Email Samples Archives - Page 3 of 7

Out of the Inbox: Bank of America’s "Irregular Credit Card Activity" Alert

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 28, 2011
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Bank of America, Email Samples, Security, Service

Several months ago (previous post), I wrote about Bank of America’s online fraud-warning resolution center for consumer cards, MyFraudProtection. It’s a great service, though a little hard to use.

At that time, I showed only the online functions. The more important piece is the email alert (below). It’s a great way not only to reduce fraud, but also maintain good customer relations.

But it’s still read-only. What I’m really waiting for is a truly two-way email, or better yet, text message. That way I can simply respond to the bank’s question in a few seconds and both of us can get on with our business.

Email alert from Bank of America: Irregular Credit Card Activity (11 Jan. 2011)

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Note:
1. See our recent reports: Paperless Billing and Banking and Email Banking: Revitalizing the Channel.

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Out of the Inbox: Chase Invites Business Clients to a Free Webinar with Google

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 6, 2011
Categories: Email Marketing, Email Samples, Google, Small Business

On the one hand, it’s easy for a bank to get the attention of business clients and prospects. Just announce a streamlined commercial loan-app process. But since that’s unlikely to happen in the wake of the Financial Meltdown, a Webinar with Google is a pretty solid Plan B.

Chase has a winning effort here. The topic, 7 ways to sell online, is so compelling that Google is tossing in a $100 AdWords credit for attendees (see note). And it never hurts to associate with a powerful and well-regarded Internet brand.

The email design is good with an interesting subject line, an email to ask questions, and a big green button for the call-to- action. The copy is a bit predictable, but it’s short and to-the-point and doesn’t distract. There are small quibbles regarding design-layout; perhaps, a Gmail issue; and they forgot to capitalize the W in AdWords, but those are minor glitches.

Grade: A-

Chase email to existing business clients (6 May, 10:33 AM, Pacific)

Landing page hosted by Google and co-branded with Chase (link)

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Notes:
1. Google usually offers the $100 only to new clients, but I don’t seen any fine print limiting the bonus. I hope they don’t add a restriction after the fact, which could negate the positive energy Chase generates from the Webinar offer.
2. For more info on the space, see Online Banking Report: Micro- and Small Business Online Banking (published Oct. 2009)

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Out of the Inbox: ING Direct Raises Price on Overdraft Credit Line by 55%, Still Undercuts Competition by 99%

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 22, 2011
Categories: Email Samples, Fee Income, ING Direct, Loans & Credit, Pricing

This has to be the best notification of a price increase I’ve ever seen (see first screenshot).

ING Direct (USA) famously does not charge OD/NSF fees on its checking account, Electric Orange. But that’s a bit of a moot point since the bank doesn’t offer paper checks, making it difficult to inadvertently go negative.

However, the bank does allow overdrawing by few hundred dollars if you so choose. And it charges interest on those "overdrafts" at a variable rate equal to 4% above prime, currently 7.25%. The bank reinforces the no-fee pricing in its standard low-balance alert (see second screenshot below).

But that low APR is heading upwards. Last night I received an email notification that effective May 15, the variable rate will be increasing to 8% above prime, or 11.25% today, a 55% increase. That’s still relatively reasonable for unsecured credit.

But the bank’s email doesn’t focus on APR. After clearly disclosing the price increase, it lays out a comparison of what a $100 overdraft would cost the average U.S. consumer for one week, $31, vs. the $0.31 you’d owe ING Direct after 7 days. There are no other fees, transaction or annual, for the ING credit line (complete terms here).

Well played.

ING Direct email disclosing OD credit line APR increase (21 March 2011)

Overdraft notice (22 March 2011)
The bank reinforces its no-fee policy in its email OD alert.

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The Power of the Recognition

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 20, 2010
Categories: Email Samples, Rewards Programs

Everyone likes to be recognized for being a loyal customer. It cuts across all demographics and income levels.

Banks and card issuers, which have some of the most loyal customers in any industry, generally do little to reach out and thank long-time customers.

In my wallet, American Express, Discover, Wells Fargo, Chase and Bank of America imprint “member since” on their plastic credit cards. But that’s about the extent of the recognition for holding a long-time account with card issuers, sometimes as long as 20 years.

In the pre-Internet days, it was expensive to create custom marketing programs for specific segments. But today, with the cost of communicating to online customers essentially zero, you should be sending messages to your customers at least once each year, thanking them for their continued business.

