Courtesy of the USC Center for the Digital Future. Here are the results of their survey of top activities for internet users. I am impressed we made the list, let alone made #7. Got this from Mark Evans, after he saw Jeffrey Cole speak today. Wish I had caught that actually. Hope to meet Mark at MESH. He is doing a good job at promoting the new web lifestyle. The top 10 for 2005 are: e-mail general Web surfing reading news shopping entertainment news (searching and reading) seeking information about hobbies online banking medical information (searching and reading) instant messaging … Continue reading Online Banking is one of the top internet activities

Today was research (long) day, spending time with our friends at Forrester Research.  Topic was of course online banking, and how banks stacked up against each other.  Some obvious thoughts from the day:

Continue reading “Research day … phew”

The subtitle to this blog "Which banks understand the web lifestyle?" was picked deliberately. I believe that the Banks that will prosper and thrive, are those that actively and positively lever the power of internet. A general theme is evolving that will make this very hard to banks' to deal with this issue, but at the same time essential for survival.

That theme has been called, networking, community, community of interest, but it is all of those and none of them. This is a new state that we are dealing with here, as we search for known metaphors.

Management Speak – Leadership and Management – Add Your Knowledge and Share in the Wisdom of Crowds

What do the stock market, Wikipedia, Google and James Surowiecki have in common? They all believe in the wisdom of crowds.

Author James Surowieki argues in The Wisdom of Crowds that "collective wisdom" is not an oxymoron. He cites numerous instances where many
discrete decisions and inputs can create a whole that is far more accurate or powerful than anything created by just a few decisions and
inputs. The stock market is an example, where the mind-boggling number of decisions and inputs intersect to create essentially a gigantic
repository of knowledge.

Continue reading “Share in the wisdom of crowds …..”

I don't pretend to understand the technology of one part of this, but I do recognise that the potential for applications such as online banking are amazing. This is because the Bank can anticipate the users steps, and have the data/ functions ready for the user when they click. If done right this can eliminate latency; translation almost instant response to users clicks. Irish Developer Network NEWS HEADLINES – Latest Technology News & Daily Expert Tech Features for programmers, software developers and ICT professionals in Ireland The architecture relies on a view of data which is event driven on both … Continue reading Ajax, comet .. whatever; its got to be good for users

I think the connection made here to Marx is interesting. Its obviously critical to put aside ones personal views on communism, Russia, KGB and all those memories, and consider here the theory. There is a revolution taking place in marketing, and Banks are not exempt. So lets review the consumer environment first.

Web 2.0 Is Reminiscent Of Marx – CBS News

Buzzwords from the old dot.com era — like "cool," "eyeballs," or "burn rate" — have been replaced in Web 2.0 by language that is simultaneously more militant and absurd: Empowering citizen media, radically democratize, smash elitism, content redistribution, authentic community … This sociological jargon, once the preserve of the hippie counterculture, has now become the lexicon of new media capitalism.

What got me going on this, is Tara Hunt and her coined phrase Pinko Marketing here, and here, and here (coming soon).

Continue reading “Pinko Marketing, marxism and Banks – a curious mix”

Charlene talks here about applying the power of social networks and extrapolates that into the world of business. My business, banking, is the very antithesis of these concepts today, yet I believe banks that consider them in the future, in their product & channel development, will win. Banks can no longer sit behind desks in big buildings and expect customers to flock inside. Banking was a captive market, but that is shifting rapidly, and internet is the driver. Charlene Li’s Blog: Forrester’s Social Computing report “Easy connections brought about by cheap devices, modular content, and shared computing resources are having … Continue reading Social networks – a business paradigm shift ?

Lets have fun – compare 5 banks:

Wells Fargo (US)
Bank of America (US)
Barclays (UK)
Bank of Montreal (Canada)
Bankinter (Spain)
Santander (Chile)

I picked Spain because they are renowned for their internet banking. South America is similar but for different reasons. The hyperinflation has driven consumers to expect instant access to better manage their affairs. So here is our line-up – lets take a consumer look, and pardon my ignorance of Spanish and Portugese, although my American isn't that great either.

Read below the fold for home page assessment, and how I got to the following Bankwatch relevance.

Relevance to Bankwatch:

1. OLB log in has to be on the home page.
2. grab the users attention intelligently – refer Santander (but lose the TV crook)
3. Talk to your primary audience, make the rest secondary – prioritise
4. The home page isn't a site map – its a road map
5. A sophisticated suite of functions is critical

Continue reading “Banks that get “it” – comparison”

Postive report from Accenture.

The survey also highlighted a significant transformation in retail bankers’ strategic focus, with a majority (56 percent) of the respondents saying that their focus is shifting from cost reduction to growth. When asked to identify their top priorities, the greatest number of respondents — 87 percent — selected “increasing revenues,” followed by 69 percent who selected “reducing costs.”

When asked to identify the strongest motives behind the drive for revenues, the two cited most often were investor expectations of profitable growth and the need to achieve cost-efficient scale, selected by 89 percent and 73 percent of respondents, respectively.

Relevance to Bankwatch:

The shift from cost reduction to revenue growth. Its generally accepted that costs have been squeezed as much as they can be for now. The shift to online banking and self service is stabilising now, and the displacement of tellers has occurred. The next wins are process improvements, and revenue growth.

The survey also highlighted a significant transformation in retail bankers’ strategic focus, with a majority (56 percent) of the respondents saying that their focus is shifting from cost reduction to growth.

Retail Banks Globally Very Optimistic About Growth Prospects, Accenture Study Finds; Banks’ Focus Shifting from Cost Reduction to Growth

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 13, 2006– Many Say They Expect To Grow Faster Than the Overall Retail Banking Sector in Their Home Markets.Four out of five retail banks project annual growth of more than 5 percent over the next few years, in many cases outpacing projected growth for the retail banking segment in their home markets, according to results of an Accenture (NYSE:ACN) study released today. The study is based on a survey of more than 100 retail-bank executives in the United States, Europe and Asia/Pacific designed to shed light on their strategies for achieving growth in the coming years and to analyze how they will differentiate themselves in an ever-more-competitive retail banking market.

Continue reading “Retail Banks Globally Very Optimistic About Growth Prospects, Accenture Study Finds; Banks’ Focus Shifting from Cost Reduction to Growth”

Sightly off topic, but further to the earlier post on corporate blogging, based on Jeremiah’s blog, this description from his blog sums up a core group of very smart people, that I am proud to work with. Web Strategy by Jeremiah: Business Blogging is not a fad, now to focus on ‘HOW’ Then there’s the regular corporate folks who wear plastic badges on zip string attached to their belts, sit in cubicles and are issued Dell D600 laptops. We fill out expense reports, try to figure out how to measure ROI, marshal internal resources where none existed, wrestle with IT … Continue reading ouch – that’s me!

This is quote simply the most articulate description of a model for blogging in general, and specifically corporate blogging, that I have read.  (Thanks to the new “kinder gentler” Scoble for the link.)  It points us towards a future that scares the hell out of every corporation today …. a future that will allow corporations to listen and talk with customers, otherwise known as real conversations.  If it scares corporations generally, it makes Banks dissolve into a puddle of sweat – talk to customers you say;  good grief that’s what we do in the controlled environment of a branch office.  … Continue reading How to be a Corporate Blog Evangelist