BAI Online

Deborah L. Bianucci President and CEO, BAI

BAI's Commitment to Actionable Research and Business Information

Actionable research has long been a hallmark of BAI, which has produced a number of groundbreaking studies over the years. In 2001, it was "The Revenue Growth Challenge in Retail Banking", which warned the industry about coming changes in the competitive landscape and how financial services companies could cope with those challenges. In 2005 came "The Frontline Experience", which showed how customers viewed their relationships with banks and what bankers could do to improve those relationships.

This year, at BAI's Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, to be held in Las Vegas November 13-15, BAI Research will present highlights from "Competing in the Retirement-Dominated Future", a study recently completed by BAI and Mercatus LLC that describes the challenges banks face in competing for the assets of retiring baby boomers. The research is highly actionable in that it identifies specific opportunities for banks, such as IRA rollovers for 401(k) "orphaned" accounts. The study also delineates which customer segments will be most receptive to bank marketing in this arena.

And there's more to come. Later in 2008, BAI Research will publish follow-up studies on retirement issues and opportunities as well as new research initiatives in the realms of human capital and payments.

The BAI Frontline Sales initiative will examine strategies and tactics employed by financial services companies to increase revenue and improve sales results at the front line. It will also assess the effective use of human capital in the branches, a topic that encompasses organizational design, training programs, sales costs and incentive programs.

The payments study will focus on how retail banks can replace the payments revenue that will be lost in the coming years due to the continued evolution of U.S. and global payments systems. It will also identify sources of new payments revenue to help banks optimize the profitability of existing retail payments product lines.

This kind of groundbreaking work illustrates how BAI continues to fulfill its mission of connecting financial services professionals to actionable information that improves both individual and organizational performance. We remain committed to providing this high-value business information. Let us know if you have thoughts on these studies or other research opportunities. We want to hear from you.