And on the bigger milestones, 5 years, 10 years, and so on, send something a little extra. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Find a special perk and offer an “upgrade” on their anniversary. It could be as simple as a 2-for-1 night at the movies, or as exotic as the recently launched PayPal Advantage program (previous post).

Even though the QPB message (below) I received last week was more of last-minute holiday shopping come-on than a loyalty reward, the subject of the email was irresistible and would work well for banking customers:

You’ve Been Upgraded!

Customer email from Quality Paperback Book Club (17 Dec. 2010)

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Out of the Inbox: Cascade Bank Drives Customers to Branch with One-Day iPad Giveaway

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 3, 2010
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Email Marketing, Email Samples, iPad

I’ve long been an admirer of Cascade Bank, a $1.7 billion bank headquartered in Everett, WA. A friend was marketing director there for a number of years, and I learned a lot from her about community bank marketing and management.

While I used to have a mortgage at Cascade, I don’t have any accounts now; hence, the email I received earlier this week. The bank invited prospective customers to come to one of its 22 branches (today only) and enter their name in a drawing to win an iPad. Five iPads were being given away bank wide.

And while in the branch, hoping to pick up a free ipad, the bank dangled an attractive duffel bag in front of visitors as a premium for opening a new checking account. And Cascade promised to drop an extra $25 in your account if you traded in your old check register from the competition.

Bottom line: Thanks to the iPad and some great graphic design, the mailing had a stunning visual, good title, and compelling offer. Excellent work.

Email announcing the giveaway (received 30 Nov. 2010)

Cascade Bank homepage (3 Dec. 2010)

Landing page pitches free checking with duffel bag premium and $25 bonus

Note: For more ideas, see Online Banking Report: Growing Deposits in a Digital Age.

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PayPal Launches Advantage Program for Frequent Buyers

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 1, 2010
Categories: Alt Payments, Email Samples, PayPal, Premium-level Products

When it comes to online marketing, I’m a sucker for rewards programs, sweepstakes, and the rarest of the rare (at least at financial institutions), premium/VIP services. So I was pretty thrilled when I got an email from PayPal two weeks ago with this headline (see first screenshot):

Jim, welcome to PayPal Advantage

According to the email, I qualified by spending $5,000 in the past 12 months (no problem considering we use PayPal to pay several business suppliers). The email included a $10 gift certificate for use with any eBay purchase (through 20 Dec.).

Taking a page from airline companies, PayPal’s main account page now contains a progress bar showing how much you need to spend to qualify for another year of Advantage membership (see last two screenshots).

The website lays out the PayPal Advantage benefits (link):

Cut to the front of the line when calling customer service
“Advantage hotline” phone number
Premium support via “most senior U.S.-based customer service specialists”
Faster dispute resolution
Exclusive events with executives meet-and-greets
Advantage member community/forum (coming soon)
Advantage member email newsletter (received one issue on 19 Nov.)
First to hear about the best shopping deals

Analysis: While none of the above is as exciting as the free travel rewards big-spending credit-card customers are accustomed to, these softer benefits are not as expensive either. And receiving recognition, combined with the red-carpet treatment from your financial provider, is an unexpected surprise and excellent customer-retention tool.

Welcome email with $10 certificate for any eBay purchase (17 Nov. 2010)

Interstitial displayed at login (27 Nov 2010, 1 Dec 2010)

PayPal Advantage landing page (link)

PayPal Advantage benefits page (link)

Widget on main page shows progress towards Advantage status

Details page showing specific progress

Summary box close up

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Out of the Inbox: ING Direct Reinforces Security Protections

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 18, 2010
Categories: Email Samples, ING Direct, Security

No matter how long you’ve been banking online and no matter how good you are at keeping your computer virus- and malware-free, there’s always the nagging concern that this could be the time where you end up as part of the national fraud statistics.

That’s why banking websites need to maintain a solid “perception of security” around the login box. Those padlocks, security FAQs, and so forth are an important reminder to customers that the bank is doing all it can to protect their money.

But it’s also important to reach out every once in a while, annually should be enough, through email and statement messaging, to summarize all the protections you’ve put in place. Saturday, we received just such a message from ING Direct (see below).

As usual, the direct-banking giant did a great job marrying conversational text with its trademark minimalistic graphical style to reassure customers that they are safe banking online at ING Direct.

The bank has long been ahead of the “security curve,” at least in the United States. It was first with a pin pad for secure password entry. It was one of the first with a security-challenge question and personalized anti-phish emails. More recently, they were the first bank in the world to deploy Trusteer’s Rapport browser plugin.

