I love this post.  Its the most lucid thing I have read in a while in the general space of memetrackers/ aggregators, and generally staying current. We should all read this, give our heads a shake, and focus! And might I add, Newsvine, Digg, Greatnews, Feeddemon, Bloglines, Tailrank – all of you please read.  You are making this worse, not better.  Creating Passionate Users: The myth of “keeping up” You can’t keep up. There is no way.  And trying to keep up will probably just make you dumber. You can never be current on everything you think you should be. … Continue reading You can’t keep up – trying to will make you dumber!

More research confirming the web lifestyle is here for a majority of US.  Pew Internet & American Life Project Report: The internet at major moments 54% in the number of adults who said the internet played a major role as they  helped another person cope with a major illness. And the number of those who  said the internet played a major role as they coped themselves with a major illness increased 40%. 50% in the number who said the internet played a major role as they pursued more training for their careers. 45% in the number who said the internet … Continue reading PEW – major moments in life, survey

I had to capture these five points, which brilliantly summarise the Pinko Marketing concept, courtesy of Tara. Google Groups- Pinko Marketing Pinko, to me anyway, describes an approach to things including: inbound, rather than outbound messages making tools available for a community, then getting out of the way being part of the community, not a tourist being 100% authentic advocating FOR your community to your company rather than the other way around Relevance to Bankwatch: Where do I start. All five points are the exact opposite for most Banks, a few believers aside, so any changes that can be made … Continue reading Pinkomarketing definition – Google groups

While Wells intentions are likely valid and part of a larger strategy, to encourage elimination of paper statements this "agree or else" approach is not just un-necessary, its rude. Up to now Wells have generally got it right, with quality implementations, but somehow someone has made a mistake here. Interruption marketing is very old-school.  Orcmid's Lair: Wells Fargo Click-Through Thuggery What I encountered instead were two EULA-like statements and a mandatory click-through before I could access my account on-line.The first statement was a single page E-Sign Consent document. It constituted my consent to receive all information in electronic form. The … Continue reading Wells missteps with online “agree or else”

They feel more in control. Alignment of customer and bank goals for turning off paper.

Finextra: Third of UK customers want to pay bills online – Alliance & Leicester

• Seven in ten internet bankers (70%) say they check their statements online and find it easier than receiving paper statements – and
• a third of all adults with access to the internet (33%) wish they could deal with all their bills online. This is no surprise, with
• two thirds of people (67%) receiving between one and five bills through their letter box each month and
• one in ten (10%) receiving six or more bills on their doormat every month.

Continue reading “Online bankers are the most likely to feel fully in control of their finances”

Its worth reading this careful, thoughtful, amazing post, from a believing Microsoftie (his name is Robert Scoble). He took a week off and good grief!!!!

Read it very carefully, and consider this is a company driven by a fellow who was lying on the garage floor scribbling code in 1980 (Bill Gates in case you can't guess) … you are a Bank probably born 100/ 200 years earlier, so what chance do you have?

If you study the words .. Bureacracy. Politics. Committeeisms .. which Bank can lay claim to having solved that problem. Oh, and Mini-Microsoft is a well meaning employee who believes Microsoft is fat and inefficient.  Read on ….. Continue reading “I had a dream – a cry for all Banks!”

Something we take for granted in the West hit Shanghai as their debit card system collapsed. City's bank card system collapses SHANGHAI'S major department stores, restaurants and some automatic teller machines failed to accept bank cards since noon today because of a network breakdown at China Unionpay, the country's integrated system for bank cards transactions. While the card base is enormous, the ATM base is smaller than I'd expect. China has issued more than 920 million bank cards, including debit cards and credit cards since the end of last year, up 142 percent from 2002, the year when China Unionpay … Continue reading City’s bank card system collapses

As Banks look to establish benefits from online banking beyond mere transaction migration, which is already well underway, this new offerring from Corillian is an example of the next level – information management, and problem resolution.

Much of the general inquiries at any bank are inquiries of the nature of transaction lookup, balance as of a certain date, has X been processed etc. One way to enable consumers for self service is provision of rich information, with value added analysis, of the nature that used to be offerred only to ‘platinum credit card” customers.

Finextra: Corillian introduces personal money manager module

Many financial institutions are still faced with legacy systems that are optimized to provide online banking users with only 30 to 90 days of host supplied transaction history. Today, online banking users expect and demand access to their online accounts, anytime, anywhere and are now less tolerant than ever of down time.Further, consumers are demanding increased accessibility to past account transactions and require better tools to manage them.
Continue reading “Corillian personal money manager module – good example of next generation online banking”

London is booming, specifically in The City. The reasons though are interesting, between traditional specialities in commodities, and regulation management. The latter is a choice that Government makes, and one that separates UK from the US highly regulated and interrogative approach.

globeandmail.com

Regulation has also been a key driver in attracting capital, people, and foreign companies. British authorities have steered clear of the strictly prescriptive rule-making enshrined in the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act, opting instead for a looser, more principles-based approach. The result: an explosion of Britain’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a junior stock exchange catering to smaller companies.Then there is the proliferation of hedge funds and structured products experts, which have made the City a fertile ground for developing new financial products.

Continue reading “London is in the clutches of a remarkable financial services boom”