NetBanker 2.0

What's in a name?

Two data points:

1. A front-page story in today's Seattle Times reveals Washington Mutual's decision to change their brand name to WaMu.
2. Monday's American Banker told of Alhambra, CA-based InterBusiness Bank name change to Tomato Bank.   

Two name changes among 8,000 U.S. banks is hardly a trend. But as the Internet becomes more and more important to your new account acquisition (see Online Banking Report 128, "The Demise of the Branch"), you must consider how your name works online. First National Bank and Trust looks good on a main-street signpost, but when translated to cyberspace it loses much, if not all, of its appeal. The problems?

• Not memorable: Too many generic words strung together make a name difficult to recall when potential customers return to their computers.
• Not searchable: Again, too many generic words makes it hard to even find in a search engine.
• No domain name available: The domain names containing first, national, and bank have long been snatched up by early adopters in 1995 and 1996. Many banks have had to resort to hard-to-remember domains such as <ibankfnb.com> from First National Bank of Hudson. 
• Not a modern brand: While it's nice to have your name create a feeling of trust and security, generic names reinforce the impression that the bank is not modern and technologically savvy, not good positioning for attracting customers online.

A name change is one of the biggest decisions a company will make, so we won't presume to give you advice on that point. However, you must consider the effectiveness of your brand online, both in recall, search, and overall company image.

--JB

Citibank cracks the "Wired 40"

We are huge fans of Wired magazine <wired.com>, having read just about every one of its 190 monthly issues. In fact, eight or nine years ago I used to tell friends that the goal of Online Banking Report was to translate the technology magazine into "banking terms."   

I still recommend the magazine to anyone interested in the future of digital communications, marketing, or content (that ought to cover anyone reading this). So if you're not already on board, head to its website and plunk down US$10 for an annual subscription.

Wired 40
Every year Wired publishes its list of its top 40 companies, The Wired 40. Most are large companies selected for their strategic vision, global reach, killer technology, and hunger for new ideas. The latest ranking (July issue) has Google at #1, knocking Apple from the top. The biggest surprise, New Corp. hitting the chart at #9. The company, which wasn't even ranked last year, has become an Internet giant with its purchase of MySpace last year (see FMW March 16).

Here's the top 10 with last year's rank in parenthesis:

1. Google (#2)
2. Apple (#1)
3. Samsung (#3)
4. Genentech (#7)
5. Yahoo (#5)
6. Amazon.com (#6)
7. Toyota (#8)
8. General Electric (#17)
9. News Corp. (NEW)
10. SAP (#11)

As you would expect, there's not much in the way of financial services in the list. However, Citibank holds on to the number 38, down two spots from last year. Not entirely coincidental, Citi is one of the few major financial services advertisers in Wired. This month, the bank has a huge buy, with a fold-out front-cover spread pitching its "Citi identity theft solutions."

GE (#8), Yahoo (#5), Microsoft (#36), and even Google (#1) have significant retail financial services, although they account for mere slivers of the giants' overall revenues.

Like Citibank, GE elected to make an ad buy this month, pitching its high-yield deposit products on the online version of the Wired 40 list (see inset).

Falling out of the top 40 this year was TD Ameritrade which the magazine said still "ruled etrading, but what once was a disruptive technology is now a commodity."

Online banking's "second wave"

In today's Wall Street Journal, personal finance writer Jane Kim does a roundup of what she calls "the next wave of online banking." The impetus for the article was Yodlee's new MoneyCenter that will be available to consumers in early July. I was interviewed for the article and provided several of the examples along with the market size estimate.

In addition to Yodlee, the following developments were chronicled in the article:

• Citibank's <citibank.com> 50-fold increase in online interbank transfer limits from around $2,000 to $100,000 this summer. In what may simply be a self-serving comment made to a reporter, the bank cites the demand for its new e-Savings account as an impetus for the change.
• Commerce Bank's (NJ) Virtual Private Bank <virtualprivatebank.com> for customers with $1 million or more in investable assets.
• Wells Fargo's My Spending Report, a simple integrated spending report we discussed last year. (FMW Feb. 17, 2005)
• Bank of America's <bankamerica.com> account aggregation and recently expanded account alerts.
• Chase's <chase.com> next-day bill payment.

