Free banking and high-yield savings incentives, combined with fewer security concerns, have encouraged more consumers to adopt online banking, according to Reston, Va.-based comScore Networks. In a recent comScore survey, 33% of new online banking customers cited incentives, particularly free banking products, as influencing their decision to try online banking, while 23% cited reduced security concerns. Forty-three percent of new enrollees polled in the survey were attracted by free banking offerings from Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. in particular. The report also noted the success of high-yield offerings from Emigrant Savings Bank, HSBC Bank USA and Capital One Bank. “Traditional banks are faced with the possibility of watching deposits migrate to other institutions, or confronting the possibility of cannibalizing their own existing, lower-rate deposits if they launch high-yield savings accounts,” the report says.
It’s important to not let the extra features complicate the banking experience. »more
...When it comes to Web site service and functionality, many banks seem to have a failure to communicate, according to the Ipswich, Mass-based Customer Respect Group (CRG). While financial services as a group ranked above average (6.7 on a 10-point scale) for site usability, it fared badly on communications (4.8). CRG’s Second Quarter 2006 study of the financial services industry found that just 35% of e-mail questions were responded to within a day and only 17% of those provided timely and helpful information. In addition to site usability and communications, the study ranked banks, brokerages and other financial services companies by trust, where the industry again scored below average (5.25). Among bank Web sites, the top five in the survey were Bank of America Corp. (6.9), Wachovia Corp. (6.9), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (6.8), TD BankNorth Inc. (6.7) and Royal Bank of Canada (6.7).
More Articles in This Issue
» BANKING AT THE 'NEIGHBORHOOD STORE' Do branch customers want a “destination,” somewhere they can linger and enjoy themselves, or just a place to get their transactions done as quickly as possible? Roseburg, Ore.-based Umpqua Holding Corp. is betting on the destination concept with its new “neighborhood store” branches. »more
» FUNDING ONLINE ACCOUNTS ONLINE The promise of the Internet often falls short when customers are asked to fund the accounts they opened online by mailing a check. Redwood City, Calif.-based account aggregation specialist Yodlee Inc. estimates that 70% of these accounts never get funded as customers procrastinate or lose interest. »more
» CLOSING THE DEAL FASTER Some of the nation’s largest banks have put a little more communications functionality into their personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptops, which makes their investment sales representatives more productive in client meetings. »more
» 'DISCOVER' CLIENTS' NEEDS Banks are poorly positioned to capture their share of the $3.5 trillion to $7.2 trillion that baby boomers are expected to inherit in coming years. The problem: banks are failing to connect with their customers’ needs, which go beyond mere products, according to a recent study by Oaks, Penn.-based SEI Investments Inc., a provider of outsourced investment business solutions. »more
