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

Chinks starting to show in the armour of the "return to branches" mentality which has been pervasive since the dot com crash. 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 … Continue reading Branches Are for Errands, Not Sales

This statement from the latest Economist article on consumer power which results from the internet. It sums up the thinking in most companies, that the internet thing was overplayed, and that pyhsical locations/ branches are where its at. That strategy which work in the short term ( 2-3 years) but is not going to win the big long game. Economist.com | Consumer power Many firms do not yet seem aware of the revolutionary implications of newly empowered consumers. Too many companies relaxed after the bursting of the dotcom bubble, assuming that the online threat had faded. This was a mistake. … Continue reading Who gets it …

While this raises issues with authentication, nonetheless its a valid idea which pushes out the use of RSS to new areas. |Absolute Value| Blog Archive RSS Feeds for Bank Accounts Continue reading RSS for bank account activity

Today is Oct 16th – it was 8 years ago today that online banking began – certainly in North America, and arguably anywhere.
Continue reading “Another Birthday”

SUMMARY
Phishing is becoming a serious problem in Financial Services, and will cost the industry $400 million in 2004. But this amount pales in comparison to the credit card fraud with Visa alone at $4Bn pa. However the perpetrators are the same – given the movement to curtail fraud in the card industry, I believe the criminals are hedging their activities to prepare for a big onslaught into the debit card and online banking industry, and phishing is the start.
Continue reading “Phishing – why this is not “just another security issue””