This quote from Gary Hamel at BAI is brilliant in its simplicity and unfortunately truth. (Courtesy of Jim at NetBanker) The biggest profit center at banks is customer ignorance, which banks have mistaken for customer loyalty.” — Gary Hamel, speaking to 1000+ bankers at BAI’s Retail Delivery Conference, Nov. 15, 2006 Source: NetBanker 2.0: Bank-account switching tools from Intuit and uSwitch take center stage His focus was internet based switching tools.  The importance of switching tools Hamel believes financial services loyalty will disappear once customers find out how easy it is to move their accounts to pick up a 100 basis … Continue reading NetBanker 2.0: Bank-account switching tools from Intuit and uSwitch take center stage

There are lots of examples of Google Map integrations, but this one is a standout.  It would work well for Banks once they get the database filled out.  This would be a great addition to a Branch Locator. Here is a link for a Toronto Bank that happens to stand out well in the pictures.  Its a beta … when you get there an annoying automated help appears – just close it.  http://www.virtualcity.ca/?location=051854193 Move the little black X around, and watch the photos change.    Technorati tags: branch, branch+locator, google+maps, mashup Continue reading Virtualcity.ca – A Google Maps mashup that would work for Banks

While a statement of the obvious, this Forrester piece is indicative of the next generation that Banks need to be thinking about.  ATM’s & Online Banking will not be enough.  A complete reconfiguration of Call Centres will be required, as well as the channel technology support. Family plans and prepaid options have succeeded in driving mobile phones to an increasing number of young US consumers 79% of online 12- to 21-year-old US consumers tell us that they have their own phone today. Given a choice, these young consumers prefer to use their mobile phone and do so to the exclusion … Continue reading How US Youth Use Mobile -They Value Mobile Highly, Spend Liberally, And Go Well Beyond Voice

I have bought a few breakfasts and lunches this way in Tokyo, but I liked the spin Jeremiah places on it, as he describes the Apple store experience too. Automatic Waitress and Cashier On a similar note, when we went to Tokyo, you ordered food at a ‘vending’ machine, you plunk in some coins, punch the picture you want (above) and quantity and a receipt plops out. You sit down at the counter, hand the receipt to the polite cooks who serve you. This saves time as the employees don’t have to deal with money, you don’t need a waitress, … Continue reading Automatic Waitress and Cashier

 In this old (2005) post, Doc applauds the launch of Google Blog search, and comments on the relevance of that kind of search compared to the “non live web”. As of today, Technorati’s traffic is #751 on Alexa, pushing 80 million page views per day. Other Live Web search pioneers include Bloglines, Blogpulse, Feedster, IceRocket and PubSub. The results they yield are radically different from what you get with Wide Web searches, as well as from each other. Mostly, the results are newer. They’re also more likely to come from individuals and live news services than from companies with static … Continue reading Searching the World Live Web | Linux Journal

First thing from BAI.  Bank advocacy is generally very low amongst our customers. Speaking Thursday at BAI’s Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, IBM Banking Solutions Executive Scott Lieberman said IBM research found that just 24% of U.S. consumers are advocates for their banks, notwithstanding the industry’s widely touted improved customer satisfaction scores. Lieberman defined advocates as customers who recommend their bank to others, are receptive to additional products and services and stay with their bank even when offered competitive products by other institutions. Source:  Wanted Customer Advocates   Technorati tags: customer+advocacy Continue reading Wanted: Customer Advocates

Wells are leading the customer advocacy charge online, with this enhancement just in time for Xmas.  My Savings Plan is integrated with Wells Fargo’s online personal finance tools, including My Spending Report, which helps clients manage their spending. Source: BankNet 360 – Wells Fargo Creates New Savings Tool My Spending Report, is a tool that aggregates all your bank account, and credit card spending and provides an automated analysis.  This is accomplished using merchant information associated with debit card, and credit card spending, and categorising your spending.  It allows for the customer to add their own categories or categorise other … Continue reading BankNet 360 – Wells Fargo Creates New Savings Tool

 I have been writing about CRM.  Turns out Wikipedia has a good discussion on this topic. There are three fundamental components in CRM: Operational – automation of basic business processes (marketing, sales, service) Analytical – analysis of customer data and behavior using business intelligence Collaborative – communicating with clients Source: Customer relationship management – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia These three components are defined here as follows: Operational CRM Sales force automation (SFA)  SFA automates some of a company’s critical sales and sales force management tasks, such as forecasting, sales administration, tracking customer preferences and demographics, performance management, lead management, account management, … Continue reading Customer relationship management | Wikipedia

Dave points to an article about Wizzit in Africa.  Wizzit, which is a mobile banking provider that offers a transaction banking account accessible via mobile phone and debit card. It has about 50K customers for its virtual bank (there are no branches). Customers can use their mobile phone to make person to person payments, transfer money, purchase prepaid electricity, and buy airtime for a prepaid mobile phone subscription. Source: Digital Money Blog: Mobile banking in Africa Its interesting how 3rd world countries can go straight to wireless technologies – we can learn about consumer adoption from these lessons.   Technorati tags: … Continue reading Digital Money Blog: Mobile banking in Africa

A rather theoretical piece from Carlos, but the concept makes sense, and this is how I would have expected CRM to evolve.  Customers will form their customer service opinion around the product or brand – not necessarily a specific dealership’s service department. This dynamic underscores the importance of maintaining good performance across all dealerships in the channel. Furthermore, the manufacturer must account for the entire customer service picture, which may extend beyond the service department to sales, financing and other departments. Source: Customer Service as Marketing through Statistical Modeling While he is speaking of car dealerships, the concept and alignment … Continue reading Customer Service as Marketing through Statistical Modeling