Just came across Umair’s blog today and wanted to reference it. He is beginning a discussion on corporate DNA and branding. Quite fascinating …. the decaying brands he isolates are Microsoft [tried to control the product standards], and Starbucks [tried to control the value chain]. Umair Haque Google and Myspace are perhaps the most obvious; Craigslist and Wikipedia the most radical; and Zara perhaps the least well understood. What all of these players have in common is that, as embryonic revolutionaries growing up in an era of turbulence, they’ve developed radically different DNA. So of course, I am thinking about … Continue reading Decaying brands, and implications for Banks

Tom Groenfeldt on techandfinance.com highlights four predictions in a recent Gartner report, that are quite provocative. Taken together, they suggest mammoth changes to Banks as we know them. Click through for Tom’s take on them. I expect I will do same later. techandfinance.com “By 2010, social-banking platforms will have captured 10% of the available market for retail lending and financial planning.” “By 2010, 10 percent of banks’ revenue from retail payments will be supported by competitors such as PayPal.” “By 2010, U.S. banks will start shutting down their full-service mobile-banking channels.” “By 2011, centralized retail core banking applications will cease … Continue reading Banking predictions portend big change – Gartner

Fascinating research and conclusions picked up by Paul at Finextra. The implication is the shift towards greater self service by people for financial services that previously would have required advisors or brokers. Winners are price comparison sites, and advice from friends and family. Finextra But if consumers aren’t turning to their bank for financial advice, where are they going? Online price comparison Websites are one obvious source of information. The other is friends and family. This change in consumer attitudes helps explain the success of a new generation of non-bank social platforms such as those operated by Zopa and Prosper, … Continue reading Consumers getting financial advice for themselves and from friends and family

Interesting review of the customer view while trying to use the Barclaycard OnePulse card.  Dave makes the point that the merchant benefits are clear, but the benefit to the consumer at the point of purchase is confusing, and in this case slower than cash. Digital Money Forum: Slow penetration When I waved my card at the reader, nothing happened. The woman serving me asked if I really wanted to use the “terminal”. I said yes. She said: “It will be an extra five pence”. Whether it’s the lack of suitable terminals for the kinds of merchants, miscommunication between acquirers and … Continue reading e-cash applications need better design for consumers to accept

Interesting take on mobile alerts. Uptake is relatively small at 24%, and of those almost all are via email. Mobile alerts are almost non-existent. The reason is that the alerts have not addressed what customers actually want, and they resist paying the mobile fees for alerts they don’t want. Time to rethink ‘mobile strategy’ and ‘account alert strategy’ for most Banks. Interest in Text Alerts Waning – 02.01.2008 – Bank Technology News Article What banks can do better at, says Forrester analyst Brad Strothkamp, is to give customers alerts to activities they can’t discover through other channels, such as such … Continue reading Account alerts are not addressing customer needs

Egg (CitiBank) credit card does a very poor job at cancelling 161K cards.  They provide the reason that peoples credit history has deteriorated, which sounds legitimate but from the litany of quotes on this BBC page, it sounds more like they cancelled people because they were paying off their balance in full, thus making them unprofitable.  However the opposite is true. If the example I note below is anything to go by, this is a major screw up. BBC NEWS | Business | Egg customer anger at credit move Egg says 161,000 cards belonging to people whose credit profiles have … Continue reading Egg customer anger at credit card cancellations

The EU is displaying innovation in many ways, and this one really struck me.  They are standardising credit across the EU, but the mention of this new instant loan via text intrigued me. Consumer loans market opens to competition The new legislation covers loans from €200 to €75 000. It does not cover mortgages and charge cards. The lower limit was set to cover quick loans made by mobile phone text messages. This practice, which means money can be transferred to the borrower within 15 minutes, is on the rise and is particularly popular in Sweden and Estonia. Continue reading Instant small loans via text message

Obama has produced something here, that goes way beyond a better stump speech.  A a doubling of voter turnout, with 57% under 30.  Under 30 is the tough group to get out to political votes. There has to be something to Obama’s approach of targeting internet early. How Obama Became The Man To Beat, CBSNews.com Reports: Barack Obama Is On The Verge Of Becoming The Clear Democratic Frontrunner. How Did He Do It? – CBS News Obama campaign, unlike the Clinton campaign, aggressively targeted new voters – and they responded. “The astounding thing that really made the difference is the … Continue reading Message for old marketers – watch Obama

Its way to early for predictions, and my point is not politics.  With that disclaimer, something I am watching is how Obama embraced internet early. Edwards tried but if was fake.  Clinton I would imagine has ‘people’ who do ‘that’. Couple that with how the pundits and polls got Iowa wrong.  We could be observing the thin edge of a real change that traditional measurements are [again] missing. Obama Surges, Online And Off Senator Obama soundly beat Senator Clinton in the Iowa Caucuses last week. And he maintains an impressive lead in most online statistics as well. He has 212,000 … Continue reading “Obama Surges, Online And Off” | TechCrunch

Jim does a nice review of iphone compatibility.  iPhone Compatibility at the Largest U.S. Banks (NetBanker) But the hands-down winner is Bank of America, the only top-20 U.S. bank with an iPhone-optimized homepage. While the runners up probably work reasonably only because of smart design, BofA has optimised their site to recognise the iPhone and display appropriately.  This suggests they are thinking about target markets and taking that thinking into their internet channel.  Smart. Continue reading BofA winner with iPhone compatible site