When I saw this headline my first reaction for schwabmoneywise was to expect an interactive site that engaged participants in discussion, and interaction. After all, they won’t be kids forever. Schwab MoneyWise will help you teach your teens the fundamentals of finance and money management. So you can raise them with the knowledge to thrive in an increasingly complex financial world. Source: Charles Schwab MoneyWise : Financial Basics Detail The premise is based on, of course, research. The site was developed based on Schwab research showing that parents want help educating their kids about money. Coincidentally, the 2007 Schwab Teens … Continue reading Charles Schwab MoneyWise misses out on a perfect opportunity

 Seth makes an important point here in referring to the older baby boomers having some characteristics that have not traditionally been associated with old people, and hence his conclusion.  Psychographics (open vs. closed) are way more important than demographics. Source: Seth’s Blog: Marketing to seniors (open and closed) I would adjust the statement to say that psychographics are essential to understand the impact of demographics, and how to think about the segments, including old baby boomers, otherwise know as “Cranky’s“. The point in my simple view is that methods of assessing demographic shifts must take into account the psychological profile … Continue reading Psychographics more important than demographics

 Doug does an interesting job here comparing different markets, and the decision points for consumers, pointing to the commoditisation of loans. Lowest price Convenience – same side of the street Urgency – low fuel light came on and you pulled in to the next gas station you saw Loyalty – always use the same gas station Cleanliness – pumps and station are clean Hunger or Thirst – filled up and went in to the convenience store Speed – like the pay at the pump system at the preferred gas station Rewards – get rewards at the gas station used Source: … Continue reading Gas (Petrol) station banking

 Datamonitor report that Banks continue to treat internet as a service channel, and are failing to capitalise on soaring consumer adoption rates and convert online services to sales.[hat tip Finextra] Karina Purang, financial services analyst at Datamonitor, says a big problem is that banks are struggling to integrate the Internet with other channels and where there is integration in many cases this remains confined to the transactional level, rather than in terms of integrated business processes and a single customer view across multiple channels. This has a negative impact on the customer experience, says Purang, and also prevents banks from … Continue reading Banks are struggling to integrate the Internet with other channels

 Spend on internet advertising grows rapidly in the later to the game markets. Global spending on internet advertising increased from $18.7 billion in 2005 to $24.9 billion (£12.6 billion) last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, the media-buying agency. The Middle East and Asia are driving a boom in global advertising spending. Zenith predicted a spike of 7.7 per cent in spending in Asia in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the Middle East and Eastern Europe, advertising spending is growing faster than in North America and Western Europe, which are maturing rapidly as advertising markets, Zenith said. … Continue reading World advertising spend on internet about to overtake radio

 We have touched on this opportunity before, and Oz has written extensively on the topic.  Well Lloyds have implemented across all their branches. Thousands of Muslim businesses across Britain will be able to bank according to their faith from today, as Lloyds TSB launches the first high street Islamic business account in the country. The account, which complies with Islamic law (Shariah), is available across the bank’s 2,000 branches, and will be open to the UK’s estimated 100,000 Muslim firms. Source: Finextra: Lloyds TSB launches Shariah business account   Technorati tags: sharia+banking, UK Continue reading Lloyds TSB launches Sharia business account

 The mystery deepens with ABN.  Turns out several Banks are looking at it, including Citi, who may be interested in the whole thing, or Lasalle in Chicago. Citigroup is not alone in considering an offer for ABN Amro. European banks such as BBVA and Santander, of Spain, BNP Paribas, of France, and ING, of the Netherlands, are understood to have made informal approaches to ABN Amro in the weeks before it entered exclusive talks with Barclays. Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain’s second-biggest bank, is also thought to be monitoring developments. Source: Citigroup prepares to ambush ABN talks-Business-Industry Sectors-Banking & Finance-TimesOnline … Continue reading ABN Amro – the vultures hover

 Aggressive forecast from Forrester here.  Hat tip Netbanker.  Go there for their analysis. Online banking adoption continues its upward trajectory, as evidenced by a 27% growth rate in 2005. Expect this trajectory to continue during the next five years: By 2011, Forrester expects online banking adoption to grow by 55%, to roughly 72 million households. In 2011, 76% of online households will bank online. The largest adoption growth will come from the Gen Y segment, and in 2011, 85% of Gen Yers will bank online. Source: Forrester Research: US Online Banking: Five-Year Forecast I think this is perfectly rational.  By … Continue reading Forrester Research online banking prediction, means Banks have a loyalty problem