Saturday’s email discussed four security features:

How to identify legitimate emails from phishy ones
Reminder to look for your pre-selected image and phrase at login
Explanation of the pin pad for secure data entry
Encouragement to register your computer

One other area that could have been addressed is mobile-phone security. Smartphone users have significant security concerns about mobile banking. The bank missed an opportunity to address them and tout its relatively new iPhone app as well.

But, all-in-all, it’s a worthy effort from ING Direct, and something every financial institution should have in its annual messaging plan (note 1).

Email Header

From: ING DIRECT <saver@ingdirect.com>

Reply-to: saver@ingdirect.com

Date: Sat., Oct 16, 2010, at 10:39 AM

Subject: Here’s how we protect you

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Note: For more info on possible customer messaging topics, see the most recent Online Banking Report.

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Out of the Inbox: Lending Club’s “Idle Cash Alert”

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 12, 2010
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Email Marketing, Email Samples, Lending Club, Loans & Credit, P2P Lending

Lending Club, which recently surpassed $12 million in monthly P2P loan volume (see below), does a great job concisely communicating important account info. The startup earned an “A” in our recent report on transaction alerts (note 1).

Below is another example of its exemplary email alerts. In just 30 words, the company reinforces my impressive rate of return and my account balance. Then it seamlessly goes for the sale, encouraging me to put my cash balance to work by making more loans.

The only improvement I’d suggest is making the call to action, “Browse available Notes,” more prominent. First, it’s not clear that it’s a link. Second, what does that even mean? Ideally, it would be Lend Now, although I understand that terminology is not “SEC friendly,” so Invest Now, should work.

Bottom line: It’s a win-win to provide encouragement every now and then about how customers might put their idle balances to work. Just don’t overdue it.

Lending Club “Idle Cash Alert” (27 Sep. 2010)

Lending Club loan volume: Aug. 2009 through Sep. 2010

Note:
1. See previous post on OBR 181/182 published July 2010

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Flash Marketing Addendum: Co-branded Payments

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 28, 2010
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Email Samples, Marketing, VISA

In my post yesterday about flash marketing via Groupon and LivingSocial, I neglected to mention another interesting opportunity: working directly with the marketing companies to add your brand to the service.

Because payments and credit are crucial to ecommerce success, financial brands are a logical addition to the checkout process. And Visa just so happens to be featured today at LivingSocial (see inset and screenshots below).

Anyone who buys today’s Seattle deal, a $25 restaurant certificate for $10, automatically gets a second certificate to use as a gift, if they pay by Visa Signature card (see notes 1, 2). It’s hard to say what Visa is paying for the promotion, but given the massive website traffic and transaction activity, it’s likely a pricey sponsorship (note 3).

Email from LivingSocial with Visa branded add-on offer (28 July 2010)

Landing page (link)

Notes:
1. Some interesting items in the fine print for the Visa-sponsored comp certificate:
– valid only for Visa Signature cards, which might irritate some non-Signature Visa customers
– offer not valid for purchases made via iPhone (there must be something in the shopping cart that does not work on the iPhone)
2. My saved credit card in the site is a MasterCard; when I went to purchase the deal, there was no mention of the free certificate, nor any prompt to switch to Visa.
3. The merchant is receiving $5 for each certificate issued under the main deal. Visa’s sponsorship would need to cover some compensation to the merchant, but perhaps at less than $5 each, since fewer of the gifted certificates will be redeemed. It looks to be a popular offer, having sold almost 2,600 units (by 7 PM), with almost 10 hours remaining.

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Chase Bank Offering Small Business Clients $2,000 in Free Remote Deposit Capture Services

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 15, 2010
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Email Marketing, Email Samples, Remote Deposit Capture, Small Business

Two thousand is the largest banking premium I’ve ever seen, although Chase’s out-of-pocket costs are probably less than $500. The offer was made last week via email (see first screenshot) to existing business-banking customers not already enrolled in Chase Quick Deposit, a scanner-based remote check-deposit service.

The details:

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From: Chase Bank
To: Business Banking clients
Date: 10 June 2010 (1 PM)

Offer: Two years of free remote deposit services (Chase Quick Deposit), normally $50/mo, plus the $855 Panini 50-50 business-class scanner to power it. Total retail value = $2,055

Fine print:
— Users must deposit at least 10 checks per month to maintain fee-free service
— New Quick Deposit users only; not valid for current or previous users
— $500 cancellation fee if discontinued within 12 months
— Offer good through July 31, 2010

Notes: This offer does not appear to be available to the general public. On the bank’s website, the current offer is a free scanner with a 2-year contract at $50/mo.

