My sense is that eMarketer is wrong in this conclusion, and reflects how we thought about things 10 years ago. For example, the way this survey is articulated does not take into account the reality of people with a laptop while in front of the TV. This is more prevalent than many might think. During that period, what is the answer as to the “what are you doing” question. There is no binary answer to that question. And yes it is a zero sum game. Last time I checked, we all have 24 hours in the day. This is not … Continue reading eMarketer survey displaying 1997 thinking

The environment is clearly becoming highly popular amongst politicians and business, and some great and innovative approaches are being seen. But when I read this announcement today, some of the quotes struck me as self serving, and potentially not as altruistic as they sound. We’ll be doing a much greater due diligence in terms of loans that we’re making and business that we’re doing in terms of the environmental risk that’s involved. Source: Toronto Star So I can just imagine the new tick sheet being circulated to all commercial lenders across the country to assess new loans from a green … Continue reading TD Bank announces environmental framework but leaves unanswered questions

This report leapt of the screen at me! First their mandate: The Group was asked by the Commission to cover three scenarios of customer mobility: (1) “national switching”: switching from one bank to another within the same Member State; (2) “cross-border switching”: switching from a bank in one Member State to a bank in another Member State; (3) “cross-border opening”: opening of a bank account in another Member State, with or without physical presence. The comments start to read very much as regulations for the telecommunications companies. The consultation follows the publication of a report compiled by an ‘expert group … Continue reading EC consults on obstacles that customers face when switching bank accounts | Account Number portability as a catalyst for change

I had just finished studying the report on Social Personal Finance from Netbanker, when this came across my radar. Barcelona, June 5th, 2007 – IBM today announced that it has signed an agreement with Banco Sabadell, one of Spain’s biggest banking groups, to jointly develop Web 2.0 technologies for the financial sector. The two companies will create an Innovation task force to be staffed with employees from both organizations. Both companies will collaborate on adapting Web 2.0 technologies ranging from social networking software, Internet collaboration, blogs, RSS feeds and Web services for use in the financial services industry. Source: Labs … Continue reading Banco Sabadell and IBM to Jointly Innovate in Web 2.0 for Financial Services

Great quote! Stephanie is always worth reading, but the summary of Stowe’s Reboot presentation is outstanding. True to form, I have to read someone elses post to get Stowes point :-). First off, my immediate reaction is to look askance at the concepts outlined, e.g., “new kind of consciousness”, “how are brains changing”, “learned state of consciousness” etc. Stowe’s comments are all about Gladwell’s ‘Blink’ argument, that by allowing your brain to absorb many things at once, you can free your mind to see new patterns, and systems that you would not otherwise see, if you remain focussed on one … Continue reading “The world is more like an ER than a supermarket checkout”

This article reminds us that Banks actually do decent traffic online. I was in a session today where Jim from Craigslist spoke of their 7 Bn page view volume, and here we have HSBC too hitting decent volumes. Online sales at HSBC increased by 55% in 2006 as more personal and business customers tuned into the benefits of banking on the Web. The uplift in online sales was divulged by Michael Geoghegan, group chief executive at the bank’s annual general meeting. In total the bank’s Websites handled 1.8 billion visits in 2006, he said. Continue reading Online Banking produces large volumes of activity

Jim continues to keep Online Banking Report focussed on the newest and latest trends in our industry. I look forward to this report due out next week, and we’ll talk about it then. I am a huge fan of Wesabe in particular, and believe they are making new tracks in financial services. Our next Online Banking Report, Social Personal Finance, will look at the entire sector. You’ll find it here next week. It will include a detailed look at Wesabe and Lending Club, which is catering entirely to Facebook users (see post here), and what banks should do to compete … Continue reading Online Banking Report | Social Personal Finance … coming nest week

I have to call foul on this headline: BMO banks on Web 2.0 The article on ITbusiness.ca, refers to a use of software from Open Text, for a perfectly legitimate and no doubt smart application. I have just finished two days at MESH and the predominant theme for me, was communities and credibility. I will be posting on that separately, but I had to highlight this headline, as doing both the Web 2.0 movement, and BMO a disservice. One a simpler level, its just wrong, and might have people believe another box can be ticked off, and that is just … Continue reading Spin about Web 2.0 will hurt Banks

First keynote conversation, was with Richard Edelman. No surprise, but he is very quotable, and he also struck me as quite pragmatic in his views. His biggest hate is for spin. He talked a lot about the importance of transparency. he spoke frankly about the Walmart fiasco, when, if i remember right, Edelman staff were found to be ghost blogging supposed Walmart customers. He sees the HQ role as one of standards and training, and encourages all 2,500 staff to be engaged in social media. One of his main points, was to encourage companies not to leave the social media … Continue reading MESH07 | Richard Edelman

After the first day, as usual I am watching to see trends, especially those that are relevant to Banks. In reading this, its worthwhile reflecting this group are the super early adopters, startups, Web 2.0 companies, but there was a group here this year that did not show up last year. These were enterprise types, technology groups, enterprise knowledge management people. I saw one chap from the Royal Bank of Canada group, asking how he could use wiki’s for sharing knowledge within the Bank. Some notes: – the first thing that struck me is the evolution since last year – … Continue reading MESH07 | thoughts from day 1