Profitability7 Comments

How should Canadian Banks respond to the Government pressure on ATM fees?

Colin Henderson

 I have had the job of creating the response to this type of criticism.  Its an easy response to make – we own the ATM’s, we can charge other Banks customers, but we don’t charge our own, ATM’s are horribly expensive costing $100’s of millions for a 2 – 3 thousand ATM network. If the banks gave up, or reduced, ATM fees, maybe implicitly Ottawa is saying, ‘We might look more favourably on you as an industry if you come to us looking for changes in the Bank Act,’ ” he said. Source: Canadian Banks & Insurance But all those … Continue reading How should Canadian Banks respond to the Government pressure on ATM fees?

Uncategorized2 Comments

Feed stats – Google enters the mix finally

Colin Henderson

I literally haven’t the slightest idea how many people read my blog using RSS feeds.  WordPress are trying hard to extrapolate the number, but it is so dynamic right now.  My little blog is just trying to do its thing, but the Banker in me really wants consistent stats.  This is a shortfall right now.  Graph shown is RSS feed readership according to WordPress. The good news is that Google is in typical style, gradually getting better at integrating their information.   Technorati tags: google, google+reader, rss+feeds Continue reading Feed stats – Google enters the mix finally

Open Finance, Open Source Banking5 Comments

Wesabe leads the way in all financial services innovation, and disruption

Colin Henderson

Regular readers will know I am a huge fan of Wesabe. Their stats amaze even me.  This kind of data and information, which I emphasize is, across many Banks, is invaluable and not held anywhere, except Wesabe. We’ve had a fantastic response to the site from our users, as I’ve blogged recently. Wesabe is currently tracking $300 million (U.S.) in transactions for our users. We have over 135,000 merchants in our system, and over a million tags applied to those merchants. People are uploading data every minute of every day. We have data from banks and credit cards in 23 countries, and … Continue reading Wesabe leads the way in all financial services innovation, and disruption

US

Cashedge OAO is the tool of choice for high internet savings Banks

Colin Henderson

Thanks to a tip in my comments from Bankit (no link) I did a search for Cashedge OAO and the result blew me away.  It listed all the recent entrants in this space (Flushing, Huntington, Compass etc).  Take look for yourself! Turns out on viewing their source code, that Cashedge OAO shows in the URL and/ or the source code.  This is unbelievable …. how can these Banks let that happen!  Have they never heard of differentiation!  Here are two examples, from HSBC, and IGO Flushing respectively. https://quickaccount.us.hsbc.com/jsp/oao/relc/cashedge/oao_index.jsp?homeid=99992052 src=”/jsp/oao/relc/cashedge/oao_session_timer.jsp?homeid=99992070″ On a deeper level … the commoditisation, and lack of creativity amongst … Continue reading Cashedge OAO is the tool of choice for high internet savings Banks

Profitability4 Comments

DirectHuntington – but opportunity to experiment is missed

Colin Henderson

 Huntington are the latest to come out with an online only, high rate savings account.  This field is no getting flooded.  It will be required as a defensive mechanism by most US Banks. The strategy here is to siphon money from the customers ‘home bank’ (their term) and get funds transferred to the Huntington high rate savings account. High yield savings account rate: 5.30%* APY $1,000 minimum opening balance No minimum balance fee when your balance is $1,000 or more Account availability for approved accounts within one hour (weekdays, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET and weekends, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET) … Continue reading DirectHuntington – but opportunity to experiment is missed

Business Models

Open Source – why its useful

Colin Henderson

 When I made this statement it struck me after reading a comment (thanks Dan .. grrr), that this needs more exploration.  Why is open source a good thing, and is it contradictory to traditional business?  This was all prompted by Chris’s post where he says I question any institutional trend towards consolidation, crystallization, centralization or the locking up of naturally occurring resources or readily reproducible resources (like digital data) I ended up stating this, and realise this needs more thought. (normal programming will resume after I finish this) In general, the hypothesis here is that naturally ocurring information and data … Continue reading Open Source – why its useful

AI

IBM – The customer focused enterprise – unlocking customer advocacy

Colin Henderson

 IBM start off well, but disappoint in the end with this paper.  the benefits of ‘Unlocking customer advocacy’ are outlined, and the importance of measurement, yet little on how to do that. We consistently hear banks touting their commitment to being customer friendly and going the extra mile for their customers. Accordingly, branches are once again in vogue, and executives have declared that improving the customer experience is the priority for the organization. As mergers and acquisitions become less attractive, leading financial institutions look increasingly to their existing customer base for growth. Critical organic growth measures – cross-sell, retention and new … Continue reading IBM – The customer focused enterprise – unlocking customer advocacy

Innovation

MoneyWorks for Credit Union member recruitment

Colin Henderson

 Credit Unions continue to amaze me with their innovation, from Filene in this case. (hat tip Doug) To grow membership through personal guerilla marketing, you can find details of this innovative grass-roots channel to membership growth and relationship development – including further explanation of the multi-level marketing option as well as sample surveys, tracking program demos, and an Advocate job description – in the i3 section of this Web site or by calling Filene Research Institute at ,,,, Source: MoneyWorks Executive Summary : Filene Research Institute Whether it works or not remains to be seen, but they are willing to try … Continue reading MoneyWorks for Credit Union member recruitment

Business Models

Citi rebrands, and moves to an integrated distribution business model

Colin Henderson

 Citi were leaders in the convergence of financial services in 1993 when they purchased Travelers Insurance.  They have gone full circle now, having sold Travelers to MetLife, and now selling the trademark red umbrella back to Travelers.  So what does this mean for Citi as they now call themselves.  this article speculates with the recent purchase of Egg Bank that they are focussed on broad based distribution and integrated channels now, instead of marketing partnerships of different brands. Citi’s announcement earlier this month that it will acquire Egg, the U.K.-based online banking provider, can be viewed as recognition that distribution … Continue reading Citi rebrands, and moves to an integrated distribution business model

AI7 Comments

Conchango suggests brand damage is Bank’s fear of Web 2.0

Colin Henderson

 I think this is one of the issues that Banks have a hard time dealing with.  Internal politics, and fear of PR damage.  It needs commitment at the highest level to overcome this. Fears over brand damage are preventing the UK’s major retail banks and building societies from implementing Web 2.0 applications, according to research conducted by IT specialist Conchango Source: Finextra: Fears of brand damage scaring banks away from Web 2.0   Technorati tags: banks+web2.0 Continue reading Conchango suggests brand damage is Bank’s fear of Web 2.0