Americans are increasingly eager for a purely digital economy as their use of cash continues to dwindle, according to the results of a survey released today by MasterCard. The survey, which asked over 1,000 participants for their two cents the growing trend towards a cashless society, gives a snapshot of Americans’ shifting views and behaviors with electronic payments.

The Frustrations of Cash
Cash is inconvenient. Most Americans experience some sort of frustration when dealing with physical payment instruments — whether that’s trying to get a vending machine to accept a crumpled bill (63%), waiting days for a check to clear (40%), waiting for people to find exact change (40%), or finding the time to get to an ATM (29%).

Time to Kill Cash?
Consumer use and acceptance of cashless payment tools is now widespread, if not the preferred payment method. Three in four Americans (73%) say they use less cash today than ten years ago. Could the U.S. kill its paper currency? Probably not today, but soon. Canada just eliminated its penny, which apparently cost 1.6 cents to make, and hardly anyone made a peep. The U.S. one-cent piece costs 2.5 cents to produce — hard to justify in a penny-pinched world. Once all that annoying loose change disappears, bills won’t be far behind.

Gen-X More Ready for Virtual Economy than Gen-Y
Despite the widely held belief that Gen-Y is always the most receptive to all things digital, MasterCard’s survey actually found that it is Generation Xers who are the most willing to abandon cash.

Members of Gen X (ages 30 to 39) — those who came of age during the advent of electronic banking, online shopping and are now in the midst of the mobile wallet revolution — are most in favor of paying for everything electronically. The majority favor a world in which they wouldn’t have to carry cash (61%). A significant portion (44%) of members of the baby boomer generation (age 55 and over) also favors a cashless society.

Digital Wallets Are the Future
There are a multitude of competing mobile payment solutions duking it out for the wallet of the future. It seems everyone is playing in the digital payments space somehow — from the usual suspects like Visa and MasterCard, to newcomers like PayPal and Google. Big banks like Barclays have also been consistent pioneers, developing one new payments innovation after another.

Lilliana Vazquez, a stylist in New York and participant in the MasterCard survey, is one of those consumers who has made the shift to mobile payments and now embraces “tap and pay” technology. “Having to stop to get cash out of an ATM or dig for money in my huge handbag slows me down and that’s never a good thing in my business,” she explained. “I thought being able to swipe my credit card was the ultimate in ease, but now all you have to do is tap and go — talk about convenience.”

Nicholas Lee, from EZ-Link Contactless in Singapore believes in the future of electronic payments over cash. “So, moving forward, if you look at projections from around the world in terms of mobile commerce, the wallet in the phone is well-positioned to really be the catalyst to move contactless payments or cashless payments in a very, very big way.”

Dirty Money
ABC News has reported 94% of bills carry bacteria, yet only one in two Americans (51%) admit that they typically wash their hands after handling money.

Cashless Twitter Promotion
On the heels of its survey, today MasterCard also announced a “Cash Less” sweepstakes which asks the question: “I find myself using cash less because…” Stories will be gathered via the Cashless Conversations blog and on Twitter using the hashtag #CashlessConvo. 15 winners will receive $50 prepaid MasterCard cards.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Survey Proves Value of Online Banking, Bill Pay
• Checks Die While Online Thrives, But Gen-Y Still Use Branches
• Mobile Banking Set To Explode, Here’s What Marketers Need to Know
• Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow

Here’s a breakdown of who’s paying for what, how much it costs, how many keywords they use and how many clicks they get. The data is divided into four main groups: Banks, Credit Unions, Consumer Search Terms and Geographical Search Terms. There are two bonus sections at the end showing how financial institutions are targeted through Google AdWords by industry vendors and trade groups.

Banks Using Google AdWords

Credit Unions Using Google AdWords

Out of the top 20 biggest credit unions in the U.S., 11 are running Google Adwords campaigns (55%). Navy FCU, the biggest credit union in the world, also has the biggest AdWords budget — probably around $1 million annually.

Common Consumer Search Terms

Geographically Specific Search Terms

Financial Consultants Targeting Banks & Credit Unions

Common Terms Used to Target Banks & Credit Unions

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Spy on Your AdWords Competitors with SpyFu
• Google Adwords for Banks and Credit Unions
• Peek Inside: Marketing At Australia’s Orange Credit Union
• Branded YouTube Channels: Super Cool, Super Expensive

Let’s face it: the broad span of ages in Gen-Y makes it challenging to build relationships. Some financial institutions have fantastic web pages directed toward teenaged youth, while others may focus on savings programs with prizes and activities at a younger group. But like many bank and credit union marketers, maybe you may be struggling to create a cohesive program that addresses the spectrum of ages and needs of this large and diverse group, not just one segment or two. How do you do it without driving yourself nuts, overwhelming your marketing department and breaking the budget?

The answer is a “trigger campaign.” With strategic precision, you begin communicating periodically with these members from day one. By the time they’re able to make their own financial decisions (without mom and dad), you’ll have earned their loyalty for life. Even in a kid’s younger years, there are few life events you can use to use as communication markers in a trigger campaign. With a little creativity, you can pinpoint these life events, start conversations, and build relationships with Gen-Y consumers.

Okay, that makes sense, but it sounds like a mountain of work. Where do you start? Use MCIF or similar data segmentation systems to break this large group by into smaller, age-based clusters. This allows you to deliver highly-personalized educational materials and relevant offers with specific appeal to busy parents and their child(ren).

Here’s your step-by-step guide through the ages.

Ages 9 – 14

You’re marketing to the minor child’s parents in this age group. Give mom and dad simple information to help teach young family members the importance and rewards of saving. Youngsters like to watch their money grow — the savings jar that becomes full of loose change and becomes a savings account for their first car.

Sending an annual birthday greeting is a simple, friendly way to start your campaign. Consider setting some age-appropriate savings goals as another component of your trigger program. Incentives and rewards are good motivators for children. Send congratulatory notes when the level is reached. The older end of this group might also get a friendly note if they haven’t made a deposit in the past six months.

By age 14, these children have their sights set on learning to drive. It’s not too early to explain simple ways these youngsters can budget for buying a car and understand the costs of car ownership.

