Category: US

US

Electronic Bill Payment and Presentment – North America

Colin Henderson

The Lloyds Bank announcement bringing EBPP to UK, prompted a brief review of the state of EBPP in North America, and the lessons there. CheckFree is the primary operator in US, and epost in Canada.  Epost has just this last week been folded into the parent Canada Post (The Canadian Post office).  Epost has a somewhat unique view of the EBPP market, as it carries the rights and legal support that traditional mail would have, into the digital space.  To date the results have not been as strong as would have been hoped for, as they wrestled a difficult biller … Continue reading Electronic Bill Payment and Presentment – North America

US

Bank of America to acquire US Trust

Colin Henderson

 Based on assets under management currently by private banks. U.S. Trust is fourth, and BofA is second. The combined entity would be first, with $261 billion in assets under management. Bank of America will acquire U.S. Trust from The Charles Schwab Corporation for $3.3 billion in cash. Closing is expected on March 31, 2007. U.S. Trust was founded in 1853 with a mission to serve as manager, executor and trustee of personal and corporate funds. Today it has almost 2,100 employees based in 33 locations. It has approximately $94 billion of assets under management. Source: Bank of America | Newsroom … Continue reading Bank of America to acquire US Trust

US1 Comment

BankNet 360 – BofA to Expand "Disruptive" Free Services

Colin Henderson

 Bit of a teaser here from Bank of America.  Bank of America Corp.is aiming to expand its wildly successful free online services into the mortgage arena. Source: BankNet 360 – TOP STORY: BofA to Expand “Disruptive” Free Services In the past they have implemented free bill payment, & “keep the change“.  They are suggesting this new implementation is for mortgages. Speculation:  I recall listening to Susan Faulkner speaking at a conference and mentioning affinity cards being expanded to mortgages. She specifically hinted at a Red Sox Mortgage as an example.  This concept was a build on the highly successful MBNA affinity experience, … Continue reading BankNet 360 – BofA to Expand "Disruptive" Free Services

US2 Comments

Friendly email example from Bank of America

Colin Henderson

We talk a lot about strategy here, and its worthwhile to see some real implementation examples periodically.  This is a real email sent to a colleague who had not logged in for a while to Bank of America online banking. Its a good example of a friendly, relevant update. From: “Bank of America” <bankofamerica@replies.em.bankofamerica.com>To: aaa.bbb@ccc.comDate: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:36:35 -0400Subject: Can we help you with Online Banking? This email was sent to you by Bank of America. To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add to your address book or safe sender list. Bank of America. HigherStandards   Have questions? We’re here to help.  Try Online Banking. … Continue reading Friendly email example from Bank of America

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