There is little doubt that they will value the same type of interaction with their bank.

We'll be looking at this subject in much more detail when we publish our first exhaustive report on the subject in January (see Online Banking Report in late January or early February).

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