Use age-appropriate graphics and language, so parents and children can talk about the subject together. Consider a companion print or email piece to the parents alerting them the communication is coming. Follow up with parents via email to take action and learn more.

Ages 15 -18

Birthdays are still important identifiers for life-changing events that impact their finances. Expanded information about how to buy their first car and how strong academic performance helps save on auto insurance are great topics to have in your campaign.

An invitation to open their first checking account gets them thinking about banking with you. High school graduation and planning for college expenses are exciting and scary. Another letter could explain how your financial intuition can help. Reaching savings goals or account dormancy can trigger another communication.

Keep parents in the loop with direct mail and email for quick follow-ups. Make copy easy-to-understand to hold the young adult’s interest during their conversation with their parents.

Ages 19-24

Parents are still co-signators on most accounts and loans, but they’re slowly letting their children put their financial education into practice. Your goal is to convince the parent that your financial institution is the best place for their child as they enter their earning years. Use email to keep talking to parents about products and services that help their child become more independent, and still have appropriate safeguards to stave off financial disasters.

This transitional group is interested mobile banking, first credit cards, and low-interest student loan financing and repayment. Use casual language and simple terms they can understand. Keep it short. Birthday greetings are still a friendly thing to do, but if the customer has checking and savings accounts, co-signed credit cards or other loans, your opportunities to communicate and educate are excellent.

Explain how young adults can build a good credit score. Many college-aged students fall into steep credit card and student loan debt.

Provide tips for managing their money and credit as they step out on their own. Also, talk about banking apps and alerts your financial institution has.

Email is a powerful tool for these nomadic young adults, who may change their physical address 3-4 times during this period.

Ages 25 – 30

The days when the Bank of Mom and Dad was always open are coming to an end as these young adults start to achieve true independence. They have tons of questions, and need reliable advice in straightforward language.

Remember, Gen Y loves electronic communication and this age group is definitely on the move for many reasons. Use email as the primary delivery method in this trigger campaign. Continue using data to center on the life events these members are likely to experience. Encourage savings, offer direct deposit to those who don’t have it. Suggest signing up for bill pay to protect their fledgling good credit if they aren’t enrolled. Pair the products and services with other helpful information that builds confidence that you’re their financial solutions provider.

On the subject of education loans, credit unions are offering to consolidate private student loan debt. This is a great opportunity to help cash-strapped former students manage their education debt and still have a positive outlook about achieving some of their other financial dreams. Considering how much this generation enjoys sharing information, this is certainly a subject worthy of sharing if you do it right.

Other Savvy Steps You Should Take

Multi-channel delivery: When marketing to the parents of minors, it’s a very good idea to send these campaigns via print and follow up with email. For young adults who are likely on the move, email might be the best primary delivery tool. They’re looking for easy access to information they can really use. They also appreciate green initiatives. Consider creating a special electronic newsletter just for them. This group will appreciate the easy way to share and store the information this way.

Make it personal: Electronics make it fast, but you’re still an organization of human beings. Don’t overlook the chance to meet these people personally and advise them the way their parents might have. Empower them further with fun events and free seminars. Provide the name and number to call at the credit union when they have more questions.

Easy response tools: Always include a PURL/GURL or hyperlink to online services to make contacting you or accepting the offer trouble-free.

Boost your website content: Gen-Y combs the Internet with ease. Give these subjects a permanent home on your website for a handy future reference. Create a virtual library of newsletter topics if that’s the route you choose. Create youth-friendly web pages. Configure website pages for mobile viewing.

Use social media: Create a prospecting opportunity by introducing these topics via your credit union social media pages.

Margie Church works for Pinpoint Direct Marketing. Pinpoint Direct Marketing creates data-driven, electronic and print marketing campaigns for the financial industry. Its customized campaigns achieve excellent results without premium costs. Learn more about Pinpoint Direct Marketing at www.PDMKT.com.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Peek Inside: Fidelity Bank’s In-House Marketing Department
• Harnessing The Power Of Email: 3 Strategies For Financial Marketers
• Peek Inside: Finance Center’s In-House Marketing Department
• Peek Inside: Marketing At Australia’s Orange Credit Union

On 10th December, 1964, 19 mail employees met in the staff canteen to discuss forming a credit union. By 1971, Mail Employees Credit Union (as it was first named) had 1,000 members. In the early days, loans were limited to only £400 pounds. The credit union adopted its current moniker back in 1973.

Name of Financial Institution: Orange Credit Union
Area served: Orange in New South Wales, Australia
Founded: 1964
Website: www.orangecu.com.au

Assets: $139 million
Number of members: 15,800
Number of branches: 1
Members per branch: all of them
Number of total employees: 38
Ratio of customers to employees: 416:1 (high = more efficient)
Number of marketing employees: 1 (2.6% of workforce)
Top marketing executive: Noelle Cornish, Marketing Manager (photo right)
Number of campaigns run every year: Ø

A photo from a recent community event, “Relay for Life” which raises funds for cancer research. It involves teams walking/running around a track for 16 hours. Our local community has raised over $1 million in the past ten years. The credit union’s general manager, Paul McNamara, is shown in the far right in the photo.

Systems & Tools

In-House vs. Vendor

Marketing Channels Deployed

Marketing Strategy

Biggest challenges in the next 12 months?
1. Online communications.
2. Social media.
3. Mobile banking.

Critical products/services to market this year?
Always home loans, marketing through traditional advertising channels. Insurance products are also critical, and they are marketed through third-party advisors.

Social media strategy?
We are not currently in the social media space. We have plans to tip-toe into Facebook, but it will not be a two-way channel to start – simply a ‘landing page’ to drive people to our website.

How does the marketing/sales cycle work?
As a one-person department, my time is stretched to getting it all done. Therefore, my biggest marketing achievements come from direct mail. The front line staff are aware of the mail being sent and take inquiries, but we currently do not do any outbound follow up calls to the direct mail. We are trying to become more proactive in our approach, but seem to still be a reactive service provider.

