Fairly detailed update on the competition between UK Grocery stores in the banking space. Profits from Tesco financial arm are quoted at £202m which places them on a level approaching a smaller Canadian bank for example. From my own observation, they (Tesco) do a good job at integrating the financial products with their own at the checkout. It feels natural, and seamless to the consumer, unlike the North American model with banks established within grocery stores. Those do not have the same natural integration, which explains the sporadic success they have there. At this level, the UK groceries are sufficiently … Continue reading Check out deals on supermarket savings

We were at the Agency the other day, working on a campaign, and the classic quote came from the general manager of the agency. “the creative deck for the print stuff was two pages;   the creative deck for the web site is 40 pages” Implicit in this statement is a different way to approach bank marketing.  The reason it came up, apart from the obvious number of pages, is the granular thinking in consumer terms only rises to the surface when you begin to consider how millions of people will react to the web pages you place in front … Continue reading Marketing 101 for Banks – time for new approach

Nice catchy headline here from Silicon.com but in the small print they make the real point that while locations are important, it is even more a priority critical to re-invent the operation of those locations, as well as getting the right balance of branch footprint.

Internet can’t kill bank branch, says Halifax – Financial Services – Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com

Rumours of the death of the bank branch at the hands of internet banking have been “greatly exaggerated”, according to Halifax.

They make the key point here.  The linked article goes on to talk about some future technologies in the branch of the future.  Its worth understanding why this is required, because that helps us define which technology solutions are required.  Refer to background piece below on the changes in the banking channel environment over the last 5 years..

But, as around half of a bank’s customers will visit the branch at least once per month, some banks are also investing heavily in new technology in their branches to improve customer service.

Continue reading “Rumours of death of the branch have been greatly exaggerated (Halifax)”

HBOS employ branch footprint increase to address market share.  At £1 million per branch, these must be pretty spiffy branches they are considering here. Banking, finance, insurance The Times Times Online Sunday Times HBOS, Britain’s fourth-biggest bank, yesterday pledged to spend £100 million opening 100 Halifax branches over the next five years in the South of England, as part of its drive to increase its market share. The group said that the move, which represents the biggest network expansion by the Halifax since the 1970s, creating an estimated 1,500 jobs, would help it to achieve its target market share of … Continue reading HBOS to spend £100m on new branch openings (over 5 years)

Article from Mapinfo, on the BAI blog, discussing the the science of branch location selection. It reads more as an ad than anything else, but some good tips in there. I say ad, because it doesn’t address “why” branches and their location are important.

Banking Strategies Blog : The Laws of Customer Attraction

BY LYNN ELLEN QUEEN MAPINFO CORP.Relying on more “science” in branch location decisions can yield sharper analyses of (customer) demand and (branch) supply, minimizing costly mistakes.

| SYNOPSIS | A new branch office can cost $1 million to $3 million, reflecting premium pricing during this spike in de novo branching. Banks are encouraged to employ a more sophisticated analysis – one that includes more granular levels of detail – to choose the sites most appropriate for their overall retail strategy.

Identifying locations for new branches has always been part science, part art. Bankers over the years have developed many models for analyzing the demographics of a particular area. The models are then supplemented with local market knowledge or “gut instinct,” i.e., does this strip center or corner parcel feel right?

Continue reading “Vendor article on the science of branch location: “The Laws of Customer Attraction””

This article from Financetech is well worth the read.  I find this quote incredible “Manuel Barbero, BearingPoint: SOA enables faster, cheaper application integration. It exists thanks to the adoption of Web-related technologies and constructs that make applications talk to one another in a standardized manner”. Faster & cheaper?  I would like to know the bank that is seeing that result.  No question its the right thing, but its a slow painstaking process, as the costs of development are continually held up against the requirement for revenue.  This is consultantspeak at its worst. The emergence of service-oriented architecture and grid computing … Continue reading Faster & cheaper – huh!

I have been working on this matter for a while and its causing me more grief than I expected. There is no such thing as secure email unfortunately despite the best efforts from Yahoo, Yahoo and AOL, and others. But when it comes to Banks securing their customer correspondence there is only one general way, and that’s using a web browser, 128 bit encryption, and some type of browser based form.

Even the alternative vendors, and despite the hyperbole, that’s all they can offer too. So you can build or buy, and you will get secure correspondence using web forms, but you will NOT get secure email. Continue reading “The fiction that is secure email”

Nice job here summarising The Cluetrain Manifesto. Presentation Zen: Lessons from the Cluetrain: Imperatives for presenters we're living in the era of "the cluetrain.One of the central ideas in the book is this: markets are conversations Traditional ways of mass-media marketing need to adapt or get out of the way Continue reading Summary – Cluetrain Manifesto

From Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Talks about the early pains, but the traction thats now evident. TEN he shakeout of Internet-only banks was not at all an isolated phenomenon, but part of a broader picture of the dot-com boom/bust cycle. Featured links:* Technology Innovation and Market Turbulence: A Dotcom Example Download file Continue reading Online banking comes of age

I reprint below with links deleted, a job posting from Monster.com. This looks ostensibly like a legitimate employment listing but read on.

UPDATE:  I have rearranged the name of the company used in this fraudulent email, because I am being inundated with search hits.  I assume this is law enforcement looking for these guys, but its skewing my stats.  incidentally if this is law enforcement, its pretty heavy handed, and surely the bad guys aren’t that stupid, or are they!

This is from a crime syndicate, and they are recruiting individuals to launder the results of phishing. Here is how it works: Once you are hired you open an account at, in this case the Royal Bank of Canada. They (the bad guys) who have stolen consumers online banking credentials, send money using email money transfer to you. You then withdraw the cash, and immediately wire it using Western Union to the bad guys, probably somewhere in Eastern Europe.

The bad guys were able to steal customers credentials using software embedded into their computer (key loggers) which was downloaded at the same time as porn, music or while visiting some questionable site. The other common way they get consumers credentials, is using phishing emails, where they pretend to be Citibank, or Paypal etc, and ask you to log in to re-activate your account. At that time the consumer is simply sending their username and password to the bad guys.

They prey on low income people, or people who need fast cash, particularly students. If you hear of anyone with such a job alert them to this illegal activity immediately.

Moral: Always be aware of where you are on the internet, be suspicious of every email with a hyperlink, be suspicious of any download site, and think twice about those jokes and attachments from your friends with the “joke of the week”.

PS .. turns out a search shows up a company called S1_a1_f1_e1_M1_e1_d1 Inc in San Diego. They appear legitimate, and I am sure will have no association with the email below, ostensible from Europe.

Continue reading “The mechanics of online banking fraud – an example”