Category: US

Ranking, US

Bank of America | The meaning of scale

Colin Henderson

 BofA reported net income in the third quarter of 2006 rose 41 percent to US$5.42 billion from US$3.84 billion.  But the real message in this press release, is the sheer scale.  Their customer base is double the size of Canada, and similar to the total population of the UK. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 55 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, nearly 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 20 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration … Continue reading Bank of America | The meaning of scale

Security, US2 Comments

Study: US consumers losing trust in online banking

Colin Henderson

Security is a nagging issue for online banking, and will not go away. The matter of security guarantees is not adequate it would appear, because all the top US banks, the source of this study, have security guarantees. Study: US consumers losing trust in online banking – INTERNET – ENGLISH NEWS – NEWS – PC-Welt – pcwelt.de U.S. consumers are not as enamored with online banking as they once were and are citing online security as their top concern, according to a report. “The result is a slowing rate of adoption, with online banking households increasing by only 3.1 percent … Continue reading Study: US consumers losing trust in online banking

Ranking, US

The new number one -Bank of America

Colin Henderson

Bank of America takes number one position in FI profitiability, and almost number one in market cap.

Economist.com | Articles by Subject | Bank of America

Jul 27th 2006 | CHARLOTTE
From The Economist print edition
SENIOR employees of Bank of America (BofA) packed into the auditorium at the company’s headquarters in Charlotte on July 20th. They had gathered to hear Kenneth Lewis, the chief executive, deliver a long-awaited message: thanks to BofA’s earnings of $5.5 billion in the second quarter, they now worked for the most profitable financial institution in the world. To cheers, he added: “It was nothing personal; Citi just got in the way.”

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Innovation, US

Blog summary – June 2006

Colin Henderson

Its been six months since I transitioned my blogs to Bankwatch, so thought I would take a look at my posting profile.  I felt I was getting shoe-horned into too many security and chip card posts, but turns out thats not the case at all.  Online Banking is dominating, and makes me thing that category might be too broad to be useful. Generally innovation, future concepts/ innovation, isn’t too bad, but could be higher.  But customer communications, marketing, and consumer trends should definitely be higher, because that drives everything, so expect more in those areas. Online Banking           … Continue reading Blog summary – June 2006

Innovation, US

OCC Ombudsman Shares Insight on Leadership Opportunities in Financial Services

Colin Henderson

Interesting speech which provides a compelling argument that banks (in US) are missing an opportunity created by the massive influx of immigrants.  That group whose language and culture is not English, are distrustful, and perhaps afraid of Banks, and are seeking alternatives that US locals would not consider, such as cheque cashing outlets.  He uses the example of someone who earns US $12,000 per week doing just that. OCC Ombudsman Shares Insight on Leadership Opportunities in Financial Services My concern, rather, is the narrower one involving the future of the banking industry. I’m here to ask whether the industry to … Continue reading OCC Ombudsman Shares Insight on Leadership Opportunities in Financial Services

US

ING: cross-sell is not what we want to do, because we want to keep it simple

Colin Henderson

Michel Tilmant, Chairman since 2004, outlines the keep it simple approach, that results in lower costs, and competitive rates for customers. Like Its Logo, Dutch Bank Stays Simple – New York Times For us, cross-sell is not what we want to do, because we want to keep it simple. We know that out there, the largest pool of earnings in the retail banking world comes from savings and mortgage — those are the only two things that we want to do. If you try to cross-sell too many products, you confuse the clients about what you are and your costs … Continue reading ING: cross-sell is not what we want to do, because we want to keep it simple

US4 Comments

Is the security guarantee really table stakes for banks?

Colin Henderson

In North America, a security guarantee is table stakes for banks now. Its clear that consumers never lose their concern about online security. Customers become accustomed to the risk, and while those with greater online tenure can better live with the risk, the concern remains. So a point of negative differentiation potentially exists for those banks that do not provide the security guarantee. This would be caused by the move from all the larger institutions to provide, it, so for those that do not, we can expect them to be questioned by their customers. However, before we jump to conclusions, … Continue reading Is the security guarantee really table stakes for banks?

Innovation, US1 Comment

ING is changing US deposit account marketing

Colin Henderson

The garish European influence shows in this simple offer from hsbcdirect.com with a high interest rating savings account, that is opened online. Getting Started The online deposit application should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. You can use this application for an individual or joint account. Citi are doing the same through a “direct” offer.  There are others, less well know such as Emigrant. These offers all share similar characteristics: high rate savings opened online advertising has strong use of colour, and as mentioned almost garish, hard on the eyes web design, clearly aimed to compete with the orange ING. … Continue reading ING is changing US deposit account marketing

EU, Ranking, US

Wachovia Ranked No. 1 in interbank Satisfaction Score amongst global banks

Colin Henderson

Wachovia continues to achieve success, in this case a survey amongst Bank executives.

Wachovia Ranked No. 1 in Overall Satisfaction Score | Nachrichten |

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Wachovia Corp., the fourth largest banking institution in the U.S. based on assets, received the “highest institutional satisfaction score” among banks that offer correspondent banking services. Wachovia’s first place ranking is based on a survey of 500 banking executives in 78 countries by the market research firm FImetrix for its annual “FImetrix Global Report on Bank-to-Bank Services” report.

Wachovia placed second in the 2004 report.

“Being named the bank that provides the best overall satisfaction to clients is a significant achievement and we’re proud. We work hard to support our customers with both innovative product solutions and attentive client care,” said Michael Heavener, the head of Wachovia’s Global Financial Institutions and Trade (GFIT) business.

Wachovia’s Number One ranking is a consolidated score based on the answers to a series of survey questions that looked at product quality, customer service, pricing, commitment to a long-term relationship, extension of credit, the ability to customize products, internet capability, continuity of operations, in-market customer service and risk management assistance.

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