Why New Financial Technology Remains Important

With all the bad financial news circling the globe, you may not have been thinking about innovations in financial technology. While that’s understandable, this is not the time to ignore the fundamental changes occurring in the consumer marketplace (see below). Yes, we are biased towards new technology, but with registrations to our upcoming Finovate Conference Read more…

Could Mobile Payments Get a Boost from Lowly Stickers?

Even though I have credit cards from Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, American Express and Chase, I have never been offered the opportunity to add contactless payment capability to my card, so I still have no firsthand experience of that particular wave of the future.  And it hasn’t been too high on my list of Read more…

Kiwibank Uses iPhone Launch to Spark Interest in Mobile Banking

Kiwibank has one of the most eye-catching homepage designs in the world.  Who can resist a lime green Smart Car with four monstrous speakers strapped to the roof? As I was obsessing about iPhone apps this week (see note 1), I ran across Kiwibank’s landing page for iPhone banking (see second screenshot below). Now that Read more…

Firethorn and Monitise Make Major Announcements

September, October and November are traditionally great months for new product announcements. True to form, at least five major U.S. mobile banking announcements appeared last week. Brandon McGee posts a quick synopsis here. Of special interest were the announcements by Firethorn/CheckFree and Monitise/Metavante, all of which will be presenting at our upcoming FINOVATE conference in Read more…

Top 10 Financial Services Providers by Small Business Market Penetration

  In the 2002 study of small business, TNS (formerly NFO Global Financial Services) looked at which banks had the largest share of small businesses relationships and which were ranked highest by small business clients. SunTrust ranked highest in customer loyalty, followed by Wachovia and Washington Mutual. 1. Bank of America   Pros: ·         Three Read more…

Types of Small Business : Research Results

Types of Small Business Small business means different things to different people. For the sake of simplicity, in this report we’ll usually use the term “small businesses” to refer to the following segments: Two major classifications used in this report: 1.    Microbusiness: Basic financial needs, such as Quicken support, simple invoicing, credit card processing, bill Read more…

The Critical Role of Web Self-Service

By Annette M. Jacobs, CEO SafeHarbor Online 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 Read more…