Most effective campaign?
Direct mail to members who appeared to have a home loan elsewhere. The return on investment was fantastic, and we run this DM every year now. It is something that I can actually prove stats on, so I prefer this kind of approach to general advertising.

How do you track marketing ROI?
I can generate reports on most efforts, but it depends on the type of campaign. General advertising has been hard to track, while any direct mail is easily tracked. We simply check 6 months later to see if members have taken up that loan or product. We also track stats on a global level within the organization for KPIs (e.g., value per member, etc.).

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Peek Inside: Sound Credit Union’s Marketing Department
• Peek Inside: Finance Center’s In-House Marketing Department
• Peek Inside: Neighbor FCU’s In-House Marketing Department
• Peek Inside: Mid-Atlantic FCU’s In-House Marketing Department

At the Facebook page for Bank of the West, folks can nominate and vote on their favorite local bands. The winning band will get to perform the opening act for Huey Lewis & The News at Memorial Park during a concert the bank is sponsoring.

The public is invited to nominate and vote for their favorite up-and-coming bands between May 1 and May 15, 2012. The contest is open to everyone across the U.S.

Eligible bands must be solo acts or groups numbering no more than six. All members of the band must be over 18 years of age. Acts incorporating unsafe behavior, obscenity, lewdness, inappropriate images, nudity, violence, bigotry, sexual innuendos, drugs, alcohol, anything illegal or otherwise deemed offensive will not be allowed.

Input for selecting the winning band also will be provided by judges hailing from Hollywood’s top talent agencies, including Warner Atlantic Records, Creative Artists Agency, Romeo Entertainment Group and others, as well as representatives from Bank of the West.

The judges will consider musical talent, such as musical ability, expertise and originality of music, and star power, including stage presence, personality and creativity.

After the top finalists are chosen by the judges, the winning band will be determined by its popularity among online voters.

Online public voting for the winning band will be held June 1-15 on Bank of the West’s Facebook page.

Bank of the West will announce the winning band in mid-June.

[Note: Readers who like this promo will also enjoy Dexia Bank's amazingly innovative online advertising campaign that squeezed local bands into banner ads as they played songs live over the internet.]

There are two ways to nominate a band. At Facebook, users can access the “Celebrates America” application by first liking Bank of the West’s page. Submissions must include a link to an online video showing a live performance of the band. Nominations can also be made by email.

Bank of the West’s Celebrates America concert, where the winning band will get a gig, has been held annually every summer for 22 years. It is a fairly prestigious affair, and one of the largest free outdoor musical events in the western U.S.

Bank of the West first launched its Facebook page back in February 2011. They have since accumulated over 17,000 ‘Likes,’ many of which were acquired through a college basketball promotion held earlier this year.

The bank isn’t promoting the band contest on its homepage, however they do have a link to their Facebook account in the lower right corner.

Bank of the West has $62.4 billion in assets operating more than 700 retail and commercial banking locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, a global bank with a presence in 80 countries.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Best Of Credit Union Marketing: CUNA Diamond Award Winners
• Coast Capital Makes Facebook Fans The Boss of Their Own Contest
• Banking Ranks #3 Most Active Industry in Social Media
• Creative Inspiration: Musical Bus Stop | Airport Stunts | Sneaky Banana

Overall the banking industry saw a slight gain in satisfaction scores over 2011. The study, now in its seventh year, finds that overall retail banking customer satisfaction has improved a meager 0.13% since 2011. But the increase could have been more had it not for people’s irritation with fees dragging scores down.

J.D. Power & Associates measures consumer satisfaction with retail banks along six parameters: account activities, account information, facility, fees, problem resolution, and product offerings.

When looking at banks by relative size, satisfaction with big banks increased slightly, while satisfaction with midsize banks was up a bit more. Big banks made improvements in reducing the number of problems consumers experienced, as well as resolving problems when they did arise. Regional banks, however, experienced a slight dip in overall satisfaction since 2011.

“Big banks continue to lag the other banks in overall satisfaction, but they have made significant improvements in reducing the number of problems customers experience and in problem resolution, specifically resolving problems on first contact,” said Michael Beird, director of banking services at J.D. Power & Associates.

Unsurprisingly, the study found consumers are 7.2% less satisfied with the fees their bank charges than they were two years ago. Consumers are most irked by monthly maintenance fees, while the negative impact from ATM fees (comparatively speaking) are much less.

Key Insight: Fees are obviously a huge pain point for consumers that smart financial marketers will exploit.

“The negative reaction to fees reflects customers’ irritation about paying for something they didn’t have to pay for in the past,” said Beird. “It also reflects a lack of their complete understanding about what they’re getting for those fees.”

“Customers are not clear on what they’re getting for monthly maintenance fees, which drives the bigger drop in satisfaction with those fees,” Beird added.

There were some bright spots revealed in the research. For instance, customer satisfaction with bank branches and ATMs, as well as and hours of operation, both improved this year.

When looking at satisfied customers, J.D. Power discovered this odd gem: 76% said they are greeted by a bank employee when they enter the branch, an increase from 68% in the 2010 study.

Key Insight: Greet every customer who enters your branches with eye contact and a verbal welcome. You’ll not only be delivering great service that will boost satisfaction scores, you’ll be reducing your risk of robbery big time (it’s call Safe Catch).

http://thefinancialbrand.com/7223/fbi-safecatch/

J.D. Power says nearly one-fourth (16%) of consumers experimented with some form of mobile banking tool in 2012, up 6% over the year prior, but only a small segment of customers use mobile channels regularly.

“What is interesting is that only one-half of customers using mobile banking report that they fully understand the capability of the technology,” Beird noted. “This represents an opportunity for banks to educate their customers, increase usage and potentially deepen customer share of wallet.”

How Everyone Stacks Up

The study measured satisfaction among banks in 11 regions. Here’s how everyone stacked up.

California: Rabobank ranks highest in California with a score of 803, and performs particularly well in the fees and account activities factors. California Bank & Trust (783) and U.S. Bank (774) follow in the rankings.

Florida: PNC Bank ranks highest in Florida with a score of 794 and performs well in the in-person and online account activities factors. Chase (785) and Citibank (783) follow in the rankings.

