Metrics & Market Research

In 2006, 86% of credit card direct mail included online options

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Financial Corp., Chase Bank, Citibank, Credit/Debit Cards, Metrics & Market Research

Advertising-monitoring firm, Mintel Comperemedia reported last week that nearly 9 out of 10 credit card solicitations in 2006 directed recipients to the Web, up sharply from 56% in 2003 (see note 1, 2). Several big mailers, namely American Express, still seem reluctant to use website response as an option, at least in the mailers we see at our house.

American Express tests must show a drop in response by offering too many choices. But if you don't have the budget of American Express, which can afford to drop a mail piece in every credit-worthy household every two or three weeks, you should add website options to your direct mail creative. That way, you can at least capture a lead at your website, even if they don't ultimately accept your credit offer. 

Total mailing volume for 2006 was 9.2 billion pieces (see note 1), or about 3 per week per credit-worthy household. Two of those were from the five largest mailers listed below which accounted for more than 60% of the volume, according to Comperemedia. JPMorgan Chase accounted for 18% on its own. 

In another data slice from Comperemedia, cited by Capital One in a Feb. 2006 investor presentation (PDF here), response rates have fallen from 1.4% in 1995 to 0.3% in 2004 (see note 3).

Here's a breakdown of the billion-piece club, and their percent change compared to 2005:  

1. Chase >>> 1.7 billion (down 4%)

2. Capital One >>> 1.2 billion (up 13%)

3. American Express >>> 1 billion

4. Citibank >>> 980 million (down 2%)

5. Bank of America/MBNA >>> 920 million (down 17%)

Other top-10 mailers: HSBC (up 25%); Discover (up 29%); Barclays Bank (190 million, up 70%)

Note:

1. Comperemedia tracks mailing volume for more than 150 large financial institutions. So the figures here do not include mailings from thousands of smaller banks and credit unions. In total, those probably account for less than 5% of the total from the top-150. 

2. Comperemedia press release is here. Interview of Comperemedia director Jenny Roock by MediaPost is here.

3. Credit card response rate slide from Capital One's investor presentation (PDF) at the Debt & Equity Conference, Feb. 2006; data from Comperemedia.

Credit card industry response rates

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Bank of America Opens One New Checking Account per Branch per Day

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Channel Integration, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Metrics & Market Research, Washington Mutual

The folks at BAI, using research by Raddon Financial, ran the numbers on new checking account sales per branch and found that Bank of America is opening 31 new checking accounts per branch per month, or just about one per day (article here). WaMu did better with 39 per month or 1.3/day. The article said community banks typically get only about one-fifth that,  just 2 new checking accounts per week per branch.

I'm not sure exactly what those numbers mean, but someday in a meeting when you are trying to make a case for new investment in your website, you can counter the, "but customers love the branches" with, "sure they do, but even BofA, who spends more than $200 million/year advertising, only manages to sell one checking account per day per branch" (see top 2005 advertisers here). It still might not mean anything, but it makes it sound like you've done your homework.

The problem with comparing branch-account openings to online-account openings is they are not separate ecosystems. Would the account have been opened online without a nearby branch? Or did that account, opened at the branch, come as a result of research conducted online by the customer? In the U.S., you need both channels for the foreseeable future, unless you sell a financial product that doesn't need physical support, like a savings account (see note 1).

Another wild card: How do you gauge the impact of increasingly prominent website offers like this one currently running on the checking account page at <bankofamerica.com> (see note 2)? Naturally, to get the $50 you have to open the account online.

Bank of America landing page for $50 checking account offer

Notes:

1. For more information on the future of the online channel vs. branch, see our report, The Demise of the Branch, published spring 2006 in Online Banking Report (OBR 128).

2. The offer was presented to a non-customer browsing the main Bank of America site from a Seattle IP address and indicating their state of residence was Nevada.

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Mobile Banking & Payments 2.0 Released: The Latest from Online Banking Report

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: ClairMail, Metrics & Market Research, mFoundry, Mobile Banking, Online Banking Report

OCBC Bank mobile banking serviceWe've finally wrapped up our latest report, Mobile Banking & Payments 2.0, published by Online Banking Report, our by-subscription research division (see note 1).