Analysis
Although most of these examples are relatively minor improvements, it's good to see the mainstream press recognizing online banking innovations. The last few years have been dominated by security concerns, and we believe it's a great sign that reporters are looking for "what's next." It would be wise to have an answer to that question when your local paper calls.

We believe the Virtual Private Bank (VPB) from Commerce and the Yodlee system deserve closer examination. We'll cover Yodlee's new product when it goes live next month. And, although we won't be able to drop a million into Commerce Bank, we'll take the VPB for a test drive later this week.

--JB

"Forever free" banking online

If you were to chart the top-10 events in bank-marketing history, one of them would be the March 1990 launch of AT&T's "no-annual-fee-for-life" Universal Card. Today, an annual fee waiver hardly rates a bullet-point in a three-page direct-mail piece. But 16 years ago, the offer was so successful it caused massive application backlogs that made the 6:00 PM national news. In its heyday, the card attracted one million new accounts per month. However, the marketing stalled once the fee-free strategy was widely copied, and the portfolio was sold to Citibank in late 1997.

I've often wondered if there was a similar opportunity online to recreate the success of AT&T's offer. Probably not, but I do think "free forever" online banking would attract attention and generate new enrollments. To make it profitable, you might make a bundled credit account a requirement (the requirement could be waived in the event of a credit decline).

At first glance, UK-based Halifax Bank <halifax.co.uk> has an unbelievable "free forever" business banking program. But you can see the pesky asterisk in the upper right. Reading the fine print, the account is only free if you keep at least 5,000 pounds on deposit and write fewer than 100 checks per month.

The problem is that U.S. consumers have seen so many free-checking offers, it's not such an attention grabber any more. One way to get past consumer skepticism is to provide a longer list of freebies than they've ever seen before. For example,

• No checking account monthly fees
• No check-writing fees
• No ATM fees
• No teller fees
• No telephone call fees
• No online banking fees
• No funds-transfer fees
• No NSF/OD fees*
• No late fees*
• No returned-check fees*
• No PIN debit fees
• No signature debit fees
• No credit card fees
• No ACH fees
• No archive-access fees
• No statement fees
• No direct-deposit fees

*If open credit available

Feel free to use this idea and let me know if it works.

Paperless checking accounts

If the statute of limitations on "I told you so" is seven years, then word that ING Direct is contemplating a "checkless" checking account called e-Orange comes in just under the wire. Our Virtual Checking Accounts report, which outlined just such an account, was published six years and eight months ago (OBR 50/51) (see note 1).

We've always enjoyed the ING Direct story because it defies conventional wisdom in so many ways. Here are the "rules" that the Dutch banking giant, thirteenth largest in the world, has broken:

1. Branchless, Internet-only banks can't build a large deposit base
2. Large entrenched financial institutions can't create a hip online brand
3. Mass-market banks must offer checking accounts

Worldwide, the ING Direct unit serves 15.7 million customers, and in 2005 it earned a profit of 617 million euros, about 9% of the parent's earnings. The U.S. version accounts for about 20% of the customer total, approximately three million accounts, and has been portrayed as profitable by company execs.

Why "checkless" checking?
No details are available on what an e-Orange checking account might look like. The company will only say that it's in "testing" in the United States. We've held an account at ING Direct since it opened (Q3 2000), and we haven't been approached. But it's pretty easy to guess what it would include:

1. Simple account-to-account transfers (already part of its savings product)
2. Online bill payment
3. Debit/credit cards
4. A high rate of interest, although checking is a point or so less than savings accounts

The lack of paper checks may be more a publicity stunt than a true cost savings, although if they succeed in keeping the paper out of customers' hands, it might help keep funds on deposit. Consumers facing a fat tuition bill may be more likely to pull out the checkbook connected to their Citibank account rather than arranging an electronic deduction from e-Orange.

The company, which portrays its savings account as a "companion" to the customer's existing branch-based checking account, is likely not looking to displace the typical 30-transactions-per-month checking account. More likely, they are positioning it more as a money market account with a competitive interest rate along with the convenience of paying a few major bills from it on an infrequent basis.