Mid-Atlantic Region: With a score of 823, Northwest Savings Bank ranks highest in the region and performs well in fees and account activities. Huntington National Bank follows with a score of 801, and S&T Bank ranks third with 799.

Midwest Region: Commerce Bank ranks highest in the region with a score of 801, and performs particularly well in the fees and facilities factors. UMB Bank follows with a score of 794, and AnchorBank ranks third with 783.

New England Region: Rockland Trust Co. ranks highest in the region with a score of 811 and performs well in the product offerings and fees factors. Eastern Bank follows with a score of 791, and TD Bank ranks third with 770.

North Central Region: Independent Bank ranks highest in the region with a score of 802. Community Trust Bank and Chemical Bank follow in the rankings with scores of 794 and 793, respectively.

Northwest Region: With a score of 821, Banner Bank ranks highest in the region and performs well in facilities and account activities. Umpqua Bank (807) ranks second, followed by Columbia State Bank and Sterling Savings Bank in a tie, each with 800.

South Central Region: Arvest Bank ranks highest in the region with a score of 826 and performs particularly well in the facilities and fees factors. Hancock Bank (802) and Whitney National Bank (795) follow in the rankings.

Southeast Region: First Federal ranks highest with a score of 830, performing particularly well in the facilities and product offerings factors. First Citizens Bancshares follows in the rankings with 817, and First Citizens Bancorp ranks third with 816.

Southwest Region: Arvest Bank ranks highest in the region with 827 and performs particularly well in facilities and product offerings. MidFirst Bank (813) and FirstBank (CO) (801) follow in the rankings.

Texas: With a score of 859, Frost National Bank ranks highest in Texas and performs well across all six factors, particularly in account activities and fees. Woodforest National Bank (817) and Prosperity Bank (802) follow in the rankings.

The 2012 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study is based on responses from nearly 52,000 retail banking customers regarding their experiences with their retail bank. The study was fielded in January and February 2012.

For more information, view retail banking satisfaction ratings at JDPower.com

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• People Switching Banks More Often, Study Reveals Surprise Reasons
• Customers Leave BofA and Wells Fargo, But Half Switch To Another Big Bank
• Customers Hold Grudge With Referrals Against The Banks That Blew Their Trust
• Mobile Banking Set To Explode, Here’s What Marketers Need to Know

Gen-Y Uses Branches More Than Everyone Else

Despite Gen-Y’s love for all things digital, they don’t just bank online or on their phones. While Gen-Y certainly prefers the digital channel, it’s not like they’ve declared a boycott against physical channels (as many in the financial industry widely believe). Indeed, it’s exactly the opposite. According to the 2011 Consumer Trends Survey from Fiserv, Gen-Y consumers are more likely to visit a branch, drive up to an ATM, or call a call center than any other age segment.

As Gen-Y matures as financial consumers, they will be more likely to purchase homes, start new jobs and start families than other generations. “Many of these life changes may lead to branch visits for activities such as applying for loans, opening new accounts or getting financial advice,” notes Daniel Steer, Director/Consumer Insights at Fiserv. “The complexity of financial processes, fear or unfamiliarity could also cause Gen-Y consumers to regularly seek help through more service-intensive channels.”

Ron Shevlin, a Senior Analyst with Aite, has a different explanation for why Gen-Y is using traditional brick-and-mortar channels so regularly. “I don’t have research data to back up my assertion, but here it is anyway,” Shevlin writes on his blog. “99% of the time, Gen Yers use branches because they can’t get their problem resolved in any other channel. Simply put, Gen-Y use branches not because they want to, but because they have to.”

“Gen Y consumers appear to have an ‘all the information, through all the channels, available all the time’ attitude,” Steer says, but he thinks there’s more going on than just impatience. Gen-Y consumers need real-time financial information because they have little money and no margin for error.

“Those born after 1980 grew up in the age of microwaves, cable television, email, and cell phones,” observes Steer. “Asking them to wait overnight for up-to-date banking information is like asking them to send a telegraph or walk across the room to change the television channel.”

Checks Continue March Towards Extinction

The use of checks has been on the steady march towards death for at least a decade. Checks as a payment tool have declined 10% in the last six years. At this pace, checks will be near extinction within another six or seven years, by 2020 if not sooner.

From January 2010 to July 2011, the number of U.S. online households using online banking increased by 9%. The number of households paying bills online (whether directly at company websites or using their financial institutions’ websites) also increased by 11%.

Online bill payments now account for 50% of all bill payments made by U.S. households with internet access, while checks account for only 23%.

Online Account Opening Becoming Critical

The percentage of deposit, credit and savings accounts opened entirely- or partially online increased significantly from 2010 to 2011. In 2011, half of respondents who opened a money market account did so online, up from 16% in 2010. Meanwhile 42% of respondents who applied for a credit card did so online, up from 31% in 2010. Similar increases were seen across other accounts such as first mortgages and car loans.

Mobile Banking Continues Gaining Ground

Consumers are moving beyond using the mobile channel solely for informational purposes (such as checking balances or locating an ATM), to using it for transactions like paying bills and transferring funds.

According to the survey, one out of four online households have used mobile banking, and 40% of mobile banking users have paid a bill using their phone. 40% percent of mobile banking users have paid a bill using their mobile phone compared to 28% in 2010. 32% used their mobile phone to transfer money versus 25% in 2010.

The most common method of to access banking information with a mobile device is through a browser (60%), followed by downloadable app (41%) and text messaging (32%).

The Future? Tablet Banking

Current and future tablet owners are interested in using their tablet to access financial services, with 45% saying they would like to use their tablet for banking. When asked which banking services they would like to access via tablet, consumers chose: view monthly statements (69%), pay bills (56%), view real-time account information (50%) and transfer money between accounts at the same financial institution (49%).

According to the survey, 19% of online households currently own a tablet and another 20% expect to purchase a tablet, which means almost 40% of online households could own a tablet by mid 2012. Additionally, multi-tablet households are emerging, with 37% of households that already own one tablet stating that they plan to buy another.