  • Link to the PDF abstract and table of contents here
  • Link for subscriber access, or to purchase, here

Work on this report started at BAI's Retail Delivery Conference in mid-November where we scheduled a series of briefings with the three mobile players in attendance: ClairMail, Firethorn Mobile, and mFoundry. As reported here previously, we were mightily impressed with the opportunities available in the mobile space.  

After three months of looking at mobile banking, talking to more players, and trying to develop a reasonable forecast, we have slightly tempered our initial enthusiasm. While we remain optimistic that the mobile channel will someday eclipse desktop online banking in terms of pageviews and routine transactions, in North America mobile banking is NOT a new channel, but rather an extension of existing sales and service channels (see note 2). And with few fees expected, the business case must be made on the softer retention benefits and customer service savings.   

The Forecast
U.S. mobile banking adoption compared to online banking adoptionEven with a challenging business case, most top-10 retail banks are headed to market in 2007-2008 with some form of mobile banking. We forecast that 25% of U.S. households will use mobile bank access by the middle of the next decade. The mobile banking adoption curve for the next 10+ years will be virtually identical to that of online banking from 1995 to the present (see inset above and note 3). 

But we are much less certain on which method of mobile banking will cross the chasm. Unlike Web-based banking, there are powerful entities, called wireless carriers, that stand between the bank and its customers in True Mobile Banking. So it seems that text/SMS-based services will lead the initial wave, because they are less dependent on the carrier and most under-40 users are already using them. However, long term, we believe more complete one-button (see note 4) solutions will prevail. And while we do forecast the adoption for all three methods, there are too many variables to be certain. A year from now, things should be quite a bit clearer.   

Subscribers, please post your comments about this report below, or email them directly to jim@netbanker.com.

End Notes:

1. For those of you that may be new readers, this blog is written by the publishers of Online Banking Report, an industry newsletter that began 12 years ago. Many of our blog postings are a by-product of the research we are doing for Online Banking Report, so you'll often see references to our more in-depth research published there, available by subscription only. 

2. This is different in other countries where branch and PC-based banking is less pervasive.

3. U.S. adoption by household, +/- 25%. The underlying data and assumptions for this table are in the full report, OBR 138/139, as referenced in the opening paragraph.

4. One-button mobile banking is our name for banking functions that may be called up on the mobile screen through a link on the main menu. It could be a WAP-based mobile website or a downloadable application. 

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New Account Totals for ING Direct’s Electric Orange Checking

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, ING Direct, Metrics & Market Research

ING Direct debit cardYesterday, Money.com posted an article (here) citing new account totals for ING Direct's Electric Money checking account:

  • 60,000 accounts, a 1.5% penetration of the
    bank's 4 million accounts
  • $2.2 billion in new deposits, a hefty $37,000
    per account*

Two weeks ago (Feb. 1), the bank said it had attracted 42,000 accounts (see post here).

The inset is an actual Electric Orange MasterCard debit card. 

*An average of $37,001 if you ignore my $100 account

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Is the United States Overbranched?

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Branch Banking, Metrics & Market Research

Union Bank's locations in Lincoln, NE <ubt.com> Well, not so much when compared with other Western countries; however, the bigger question is whether they are all overbranched. Only Singapore, with 111 branches per million inhabitants, is in a good position cost-wise. Italy and Switzerland, with more than 700 branches per million, have their work cut out for them as they reduce the number of branches from a level twice as high per capita as the U.S. total of 372 per million.

At our sister publication Online Banking Report, we've predicted that the total number of branches in the United States will fall by about 40% during the next 20 years (see note 1). Given expected population growth, that equates to about half the number of branches per million (using the BIS baseline, our projection is that the U.S. would have fewer than 200 branches per million in 2025).  The reason for the decline is the rise of the out-of-branch channels: phone, online, ATM, and soon mobile (see note 2).

Here's some interesting data from the Bank for International Settlements <bis.org>. Click on the table below to read the five-year data trend. The 270-page PDF is located here.