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Analysis: It’s definitely attention-getting and will drive new remote-deposit business. But I’m a bit surprised Chase is giving away both the razor and the blades (see note 1). Perhaps the bank is testing different offers. But it will be two years before Chase finds out what percentage of its users convert to paying customers. Of course, they are also banking on an account-retention lift to repay the significant cost of the offer.

Email from Chase offering free remote deposit services (10 June 2010, 1 PM)

Landing page

Users accepting the offer must first log in to their account to enroll

Notes:
1. Offer made to a single-service (DDA) small business checking client converted from WaMu.
2. For more info, see Online Banking Report: Micro- and Small Business Online Banking (published Oct. 2009)

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Out of the Inbox: $50,000 "Goal Savings" Sweeps from ING Direct

By Jim Bruene Posted on April 20, 2010
Categories: Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Email Samples, ING Direct

On April 16, the day after 2009 U.S. income taxes were due, ING Direct emailed customers with a little incentive to establish an automatic savings plan or direct deposit (see first screenshot below).

Any ING Direct savings or checking account customer who has at least $100 automatically deposited into their account is eligible for monthly drawings of $5,000 (April through Sep.). And one grand prize winner takes home $50,000 on October 1st (total prizes awarded = $80,000; full terms and conditions here; FAQs here).

With interest rates so low, it’s a good idea to provide extra incentives to keep the savings habit alive. And April 16 is the second best day of the year to make a systematic savings appeal (the first business day after Jan. 1 has to be the best).

The sweeps is not mentioned on the bank’s main website or within online banking. This seems odd, given that any account holder can win. Perhaps it’s coming to the website.

ING Direct email to existing customers (16 April)

Landing page includes interactive smartphone app graphic (link)
Note: Users can drag and drop icons onto the phone’s list to simulate a savings plan

Note: For more ideas on driving deposits online, see our Online Banking Report: Growing Deposits in the Digital Age (Dec. 2008).

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Out of the Inbox: Citibank Offers to Help Users Restart their Online Banking

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 3, 2010
Categories: Citibank, Email Samples, Security & Privacy

My Citibank checking account dates back to when iPods were novel and 1GB was enough to satisfy your iTunes cravings (see Jan. 2005 post). For several years, Citibank gave iPods away to anyone who’d open up a checking account online and do a few bill payments.

I haven’t accessed my Citi checking account in at least a year, because last time I tried, I locked myself out with too many password attempts (note 1). And I’ve been too lazy to go through the often tedious reset process (see below).

So I was pleased to receive an email this morning offering to help me get restarted (see screenshot below). I figured the bank had noted my previously futile attempts to login and was sending along a bit of digital assistance. Sure, it was a year or two after the fact, but I believe in better late than never.

But the main call to action in the activation email is:

Enter the User ID and Password you created when you opened your account online.

So evidently, the bank thinks I’m smarter than I really am and actually can remember the username/password from my two-years dormant account.

Had I not been blogging about the email, I would have deleted it. But as I re-read it more closely, I did see the small light-gray link in the corner for resetting my password. Unfortunately, Citi requires your ATM card and PIN to reset passwords (see second screenshot). This is precisely why I wasn’t able to reset the thing when I was locked out two years ago.

My take:
1. An activation to stalled online banking customers is a great idea. But in this case, Citibank did not deliver on its promise to “help” me restart online banking (note 2). As a matter of fact, I am now even more frustrated. If you are going to send a message offering help, make sure there is actual help available for the various ways customers will respond.
2. For infrequent users, consider simpler password-reset procedures based on email address or mobile phone number on file plus Social Security Number and/or shared secrets.
3. Finally, don’t offer a dead-end password reset page. In Citibank’s case, if the user doesn’t have both their ATM card number and PIN, there is no place to turn. There’s not even a phone number listed on the page to seek live help (you have to use Contact Us in the upper right).

Citibank email (sent 3 Feb. 2010, 9:30 AM Pacific)

Citibank password-reset page

Note:
1. I have two Citi accounts with different usernames and passwords, so it always makes for an interesting memory test at login.
2. I should add that I have enough money in the non-interest account to provide Citi with a bit of profit every year.

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