Dubai Financial Services Authority Set out below are drafts of legislation and other information which has been superseded by fresh material, and if applicable, for which the consultation period has closed. This list is provided for historical information purposes only, and identifies those topics which have been open to consultation more than once. Continue reading DIFC papers

Live from BAI Retail Delivery : Branches Are for Errands, Not Sales

Banks may be eager to tout their comfy branches, with their free coffee, newspapers on hand and plasma TV screens. Yet all too often, they lose sight of what the customer really wants: service that�s simple, easy and fast, said James McCormick, president of New York City-based First Manhattan Consulting Group LINK TO (www.fmcg.com/).

In a Thursday afternoon session entitled "Keys to Gaining Share: Which Strategies Are Working; Which �Best Practices� Are Problematic," McCormick said mystery shops conducted by FMCG found customers generally unimpressed by attempts to turn the bank branch into Starbucks. He said customer comments included remarks like: "I don�t come to my branch for the coffee and treats," and, "Why would I come to the branch to sit down and read the paper?"
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Live from BAI Retail Delivery : Online Search Engines Deliver Customers Merickel also discussed “sponsored links” as a form of online marketing. A sponsored link is a description of a company with its url that appears on a search engine page when the consumer types in a certain word or phrase, say, “bank account.” These sponsored links are listed separately from results generated randomly during the search but are displayed prominently to catch the consumer’s eye. “Sponsored search allows banks to insert their offering into the consumer’s consideration set and creates an opportunity to acquire new customers efficiently,” Merickel said. … Continue reading Sponsored links – Yahoo

Live from BAI Retail Delivery : Online Search Engines Deliver Customers The online search engine may not resonate with bankers as a potential customer acquisition tool, but failing to make that connection is a mistake, said Justin Merickel, director of the finance category at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! Inc. during a Thursday afternoon presentation entitled "Leveraging Search Engine Marketing to Build Customer Connections." Merickel said banks need to take advantage of the fact that consumers are increasingly using Internet search engines to manage their finances. According to a survey commissioned by Yahoo, 61% of consumers said they shop for or research … Continue reading Online Search Engines Deliver Customers

Live from BAI Retail Delivery : From Me-Too Competition to Strategic Differentiation Porter said an effective strategy must contain the following five elements: 1. A unique value proposition; 2. A different, tailored value chain; 3. Clear tradeoffs, or deciding what not to do; 4. Mutually reinforcing activities that support the value proposition; 5. Continuity, or sticking with the strategy. Continue reading Strategic differentiation

Live from BAI Retail Delivery : The Elusive Customer Relationship "The research verifies that bankers cannot make a customer relationship; they can only generate a consistent set of experiences that hopefully, over time, migrate customers up this hierarchy," McAdam said. "Banks have essentially been able to achieve this with 31% of the population." Continue reading “Relationship” heirachy – 4

BAI Online | Banking Strategies | November/December 2005 | RETAIL DELIVERY SPECIAL REPORT Part II What our research does reveal is that customer relationships are built through a series of consistently executed experiences in both routine transactions and higher-value sales-oriented interactions. Customers want these experiences to instill trust and confidence that the bank and its staff are acting in their best interests. The fundamental strategic question that our research exposes is how can a retail bank simultaneously align its resources to adequately serve those customers that want a relationship versus the more utilitarian set of customers who simply want adequate … Continue reading “Relationship” heirachy – 3

BAI Online | Banking Strategies | November/December 2005 | RETAIL DELIVERY SPECIAL REPORT Part II First, realize that there is a major group of customers that define relationships differently than bankers. Many don�t want a relationship. Second, understand the building blocks of customers� relationship hierarchies. And third, realize that the progression of customers through that hierarchy will vary. Continue reading “Relationship” heirachy – 2

BAI Online | Banking Strategies | November/December 2005 | RETAIL DELIVERY SPECIAL REPORT Part II Relationships are built on experiences. Unless customers� perceptions of trust and confidence are secured in the lower levels of the hierarchy � safety, accuracy and professional interactions during routine transactions � banks will not be granted permission to evolve the relationship into the advisory stage. This does not suggest that convenience, product features and pricing are not important. Our research found that some major customer segments acknowledge the convenience and product performance provided by their bank. They�re just not interested in forming a relationship with … Continue reading “Relationship” heirachy.

Bankers should not be surprised at this, but they continue to be surprised! Customers want relationships with things that are interesting, which could be a suit store, a pub, a partner, or a personal trainer. But banking is boring – its something that has to be done, but its a chore. Bankers need to understand that and concentrate on making the chore as seamless as possible. Now thats something customers would want. Live from BAI Retail Delivery : The Elusive Customer Relationship Paul McAdam, senior managing director of research at BAI, presented results from BAI�s new research study entitled "The … Continue reading The Elusive Customer Relationship