Interestingly, of the 13 countries covered in the report, only Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden and The Netherlands have fewer branches per capita than the United States. We have almost 25% less than the 13-country average. Only two countries showed an increase in the 2001-2005 period: Italy which added 1,500 branches and the United States which grew about 6,000 (see note 2).

Here's the list in order of most branches to fewest per million inhabitants:

1. Italy                 >>> 762
2. Switzerland   >>> 701
3. France            >>> 649
4. Belgium          >>> 566
5. Germany        >>> 561
6. UK                     >>> 472
<< <AVERAGE >>> 471
7. Japan               >>> 459
8. Canada             >>> 441
9. U.S.                    >>> 372
10. Sweden          >>> 295
11. Netherlands >>> 270
12. Hong Kong   >>> 249
13. Singapore     >>>  111

Notes:

1. See Online Banking Report's Decline of the Branch (#128), published May 2006.

2. Tom Brown's been writing about the trouble some banking chains have been having with the performance of their new de novo branches (see here).  

3. In 2001 and 2002, the U.S. branch total in the BIS data-set excluded credit unions.

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The One-Million Club: 31 U.S. Financial Institutions with Seven-Figure Site Traffic

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Metrics & Market Research

Go to Compete's website There's finally a simple and free resource for determining website traffic at most domains. Compete Inc. uses its panel of two million users to estimate traffic at hundreds of thousands of websites.

Compete's Snapshot service shows the traffic trend over the past 12 months plus a more detailed snapshot of the current month that includes pages viewed and length of stay (see Emigrant Direct example below).

Emigrant Direct traffic trend CLICK TO ENLARGE

Using Snapshot, we found 31 financial institution sites with one million or more unique users in September:

Rank/Unique Visitors (millions)
1)   17.1  Bank of America
2)   16.7  PayPal
3)   11.9  Chase
4)   11.4  CapitalOne
5)   11.3  Citibank
6)   10.0  Wells Fargo
7)    6.2   Discover Card
8)    5.6   American Express
9)    5.3   WAMU
10)   5.0   Wachovia

11)   4.1   LendingTree
12)   4.0   Fidelity
13)   3.8   US Bank
14)   2.9   Geico
15)   2.3   ING Direct
16)   2.2   Countrywide
17)   1.9   Progressive
18)   1.8   National City
19)   1.8   MBNA (Bank of America)
20)   1.8   Vanguard

21)   1.7   USAA
22)   1.6   FirstUSA (Chase Bank)
23)   1.5   Allstate
24)   1.4   Fifth Third
25)   1.3   Suntrust
26)   1.3   State Farm
27)   1.2   E*Trade
28)   1.2   Schwab
29)   1.0   Navy FCU
30)   1.0   HSBC
31)   1.0   BB&T

Also, PNC Bank and Key Bank both had just under 950,000 unique visitors. 

Source: Compete Inc., 6 Nov. 2006, <snapshot.compete.com>

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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 Blogging Coming to Corporate America

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bank 2.0, Blogs, Metrics & Market Research

While the number of external blogs at U.S. banks and credit unions can be counted on your fingers today, that won't last. Here's the eight we've heard about:

Source: OpenSourceCU.com, Online Banking Report

Trends
First Tech CU blog CLICK TO ENLARGE The New York Times reported last Wednesday on the expected explosion of business blogging. Citing statistics from Nancy Flynn, director of the ePolicy Institute and author of Blog Rules, it is estimated that only 4% of major corporations operate external blogs today. However, 85% more plan to do likewise. Among small business, 10% have already incorporated blogs into their marketing plans. 

Bank blogging forecast
We are in the process of developing a blogging forecast for release in November's Online Banking Report. Our preliminary estimate is that within two years, there will be at least 500 bank and credit union blogs.

It's no suprise that credit unions would jump on this trend; it fits right in with their membership and community focus. For example, Seattle's Verity CU has been blogging for almost two years (see 29 Aug 06). The unexpected first mover among major financial institutions is Wells Fargo (see 23 Sep 06), which has two blogs and six months' experience under its belt.

Action Items
If you pride yourself on having a state-of-the-art website, you'll want to add a blog in 2007. You can start with something relatively simple, such as First Tech Credit Union's news and announcement service. Then you can graduate to the more advanced versions with real personality, such as Verity Credit Union's and Wells Fargo's Student Loandown.