Download the Study’s Findings

Conducted regularly since 2002, the Fiserv Consumer Trends Survey provides insights into current and future trends in the use of digital channels for financial services. The current survey, ”Financial Services Continue the Digital Shift,” was conducted in August 2011 by The Marketing Workshop on behalf of Fiserv. The study included 3,000 individuals demographically representative of the U.S. online population. You can download a free 14-page PDF with a summary of findings here.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Survey Proves Value of Online Banking, Bill Pay
• 11% of Consumers Have a Social Media Connection with Their Bank? No Way…
• Marketers Must Stress Security Of Mobile Banking Channels
• As Smart Phone Growth Explodes, Consumers Demand Instant Account Alerts

Postage Hike: Direct mail to get more expensive, complicating ROI (CU Times)

No Guns? BofA dumps (only one) customer in gun biz (FOX News)

Rich People: TD to build wealth management unit from scratch (MarketWatch)

Chasing Fees: Banks targeting low-income customers (NY Times)

Bancology: A newsletter with trends for financial marketers (PDF)

Direct Mail: 4 case studies that can increase volume (CU Business)

Part 1: Retail banking leaders (Lafferty Group)

Part 2: More on retail banking leaders (Lafferty Group)

Where Is The Leadership? Challenging times call for new management (BAI)

LGBT: Gay bankers at Barclays get their own app (Gay Star News)

Gen-Y: You’re all a bunch of no-good layabouts  (Bank Tech)

True Green? Which bank is greenest of them all? (IMRE Financial IQ)

Delivery Channels

The Shrinking Branch: Downsizing the brick-and-mortar channel (Bank Tech)

Branch Profitability: Has it just flown out the window? (Jeff Marsico)

Innovative Space: Great review of State Farm’s community cafe  (MyBankTracker)

Web Clinic: What makes for a winning banking website? (CU Times)

Remote Deposit: The feature mobile bankers want most (Matt Wilcox)

3 Fixes: Making mobile banking as easy as a weather app (Netbanker)

More Branches: Huntington to open 20+ in-store locations (Press Release)

Debit Cards: Gen-Y loves them, study finds (CU Times)

Sneak Peak: US Bank’s new iPad app reviewed (Netbanker)

Mobile Strategy: Chase leads the pack (Mobile Commerce Daily)

Finally: Ally Bank launches mobile app (MyBankTracker)

Product Marketing

All Fun & Games: Banks lighten up with their checking promotions (American Banker)

Bulk Discount: Costco jumps into full-service mortgage business (KTLA)

Mobile Marketing: Some best practices explored (3rd Degree Advertising)

Best Of: Credit card marketing in the CU industry (CU Times)

Social Media

Social Ads: Why stress over ‘Likes’ when you can run ads? (CU Solutions)

Case Study: A look at US Bank’s social channels (Beyond the Arc)

Tough Nut To Crack: YouTube presents challenges for CUs (Bank Tech)

Now Hiring: Strategist for social arm of vampire squid (Goldman Sachs)

Rose Colored Glasses: A very pro-social media perspective for banks (KPMG)

Survey the Landscape: Great study comparing India’s banks (Lighthouse)

Help Wanted: CU seeks marketing specialist – Job #1… social media (Career Builder)

Credit Unions

5 Trends: Forces affecting your credit union today (CUANY)

Challenges + Opportunities: Branding issues for CUs (CU Times)

Women to Watch: Jill Nowacki, VP Marketing at Maps CU (CU Times)

Innovators Wanted: Filene thinktank seeks participants (Filene)

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

C1 Bank is offering a free Mercedes-Benz to customers depositing $1 million into a unique five year CD the bank is promoting. Qualifying customers will receive their brand new Mercedes-Benz as pre-paid interest.

Customers can choose from the SLK350 Roadster (shown above), E350 Sedan, ML350 SUV and E350 Convertible. Each model has a base sticker price around $55,000.

The unique CD offers a 1.20% APY, yielding pre-calculated interest that would amount to a $61,294 advance payment. C1 Bank is only allowing the prepaid interest to be used towards a purchase of a new Mercedes with an MSRP of $59,585. They are throwing in all the taxes and license fees (worth nearly $5K), and knocking $3K off the package, so it basically works out.

The Fine Print:

• Offer valid through July 31, 2012.
• Only applicable for new funds.
• Consumer deposits only.
• Florida residents only.
• Offer is limited to two Mercedes vehicles per household.
• In the event of early withdrawal, C1 Bank will deduct $61,294.04 and a $3,000 penalty from the $1 million principal.

It’s a pretty deft deal, all the way around. The dealer can move expensive cars with wholesale volume, so they can afford to give the bank discounts. Because of the dealer discount, the bank can afford to offer customers an effective APY greater than what they normally could (perhaps the difference between 0.75% and 1.20%). Right now, C1 has nearly everyone beat by at least 0.15% APY on a 5-year CD. And the CD customer benefits by receiving all their higher interest rate paid up front — a free car — instead of having to earn it slowly over time.

Key Questions: Why does C1 Bank want deposits? What will they do if they get 20 takers… and $20 million in deposits? Are they investing in T-bills? Do they need money to lend?

It’s a radical concept; probably not the first in the financial industry, but it turns the CD value proposition on its head. It’s like loaning someone $1 million dollars, except instead of the guy paying you back with interest five years from now, he’s giving you his brand new Benz up front today. It raises interesting questions about the time-value of money, interest rates vs. inflation rates, and the depreciating value of physical assets such as cars.

Of the CD promotion, C1 Bank CEO Trevor Burgess says it is “thrilling to change the game with the instant gratification.”

He sure hit a nerve there. That’s what makes this CD product so revolutionary: the concept of instant gratification. No one likes waiting for their money to accrue interest. It’s boring and “responsible,” so no one likes doing it.

The instant gratification CD is a good idea for financial marketers to tuck away. Save it for when your bank or credit union needs deposits, because that day will come again (as unlikely as that may seem sitting here in 2012). This could be a particularly deadly approach to take with the next generation of CD investors — Gen-Y, also known as Gen Now.