With ING Direct's core savings product under attack from all sides (see previous FMW articles), it has to look to other avenues of growth. A unique checking account, one that bags free press and a few billion in deposits, makes a lot of sense for a company with a keen grasp of how to make bold, attention-grabbing launches (see note 2).

--JB

For more info:

• AP story on ING Direct: http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/060322/15/3zjzp.html
• Online Banking Report: Building the Amazon.com of Financial Services (#38/39, July 1998)
• Online Banking Report: Virtual Checking Accounts (#50/51, July 1999)

End Notes:
(1) The seeds of that report were published a year earlier in Creating the Amazon.com of Financial Services (OBR#38/39)
(2) The company has entered new markets with clever stunts, such as giving all transit riders a free ride (Washington DC, SF-Bay area); a free tank of gas (LA); coffee bars in prime locations (NYC, Philly); and so on.

Banking the MySpace generation

There are 63,198,783 members in MySpace as of 9:45 am Pacific Time today. Even if you subtract 25 million or so phony entries, you still have a vast audience, making it the fifth-most popular place online (trailing only Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and eBay).

And it's not all teenagers. According to the member search, there are 1,054 male and 634 female members aged 45 to 50 within five miles of my Seattle home. Of course, in the same vicinity there are 2,958 22-year-old males and more than 3,000 females of the same age (search results stop after 3,000 hits), so it definitely skews younger.

Financial institution opportunities
Forget about the over-30 crowd, you already understand what they need. But what about the younger group, the 21-and-over post-college crowd just starting jobs and beginning a 70+ year stretch of consuming financial services. What do they want in a bank?

Ultimately, they want what their parents want: safe storage of funds, convenient payment alternatives, access to substantial credit, and fair prices.

So far nothing new here. But how you attract these young consumers will be very different than how you acquired their parents. For example:

• Branches will have far less marketing impact: This is probably the biggest difference from past generations; that good-looking branch at the corner of First and Main will NOT automatically get you a 25% share of new hires in your neighborhood. Today's new college grad is much more likely to do a Google search on "yourtown banks," check out your website, and if they like what they see, sign up for an account. Your branch network will only be an afterthought; nice to have, but not a key part of the decision.
• Website must be clean and fresh: Since your bank's first impression will come from its online presence, you must keep investing to ensure a website, and features, that at least match the competition. You don't let your landscaping go to seed in front of the branch, so why would you not tend your website in the same careful manner?
• Electronic communications channels: How does a 22-year old want to communicate with his/her bank? Think instant messaging from the PC, text messaging from the cell phone, and the ability to post questions for peer response. Email is also important for less timely information exchange, such as daily statement summaries and other account updates.
• Intuitive online products: Anyone under 25, who's come of age in the Internet era, expects to handle routine matters online. From a bank, they expect simple and instant funds transfer and bill payment to anyone at any location, including account-to-account transfers. They want plastic for purchase (primarily debit) and a reasonable line of credit backing their checking account. They expect online archives measured in years, not months.

A note on pricing
Like their parents (and grandparents), they don't expect to pay much, if anything, for these services. Free non-interest checking will continue to be required, but add-on fees for premium services should be acceptable. They will also be less price-sensitive for revolving credit, so position that 15% overdraft line of credit as a major part of the business case. 

Advertising at MySpace
That brings us back to MySpace, a surprisingly non-commercial site at this time. But we expect that to change slowly over time as its owners, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which paid $580 million for the site last year, work on ways to make a return on that investment.

The company is currently earning revenues from a single banner across most pages, a few smaller ads in certain areas such as Films, a large ad near the top of each member's home page, plus Overture-served keyword ads for its site search and Web search (click on screenshot for a closeup of the search results page for the band "Green Day"). The site also has a classified section that looks a lot like Craigslist, but is sparsely used, at least in the Seattle area.

For financial institutions, the main opportunity is traditional banner and display advertising. Today we saw banners from LendingTree, E*Trade and H&R Block (and AARP, was that a mistake?) But there is likely room for at least one or more financial institutions to strike deals with the company to become a preferred provider of banking services, with a premium position within the site, perhaps on the main navigation strip (think Amazon tabs), or in some yet-to-be-conceived commercial spot within the social networking site.