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Forrester Says 24% of Gen Y Reading Blogs

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Blogs, Metrics & Market Research

In a new Forrester study on Gen Y consumers (must be a Forrester client to access), Analyst Charlene Li tracks the growing influence of blogs. The company's research shows that one in four Gen Yers regularly reads one. Here's blog readership by generation:

24% Gen Y (ages 18 to 26)
12% Gen X (ages 27 to 40)
7% Young Boomers (ages 41 to 50)

Blog_symbol
We've seen studies that show even higher usage; it depends on whether you count social networks such as MySpace as a "blog." The influential Pew Internet & American Life Project <www.pewtrusts.org> released a blogging report this summer. In that study fielded in January, Pew found that 39% of Internet users, or 57 million, were reading blogs and 9%, or 12 million, were writing them.

Financial institutions thinking of starting a blog might want to tune into Charlene's teleconference next week (Sept. 22, 1:00 PM Eastern; cost = $250) when she looks at the criteria companies should use when choosing a blogging platform, including a review of nine providers.

She's also summarized the vendor comparisons in a $995 report which looks at Drupal, iUpload's Customer Conversation System, Roller, Six Apart's Movable Type and TypePad, Telligent Systems' Community Server, Traction Software's TeamPage, UserLand Software's Manila, and WordPress. Her report abstract names iUpload as her favorite.

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Financial Keyword Frequency from AOL Search Data

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Metrics & Market Research, Search Engine Marketing

Aolsearch_logo The privacy furor that erupted August 6 over the 20-million Web queries posted by AOL has distracted from the useful information contained in the database. While AOL removed it a week ago, numerous search-engine researchers had already downloaded the file and have reposted it with front-ends for research purposes.

SEO Sleuth <seosleuth.com> has posted the top-2000 search terms from the AOL sample. Click the continuation link below to see a list of all banking terms that made the top 2000 list. Here's the first 10 with their overall rank among all search terms:

40. bank of america
86. bankofamerica
114. fidelity
159. bankofamerica.com
170. paypal
174. www.bankofamerica.com
202. free credit report
215. american express
259. wachovia
264. wells fargo

What's striking about the AOL search data is the overwhelming preference to search on brand names rather than product categories. Also, that Bank of America has an extraordinary share of mind with searchers, with its various forms accounting for four of the top six most-searched financial services terms.

—JB


Rank/Search Term/Number of Searches/% of Searches that Ended in a Click (to ANY website)
Note: Click on the search term for a list of the websites visited after entering this search term

40 bank of america 5,920 70%
86 bankofamerica 3,450 71%
114 fidelity.com 2,862 77%
159 bankofamerica.com 2,280 53%
170 paypal 2,197 24%
174 www.bankofamerica.com 2,174 45%
202 free credit report 2,007 61%
215 american express 1,931 70%
259 wachovia 1,715 68%
264 wells fargo 1,691 76%
283 capital one 1,620 44%
284 zillow.com 1,616 36%
313 chase.com 1,525 57%
327 wellsfargo.com 1,460 50%
333 chase 1,454 64%
343 mortgage calculator 1,420 62%
382 www.capitalone.com 1,290 18%
391 washington mutual 1,266 78%
448 citibank 1,155 79%
457 wachovia.com 1,135 52%
488 www.wellsfargo.com 1,089 47%
509 capitalone.com 1,041 24%
525 wellsfargo 1,017 62%
528 credit report 1,014 62%
555 capitalone 985 41%
558 wamu.com 983 67%
667 checks 850 75%
674 chase bank 846 72%
689 credit cards 835 42%
708 www.bankofamerica 817 20%
731 mbna 795 78%
732 bank of america.com 795 54%
756 personal loans 775 78%
782 www.wachovia.com 761 39%
807 paypal.com 745 19%
813 zillow 739 50%
819 commerce bank 735 83%
901 wamu 685 71%
910 freecreditreport.com 682 34%
922 fidelity 675 70%
961 usbank 656 77%
984 loans 644 33%
985 providian 644 86%
1058 mypay 612 90%
1085 hsbc 601 51%
1145 usaa 570 75%
1171 americanexpress.com 563 53%
1195 us bank 553 80%
1232 ameritrade 541 60%
1249 discover card 536 65%
1251 etrade 535 65%
1309 auto insurance 518 51%
1319 aetna 516 78%
1333 www.wamu.com 512 71%
1371 www.zillow.com 501 25%
1388 usbank.com 496 63%
1396 orchard bank 493 50%
1425 wells fargo bank 484 75%
1446 payday loans 479 72%
1449 citizens bank 478 74%
1488 bank one 469 73%
1494 suntrust 467 82%
1502 wwwbankofamerica.com 464 21%
1529 www.providian.com 458 76%
1548 www.citicards.com 452 35%
1582 wachovia bank 444 52%
1630 experian 435 57%
1648 americanexpress 431 59%
1655 www.bank of america.com 430 44%
1663 national city bank 427 77%
1693 www.chase.com creditcards 420 52%
1714 bad credit loans 416 80
1715 providian.com 416 79%
1801 credit reports 403 63%
1823 usaa.com 400 62%
1833 citicards.com 397 48%
1873 www.americanexpress.com 392 38%
1879 american express.com 391 30%
1883 annualcreditreport.com 391 62%
1912 bankone 386 75%
1927 life insurance 385 60%
1964 zillo.com 380 17%
1978 countrywide 376 50%

