Internet has flattened old hierarchies, made information freely available, and eliminated distance. This is a revolutionary driver of customer expectations, and customer buying methods. It has also had the impact of opening previously closed kimono’s and exposed old style advertising for what it is … management of peoples opinions. Internet has allowed people to form their own opinions, and act on them.  That empowerment is fundamental to many changes we see now. One market driver is therefore ‘customer empowerment’. Another driver, comes from the way customers are continually required to manage their own affairs, at the ATM, the pin pad, … Continue reading The power of internet, and drivers of change

James has a good post on the shift from traditional PR to Community Management, and he explains that mechanics quite well. His example of Debbie at Wesabe is an ideal one. BankerVision: PR shifts to Community Management One final question is in my mind, though, is what use HSBC’s or Citi’s Community Outreach Coordinator will make of a competitive bank’s blogger like myself? Will they just ignore me, or take a leap of faith and realise that the community is powerful regardless of who is in it? Relevance to Bankwatch:His final paragraph says it all. With the lone exception of … Continue reading Where are Banks in Community Management?

Took another look at Commonwealth CU site, Young and Free Alberta. [hat tip azaroff.com] This is a highly novel and fresh approach top finding and retaining new customers. It is novel because they have managed to integrate the bank account with what is primarily the social site. The site and the products are built around people starting in financial life, and includes credit cards and student cards designed for them. Young & Free Account If you are between 17 and 25 years of age, you qualify! No fine print; no exceptions. Fill out the form below and we’ll contact you … Continue reading Young and Free Alberta | Commonwealth CU

The largest Credit Unions in the United States, by Assets and membership. The top 50 U.S. Credit Unions In total assets, these top 50 credit unions account for $219 billion of the $805 billion in U.S. credit unions. In members, the top 50 account for 18 million of the 89 million memberships. Here are the top three for each category. Top 50 by Assets Navy Federal Credit Union, Merrifield, VA. $35.3 billion in assets. State Employees Credit Union, Raleigh, NC. $15.9 billion in assets. Pentagon Federal Credit Unio, Alexandria, VA. $11.9 billion in assets. Top 50 by Membership Navy Federal … Continue reading America’s largest Credit Unions

Well stated conclusion on this study of US Bank brands. This particular quote resonates: Banks currently define themselves and their brand in terms of commodity products and expect customers to switch banks so that they can have “all the things they currently get from their current bank.” The piece is full of memorable quotes, and goes on to say What banks need is a new brand promise, one that is a reflection of who the target audience is when they use that bank and is positioned against the competition. The problem now is that the players in the market say … Continue reading “Banks define themselves in terms of commodity products” | stealingshare.com

Large scale collaboration, as an alternative to mergers to allow Credit Unions to achieve scale. No details yet however. CU Brand Blog Large-scale collaboration is a legitimate alternative solution. It allows credit unions to remain smaller and independent, yet allows these credit unions to share, cooperate and, most importantly, innovate. If you are not involved in collaborating with other like-minded credit unions, it’s time to get started. Continue reading Large Scale Collaboration | Credit Union innovation

Chris posts about eBank in Japan. They are an exclusively internet Bank and some of the statistics are staggering. They have $8 bn in assets, and yet only 195 employees. swiftcommunity.net eBank purely exists as an internet bank, accessible via any internet-attached device which, these days, is predominantly the mobile phone. eBank, because of this exclusive channel focus upon internet-based banking, built a bank specifically to exploit this channel. This is radically different to most banks that built internet banking as an additional channel to exploit the existing bank. They are built for pure automation wherever possible. The account open … Continue reading ebank Japan | designed to exploit internet channel