--JB

Bank of Internet's niche banks

Bank of Internet <bofi.com> announced today the launch of its second specialized online bank, Senior BofI <seniorbofi.com>. While it may not be the sexiest name on the planet, it does help establish the link to the more established entity, Bank of Internet, a comfort to the market it's going after, seniors.

This marks the second specialized online bank operated by BofI, the five-year-old, online-only bank. The other is Apartment Bank <apartmentbank.com>, which caters to owners of multifamily-housing properties.

Analysis
We like BofI's strategy of going after national niche markets with specialized services. The ApartmentBank concept is especially unique given the small total universe it serves. Looking at the recent fundings, it appears to be gaining some traction, especially in Texas, Arizona and a few neighboring states. The website lists 12 deals worth $16.6 million, half the dollar volume from Texas (click for screenshot of Apartment Bank).

We are less enthusiastic about the initial Senior Bank implementation. Given the competition for this segment, the bank will need to mount a stronger effort. Other than the user-friendly SMALL/MEDIUM/LARGE/X-LARGE font selection tool in the lower-left of the homepage (click on screenshot above for closeup), there isn't much to differentiate the bank, or its products, from thousands of other banks, most of whom cater to seniors with special accounts and pricing.

For example, The Community Center is dominated by a list of DVDs for sale at Amazon, including Batman Begins, and TV shows, Lost, Firefly, and Friends (see inset). The bank loses whatever credibility it had gained on its homepage once seniors see random selections from Amazon's inventory dumped onto the website. Seniors don't even like to shop online, especially for DVDs aimed at 20-somethings.

The Grades
A for strategy
B for implementation of Apartment Bank
C- for implementation of Senior Bank

--JB

EbayBank.com???

On the front page of today's American Banker and on the cover of its Retail Delivery pullout section (see inset), there is an eye-catching EBANK logo presented in eBay's distinctive font. It's an intriguing lead-in to an otherwise predictable story on eBay's PayPal unit and the extent to which it competes with banks. (Note: For American Banker, the cover graphic gave it more "street appeal" so that the paper was more likely to be picked up by the thousands of attendees at BAI's big technology conference in Orlando.)

This is an old story. PayPal has offered a suite of consumer banking services for more than four years (click on table below) including debit cards, bill payment, credit card (issuer), consumer finance loans, credit card processing, ACH processing, money market mutual funds, international payments, interbank transfers, fraud protection, and insurance for funds on deposit. The only new service this year is the credit card payments gateway business it purchased from VeriSign earlier this year; though that is more of a line extension than a new business.

Analysis
Yes, PayPal competes with bank, primarily in merchant processing, an area most banks got out of more than a decade ago. And we'll see more ecommerce players, such as domain registration services company GoDaddy, offering integrated PayPal payment options (see inset). However, none of PayPal's other financial service offerings have a measurable market share, and are unlikely to be causing any lost sleep by execs at Bank of America, Citi, or any other financial institution.

The American Banker article speculated on eBay's interest in moving further into banking by buying a charter and opening a full-service Internet bank. But no evidence was presented for either side of that argument, nor did the author find any industry analysts to comment.

It reminds me of the "controversy" in the mid-90s about Microsoft competing against banks. Although it was mostly fodder for the trade press, we debunked the notion In the very first issue of Online Banking Report (April 1995). There was no way that a successful software company, accustomed to 50%+ margins, would invite the regulatory scrutiny and compliance hassles of the relatively low-margin banking business.

Although eBay has done some strange things, such as jumping into the telecom business via its recent Skype acquisition, we seriously doubt that the auction giant has any plans to open or even lend its name to a full-service Internet bank. It doesn't need those regulatory and compliance headaches.

However, the company will continue to exploit areas of ecommerce, like auction payments and auction purchase financing, that are not well-served by existing players. But if you've put together a franchise that can hold its own against BofA/MBNA, ING Direct, and Schwab, you have little to fear from eBay or Microsoft. In fact, there are opportunities to leverage these trusted brand names to INCREASE your revenues. For example, PayPal provides developer tools that would allow a bank to integrate with the online payments provider to facilitate financing for bank customers.