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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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Top U.S. Financial Brands

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Advertising Age, Metrics & Market Research

Ad_age_logoLast week (July 17), Advertising Age <adage.com> published its annual list of U.S. "megabrands" as defined by total measured advertising expenditures in 2005 (see Note 1, click on link at bottom). The top six, and eight of the top 10 were phone or car brands.

  1. Verizon >>> $1.7 billion
  2. Cingular >>> $1.3 billion
  3. Sprint >>> $1.0 billion
  4. Ford >>> $980 million
  5. Chevrolet >>> $880 million
  6. Nissan >>> $810 million
  7. Dell >>> $780 million
  8. Toyota >>> $770 million
  9. McDonald's >>> $740 million
  10. Honda >>> $640 million

Financial megabrands
The biggest financial brands were American Express and Citi, tied at number 14 with $590 million in 2005 advertising. Seventeen other financial services brands made the top 200, including what has to be one of the biggest surprises in the top-200 list, LowerMyBills.com which spent an estimated $130 million in advertising last year, more than Time Warner, The Gap, or Johnson & Johnson.

  14.  American Express >>> $590 million
  14.  Citi >>> $590 million
  31.  Visa >>> $360 million
  35.  Capital One >>> $350 million
  36.  MasterCard >>> $340 million
  40.  State Farm >>> $320 million
  48.  Allstate >>> $290 million
  56.  Progressive >>> $250 million
  66.  TD Ameritrade >>> $220 million
  72.  Chase >>> $210 million
  72.  Bank of America >>> $210 million
  99.  Wachovia >>> $170 million
  99.  Washington Mutual >>> $170 million
113.  Fidelity >>> $150 million
122.  E*Trade >>> $140 million
134.  LowerMyBills.com >>> $130 million
146.  Schwab >>> $120 million
159.  Ameriquest >>> $110 million
177.  LendingTree >>> $100 million
—————————————-
Total >>> $4,820

Industry spending
These 19 financial services megabrands spent $4.8 billion in 2005 (see Note 2, click on link at bottom). The financial services sector was the fourth largest, trailing automotive, retail, and telecom. In all, financial services account for about 10% of $49 billion in total measured advertising expenditures across 200 so-called "megabrands."

— JB

Notes:

  1. Measured media spending from TNS Media Intelligence includes spending in consumer magazines, Sunday magazines, local magazines, b2b magazines, local and national newspapers, network TV, spot TV, syndicated TV, network cable TV, network radio, national spot radio, local radio and Spanish-language magazines, newspapers, and TV. It does not include Internet spending.
  2. Advertising Age's definitions of financial services are slightly different than ours, since they show industry spending of $4.4 billion while our list of the 19 financial brands amounts to $4.8 billion.

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