Just remember: The pricing on this kind of CD doesn’t wash out if you offer people prepaid interest in the form of cash. It only works out when you are able to offer a commodity or service you obtain at a wholesale discount. To make the offer as appealing as possible, using highly desirable items (e.g., luxury goods and destinations) is a smart strategy. Entice consumers with something they desperately crave and would value/covet, but would not usually buy for themselves.

The Icing on the Cake

What makes C1′s Mercedes giveaway extra savvy is that is was timed to perfectly coincide with a name change. They previously bore the rather bland and undifferentiated “Community Bank” as their moniker, switching to the much more unique alphanumeric C1 effective May 1, 2012.

While news outlets would barely give notice to a bank changing names (it happens all the time, right?), the media will descend on a story about a free Mercedes with mad furor. The bank could have pumped out one press release after another… one customer letter after another… and still they wouldn’t have yielded a fraction of the communications value that their cleverly crafted CD promo will yield.

It’s brilliant. In fact, any bank or credit union that needs to draw attention to itself should consider using a similar promotional gimmick. Many announcements from financial institutions can be excruciatingly dull, but you can really spice up a PR story with a giveaway (preferably tied to a product promotion) dangling some blingy pizzazz.

As part of the new direction for the brand, C1 will be using the slogan “Customers 1st. Community 1st.” The tagline pays homage to the bank’s old “Community” name and focus, while also providing context for the “C” and “1″ in the new name. It’s another smooth move on the bank’s part — honoring the old while explaining the new — but it begs a question: Where do shareholders fit in? Aren’t they also 1st? (Maybe C1 is privately held, so it doesn’t matter?)

C1 Bank is a local, independent bank serving 18 locations in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Charlotte and Pasco counties in Florida.

Earlier this year, the bank announced net income of $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2012, its eighth consecutive quarterly profit.   Deposits grew organically by $94 million in the quarter from $558 million at year-end 2011 to $652 million at March 30, 2012.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Q&A: BancVue’s Kasasa Tunes Checking Product
• Online Account Opening Frustrates Customers, As 1 in 4 Abandon the Process
• Bank’s Innovative Charity Website Signals New Era in Community Giving
• A Smarter Way to Drive Auto Loans

“The mobile phone is ubiquitous and must be viewed as the gatekeeper to the consumer of the future.”
– Ashok Vemuri, Infosys

The survey also found that slow connection speeds and concerns about the security of their data are the two most common reasons consumers do not use mobile banking more often. One in four say mobile banking interfaces are deficient in some way — e.g., small font.

Data Protection Fears Impact Use and Customer Experience

A quarter of mobile bankers say that a lack of confidence in the protection of their data is a top concern vs. 60% among non-users. Moreover, nearly all consumers polled (96%) said they feel most comfortable or secure while banking on their home computer, edging out comfort levels even at the bank itself (93%), ATM (84%), smart phone (83%), or work computer (only 52%).

Nearly half (45%) of consumers who do not use online banking believe that mobile banking is “experimental” or “dangerous,” and more than a third (38%) say it is “scary.” In fact, non-users are three times as likely to say “scary.”and almost four times as likely to say “dangerous” than mobile banking users.

Ironically, consumers who do not use mobile banking over a lack of confidence in the protection of their personal or financial data admit they willingly share private information on Facebook via their smart phones.

Nearly 80% of all mobile banking consumers say they appreciate 24-hour access account access, but only 48% are happy with the speed of the service, and only 46% with ease of log in.

Reviewing data and balancing checking accounts are the most useful features of mobile banking (both cited by 71%  of consumers). 42% of consumers cite the ability to communicate with customer service as a useful benefit of mobile banking.

“The mobile phone is ubiquitous, and for financial institutions it must be viewed as the gatekeeper to the consumer of the future,” says Ashok Vemuri, a board member and top executive at Infosys. “Our research shows that mobile banking users like ease and convenience, but at the same time demand and expect seamless service.”

“Non-users still face security fears,” Vemuri adds. ”There is phenomenal opportunity for banks to listen to feedback from early adopters, and set the pace around customer experience in the digital world.”

Is Mobile Banking ROI Worth It?

“Clearly, consumer interest in mobile banking services is on the rise.”

Other key findings confirm the increasing volume of buzz in the banking industry surrounding the mobile channel.  Nearly 60% of all respondents say their view of mobile banking services has improved over the past year. In addition, the majority (61%) of non-users say they are likely to try mobile banking in the future. Clearly, consumer interest in mobile banking services is on the rise.

“We continue to see the business case for technology investments here, yet for many financial institutions, the newly mobile world is still a daunting place,” Vemuri notes. “To get the most ROI, banks must provide the same comfort and trust level across all channels — online, in the branch, or on a mobile phone.”

The Infosys mobile banking poll was conducted by an independent research firm between February 22 and February 27, 2012 via an online survey among 1,000 respondents in the United States. To qualify for the survey, respondents had to be active smart phone users (have downloaded an application in the past six months) and indicate that they use online banking services.

Key Takeaways: The mobile channel is perhaps the most critical to your financial institution’s future. Focus on improving the mobile banking experience by building clean, intuitive interfaces that make it easier. Pay particular attention to the login process. When marketing mobile services, you must address people’s fears by stressing security features. Don’t forget to sell the benefits: ease, convenience and financial control.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Mobile Banking Set To Explode, Here’s What Marketers Need to Know
• Mobile Banking Explodes, Fast Becoming a Basic Expectation
• Special Report: State of Online Services in Banking
• Checks Die While Online Thrives, But Gen-Y Still Use Branches

It’s a question many financial institutions wrestle with. The answer is, “It depends,” and it hinges largely on how you define your terminology.

If you equate your “brand” with your organization’s “reputation,” then to “rebrand” would mean you intended to reshape people’s opinions about you in new ways. They think X about you now, and you want them to think Y about you tomorrow.

Unfortunately, “rebranding” is a loaded term, open to a wide range of interpretations. Some may use “rebranding” as a synonym for a “new ad campaign,” equating it to a new slogan, mantra or catchphrase. For others, it could connote something much deeper and intensive, something that impacts the core of every department and division on a foundational level.