Previous articles:

• Online Banking Report #113, PayPal Offers Preapproved Credit Lines to Users, Dec. 16, 2004
• Glenbrook Partners, Beware the Doves: Reflections on the PayPal/GE Consumer Finance Alliance, by Scott Loftesness, June 2004

--JB

Trendspotting: No hassle card accounts

David Spade's "no guy" has helped make Capital One's No Hassle credit card customer service parody one of the most-recognized consumer advertising campaigns of the year. According to the company, the commercials have helped lift the Capital One's name recognition to 98% (see note 1).

Along the same lines,
American Express is test marketing a no-fee automatic-rewards card called Clear. The card, which is available through its website (click on inset for closeup), features no fees (late, overlimit, annual) and an automatic rewards fulfillment, a $25 cash card every time you spend $2500 on the card. Cardmembers also receive a free credit report and credit score each year.

Finally, Citibank is about to jump on the back-to-basics movement with its no-late-fee Simplicity card expected to debut this week at an event in New York City (note 2). The card will come in three flavors: plain, cash-back, and rewards. The bank's website does not contain information on the card yet, but there is a separate customer service number listed that features a "press 0" option to be immediately connected to a live service rep.

Analysis
Although many consumers put up with penalty fees, there is always a point where they just won't take it anymore, especially if lower-cost options are readily available. That's why Blockbuster, faced with increasing competition from NetFlix, eBay, and WalMart, took a significant revenue hit when it eliminated late fees in its core movie rental business.

Citibank and the others are looking to win back consumers that have migrated to debit cards and/or credit unions to avoid penalty fees and interest charges. The cards also appeal to those with a strong aversion to fees either because they've had problems in the past or because they simply cannot stomach bank fees of any type.

--JB

Notes:
1. USA Today, 13 March 2005
2. Citi Simplicty was launched 14 October 2005
    - read the press release
    - see the website, www.citisimplicity.com

Banking perks

Blame it on my Seattle location, but I continue to believe there are good synergies between banking and the so-called coffee culture, both on- and off-line (full disclosure, I'm writing this in a coffee shop). I'm not talking about converting bank branches to coffee shops like Exchange Bank Coffeehouse (left); but using espresso and other coffee and tea tie-ins as a perk for banking online and/or other product usage.

Here's why banking and espresso go well together:

• Brand image: Thanks to Starbucks, coffeehouses have developed into a pop culture phenomena that is unlikely to fade in our lifetime (evidence: nearly 10,000 Starbucks locations worldwide, growing 1300+ per year). The community-building, relaxed, and relatively wholesome image of the modern coffee shop fits well with the brand images many financial institutions are attempting to convey.
• Traffic patterns: Banking is usually a daytime activity, correlating well with coffee consumption.
• Real estate: Whether located in a city center, suburb, or small town, bank branches are usually located in high-traffic locations. They often have enough extra space to squeeze in an espresso station and a few small tables.
• Promotional opportunities: For years Horizon Air, a regional provider owned by Alaska Airlines, used its Starbucks beverage service to attract customers to its routes. Banks could do the same thing.

Examples

This is not a new concept. Umpqua Bank has had great success with its retail model that included coffee service and no teller line. The bank's website carries a subtle coffee theme throughout with terms such as, find your own blend and savor. It's Experience Umpqua Flash presentation starts with a close-up of a coffee mug on a table in the branch.

ING Direct operates four urban cafés in the United States that serve coffee and pastry along with financial advice. No transactions are processed on-sight, but customers have access to Internet terminals and ATMs.

But the bank closest to what we have in mind is Charter One Bank. Prior to its being bought by Royal Bank, the Cleveland-based bank embarked on a co-location program with Starbucks (see inset, Post & Washington, Indianapolis).

Financial institution opportunities
Partner with Starbucks or a local chain to create a joint banking and beverage program

• Develop a usage program with free coffee as the perk, for example, paying two bills online each month and/or estatements instead of paper
• Offer a prepaid coffee option that allows coffeehouse purchases to be charged directly to credit or debit card, or deducted directly from checking
• Consider expanding the concept beyond transactional banking, with coffeehouse tie-ins for investments (see, The Coffeehouse Investor, OBR 49)
• Use the book, The Coffeehouse Investor, as an incentive/premium
• Use it as an incentive for going totally online, for example, "Go to XYZ Coffee Shop instead of the branch"

--JB