This blog post, is indicative of how banking reputation will be defined going forward.  Its an honest simple comparison between two services;  in this case Paypal, and CIBC (Canadian Bank).  Beef with CIBC | Sami Khan I love PayPal. I like how PayPal keeps complete track of your activity and will provide you with complete statements with tons of information. I like how transactions go through instantanously. With CIBC I have to wait a day before my credit card account is cleared, which doesn’t make any sense. Further, they only retain your online information for 13 months. Its immaterial that … Continue reading How customers will shop Banks in the (near) future

Nice summary of WAMU and their online offering, which is highly differentiated. Washington Mutual’s Web Site Ranked No. 1; Change Sciences Ranking Based on Customer Experience Earlier this month, Washington Mutual enhanced its online channel with a paperless account opening process in support of the new WaMu Free Checking(TM) account. Accounts can be opened in minutes at “www.wamu.com” with online approval and authentication technology that eliminates the need to mail a traditional signature card. Instead, the customer uses a special check that is included with the first order of checks and then when the bank processes that check, it uses … Continue reading Washington Mutual’s Web Site Ranked No. 1; Based on Customer Experience

Interesting disparity in size between these banks. Citigroup will open 4 offices in Hub as part of push to grow – The Boston Globe The four branches — located in Downtown Crossing, Back Bay, Fenway, and Government Center — will be Citi’s first in Massachusetts when they open later this year, and they are part of a nationwide expansion of its consumer business in the United States and abroad. Though Citi has more assets than any other US bank, it has less than a fifth of the branches as its next-largest competitor, Bank of America Corp. Citibank executives, aware of … Continue reading Citi takes on Bank of America in Boston

Online banking and bill payment are now in the top three factors when considering another bank, according to a new Harris study.

Technology News: E-Commerce: Reducing ID Theft by Increasing E-Commerce

For the first time online banking and bill pay has moved into the top three factors considered by consumers when choosing a bank,” said ….  general manager of Atlanta-based CheckFree’s electronic commerce division, which sponsored the Harris study, which queried 2,083 Internet users.

And online is a serious factor in reducing fraud, even though this is counter intuitive to most.

If you pay your bills often at these “portals,” you will dramatically decrease the risk that some nefarious member of an organized crime syndicate will snatch your data, mid-stream, off the Internet. That’s important information — potentially perception changing.
Consumers are increasing their reliance on online banking, the Harris survey shows. The availability of online banking and bill pay features ranked third among the top three factors in selecting a bank for personal accounts, following “availability of free checking” and “reasonable fees and service charges.”

Some additional facts from the study.

The survey points to the following facts:

• Convenience: With 27 percent of consumers stating the most important benefit was saving the paper, stamps and hassle of paying bills by check, while 17 percent stated that paying online was the easiest way to pay bills.
• Speed: With 13 percent of consumers stating the most important benefit was that it is faster than paying by check.
• Control: With 9 percent of consumers stating the most important benefit was the ability to ensure bills are paid on time as specified by the consumer

Continue reading “Online banking and bill payment confirmed as factor in choosing a bank”

Wells have been working towards this since 2002.  Note how they are just not imaging the cheques, and reading them automatically, they are clearing them immediately and passing that benefit to the customer with same day credit for cheques. Finextra: Wells Fargo introduces envelope-free ATM deposit system Envelope-Free ATMs offer customers some important benefits: Faster and easier ATM deposits – customers can deposit stacks of bills (up to 30 bills in different denominations) and checks (up to 10) directly into the machine at one time. Assurance that checks or cash deposits have been received – customers can see on-screen check … Continue reading Wells Fargo introduces envelope-free ATM deposit system

Listened to Jane Thompson from Walmart talk about the Walmart bank. She went to some lengths to demonstrate the value Walmart place in their in-store banking partners, and that the Walmart bank is soley required to manage their own debit credit and electronic check transactions. This was in response to the highly charged fight against their proposed bank. However they are, and will continue to offer cheque cashing, money transfers, and bill payment. That sounds like a bank, but Walmart contend these services, are aimed only at the unbanked population. There are still questions, and it remains to be seen … Continue reading Walmart bank – to manage their own debit credit and electronic check transactions

There are three good examples now. Nothing revolutionary yet. Visa – Lifetakes HSBC – yourpointofview.com Wells Fargo – Guided by history 1) Visa: during this marketing campaign, the agency sought pictures from real people, and sourced them from Flickr. They asked permission from the individuals. 2) HSBC yourpointofview.com is an HSBC site. It starts of with "Welcome to a place for those who believe that individual points of view enrich the world. A place for the naturally curious". It then asks if you want to express you point of view on something, or to read what others have said. Topics … Continue reading Social computing, early examples – Banks