Whatever definition you choose, “rebranding” implies the organization had a brand strategy to start with, when in fact most banks and credit unions do not. While many financial institutions have themes — even strategies — for their advertising campaigns, few have sat down and deliberately crafted a long term plan for the brand.

What do we want people to think about us today? Next year? How do we want to be perceived 5-10 years down the road? What is our encompassing message/promise? How do we differentiate the delivery of financial services in meaningful ways? What is the common thread that unifies everything we do — marketing, advertising, sales, service, products, etc.?

Reality Check: When many financial institutions say they need to “rebrand,” what they really need to do is develop an initial, comprehensive brand strategy.

The term “rebranding” suggests a refinement or other similar adjustment to an existing strategy, but an organization can’t refine what it hasn’t yet defined.

If you never articulate a formal, written brand strategy, your organization’s advertising will always be controlled according to the whims of a handful of individuals — namely the marketing director and/or ad agency exec. If you hire a new marketing director, you’re likely to wind up with a new theme for your organization. Same thing if you hire a new ad agency. Without a defined brand strategy, someone can always whip up some new rationale, a new reason to pursue a new direction.

Ad agencies love to use a tool they call the “creative brief.” This is a document that typically lays out the parameters of a client’s marcom project (e.g., objectives, audience, message/offer and media to be used). In a very real sense, a brand strategy could be viewed as an organization’s über creative brief, the overarching “Creative Brief” for all creative briefs.

With a brand strategy in place, you strip away all the subjectivity and replace it with deliberate intent. You have clarity of purpose. You know who you are, what you stand for, where you are going, what you should be saying and to whom.

Rebranding vs. Changing the Brand’s Identity

When a financial marketing executive brings up “rebranding,” they are often referring to their organization’s look and feel. To them “rebranding” translates to a new logo or tagline. Or perhaps new ads, branch merchandising, signage and brochures. Or all the above.

They aren’t talking about changing the underlying “brand” — the strategy. They are talking about altering the cosmetics of the brand, known as the “brand identity.” These are the tangible aspects of the brand that someone can point to and say, “Yep, that’s definitely [Brand X].”

Here’s the tricky part about “rebranding,” where terminology can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings. When the VP of marketing at a bank starts talking about “rebranding,” others may think he or she is suggesting the organization’s foundation needs an overhaul, when in fact they are proposing the brand’s identity — its outward expression — get a makeover. It’s the difference between tweaking your superficial execution and revisiting the substance of your strategy.

There are two basic types of rebranding projects: (1) those that impact staff — what they do, sell and say, and (2) those that have no impact on staff.

With the first approach to rebranding, you look at retooling all aspects of your organization. You’re hoping to align everything around a new, cohesive position.

With the second approach to rebranding, the organization is usually only changing what it says, not what it does, who it is or what it stands for.

So the answer to the question, “Should we rebrand?” is “It depends.” It depends on whether you have already established your organization’s brand strategy. It depends on whether your brand strategy is outdated, inadequate or no longer relevant. Or maybe your brand strategy is solid and the identity is the only thing that needs to change. Either way, the term “rebranding” is so slippery and ambiguous, it’s best to avoid it unless you are doing a deep dive into your strategy.

Rebranding Checklist:

Do we have a formal, written brand strategy? (If not, you need one.)

Is our brand strategy relevant and enduring? (If yes, be careful about how you use the term “rebranding,” as it might imply you are abandoning your position/promise.)

Are we changing who we are or what we stand for at a basic level? (If yes, you are truly rebranding.)

Are we delivering a message consistent with those we’ve marketed in the past? (If yes, you aren’t really “rebranding” so much as evolving, refreshing, updating or extending your brand.)

Do we change the underlying promise and messages in our ad campaigns regularly? (If yes, you probably would benefit from a branding project.)

How will staff be impacted by changes planned for our brand and/or its execution/delivery? (If staff are affected, you are most likely rebranding. If staff aren’t affected, it’s most likely a brand identity makeover.)

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Three Warning Signs It May Be Time to Rebrand
• Peek Inside: Marketing At Australia’s Orange Credit Union
• The Visual Story of Marginalen Bank’s Colorful Brand Identity
• Antes vs. Drivers: 3 Steps to Find Relevant Differentiation

A credit union employee with a fetish for female toes is putting voyeur videos of members and coworkers — all women wearing open-toed shoes — on YouTube.

The Financial Brand first learned about this series of shocking and offensive videos when one popped up on an automated Google Alert for “credit union” + “YouTube.” Someone under the YouTube handle marajohn1123 had posted an odd video of a female credit union co-worker’s toes. When a similar Google Alert was triggered for another video, this time of a member’s toes, it was clear that a credit union somewhere had a serious problem with a serial voyeur.

On the user’s YouTube channel (now closed), there were over 100 videos of women’s feet, all shot spycam style without the knowledge and approval of the victim. Based on information revealed in the videos, the videos were likely shot in and around a suburb of Atlantic City.

The credit union employee appears to be a loan officer or similar member service rep, but that doesn’t stop him from leaving his desk to film members’ toes at the branch ATM.

This is perhaps one of the scariest scenarios a bank or credit union could face in social media: a rogue employee exposing sensitive and/or harmful information through social channels. One unfortunate credit union is now subject to all kinds of legal, criminal, financial, privacy and reputational risks.

Anyone running regular YouTube searches for “credit union” would have found these videos, including managers at the credit union this guy works for.

Key Questions: What can be done to prevent this kind of problem? Should financial institutions develop policies concerning use of smart phones — e.g., should they kept above tables, always in plain view and never used to video anything ever?

In one video, the perpetrator reveals his name. He and the member are discussing a pending car purchase when he phones the auto dealership, “Hey Vince, this is Marcus. Me and Tatiana are both here.”

A number of tattoos on Tatiana’s right foot are clearly identifiable.

Whatever Marcus is up to is possibly illegal and definitely creepy.

A snapshot of a frame taken from one of the voyeur’s videos of a member’s toes.
The video is no longer available, and the YouTube channel has been closed.

Key Question: What else has Marcus filmed? Why should we believe he draws the line at toes?

In another video, Marcus accidentally allows the local area in which he works to be revealed. In a tape conversation, the member says, “There’s a new [inaudible] Dress Barn that’s opening up on Hamilton Commons like right near the movie theater [inaudible] and she’s trying to get me there.” In the video, you can hear Marcus agreeing as if he completely understands the area the member is describing.

The “Red Toe Nails” video was posted April 5, 2012. Four days later, an article in a local New Jersey paper ran a story about a new Dress Barn opening up in Hamilton Commons, located in Hamilton Township, NJ, about seven miles northwest of Atlantic City.

A snapshot of a frame taken from one of the voyeur’s videos of a member’s toes.
The video is no longer available, and the YouTube channel has been closed.

Google Maps indicates nine credit unions with branch locations around the Hamilton Township area. Many are too small to have branch locations as sophisticated as the one depicted in the voyeur’s videos.

Bottom Line: As managers, we need to keep an eye on how people (both employees and the general public) are use their mobile phones in branches, particularly in this day and age when anything and everything — literally… everyyyyything — can wind up on YouTube. As individuals, we need to be aware of how others are using their phones around us, and realize that someone who appears to be toying with their phone may indeed be filming something you don’t approve of.

Update (May 5, 2012): The Financial Brand has called numerous credit unions in the area around Atlantic City in an unsuccessful attempt to locate Marcus. The Financial Brand has also sent several messages to NJ credit unions and other CU industry insiders to no avail. It is entirely possible that Marcus works/worked at a bank and posted the videos as “credit union” to throw anyone off. Indeed, some of the videos he shot at work were marked “bank,” but most were labeled “credit union.” The YouTube channel Marcus created was closed by the user, likely in response to this article, as YouTube alerts users when videos are embedded elsewhere on the web.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• The Echo Project: A Credit Union Blueprint to Attract Gen-Y
• Credit Union Gives Members Rare Peek Behind the Scenes
• Best of Credit Union 2011 Diamond Award Winners
• The Startling State of Social Media in Credit Unions

Need To Stay Connected With Customers? You Need Email

The theme at a recent financial institution marketing conference was “Connecting with Customers.” Financial marketers were encouraged to connect with their customers strategically, emotionally, personally and even “socially.” Curiously, none of the presentations mentioned email. But if you ask customers for their preferred method of contact, the majority will say email. Yep, good, old-fashioned, boring, one-to-one email — the channel many have declared “dead.”

One client found that nearly 8 out of 10 customers choose email as their preferred contact channel (and they are investing in it accordingly). A survey by Exact Target on channel preferences confirmed this finding, and emails rank as the contact channel consumers prefer most for marketing communications (77% for email vs. 5% for Twitter and 4% for Facebook).

Nevertheless, email remains under-utilized, under-budgeted, and under-appreciated at most financial institutions. Like Rodney Dangerfield, it seems email gets no respect, or at least not the respect it deserves.

It may surprise many marketers that it wasn’t so long ago (not more than a decade) that most financial institutions couldn’t even capture email addresses. Things have changed, and today banks and credit unions should be able to capture and harvest upwards of 70% or more of their customers’ email addresses.

Reliability = Strategic Value

While the past few years have seen an increase in email usage by financial institutions, the attention given is nothing compared to the seemingly insatiable appetite for shiny new things (e.g.,  social media strategies). Maybe it’s because many marketers commonly think of email as little more than a distribution method for newsletters and announcements.While newsletters are nice, they’re usually not a strategic priority for most banks and credit unions. If a newsletter doesn’t get opened, or an email address bounces, or the customer opts-out, no big deal — right? “Besides, what can be done about it anyway?’

Obtaining and maintaining ongoing email contact with your customers should be the most important marketing task on your list right now. Having a reliable email database allows you to connect directly with your customers when you need to, at a highly effective cost. This can include operational messages, marketing campaigns, educational content, feedback, and onboarding new customers, among other things. Without a reliable email database, all these are difficult to execute effectively.

There is a correlation between your email capture rate, email usage, and its strategic value. The higher you score on capture rate and usage, the higher the strategic value. It’s not mere coincidence that the more attuned you are to your email program, the more reliable (and strategic!) it will become.

Online System of Record

Recently, a senior credit union marketing executive casually dismissed nearly 60% of his email addresses (7,000 out of 12,000) as being “worthless.” So much for a strategic asset! That would never stand if it was a system-of-record physical address. Ironically, the executive was looking for meaningful feedback on his members’ online experience, where email is the system-of-record.

While web channels, applications and platforms continue to proliferate, email remains the “business class” method to connect with customers. In order to make email a strategic asset, it has to be treated accordingly. That means gaining senior management’s commitment — and IT’s buy-in — to implement email-friendly systems and processes.

Here’s a tangible example. In 2011, when Hurricane Irene roared through New England, many banks faced branch closings. Some financial institutions were able send email alerts to their customers within minutes of making their decisions to close. Despite all the communications challenges in a hurricane, the alerts were read by thousands of bank customers. The effective reach for two banks who used email to announce branch closings averaged over 22% of those customers for whom they had email addresses.

In contrast, a super-regional bank with more than 7 million customers boasted that it kept its customers updated using Twitter. A look at its Twitter page showed just over 3,800 “followers” — for an effective reach of 0.0005%. Ironically, it’s safe to assume that those Twittering customers are not the typical branch users that would likely be affected by any branch closings. Other banks took to posting Facebook alerts, reaching fewer than 2% of their customers. Is this what “staying connected” is supposed to be all about?

There Are Challenges…

Despite its clear advantages, email continues to be relegated to second-class status (or worse) at many financial organizations. Part of the problem includes stubborn biases and inaccurate assumptions within banking circles. It’s not uncommon to find bank and credit union executives who think email is not reliable, it’s dangerous, it’s difficult to manage, it’s not effective, and it’s all spam anyway. Many marketers mistakenly think older folks don’t (or won’t) use email because they’re stymied by technology, and young people don’t (or won’t) use email because social media will overtake email. And, of course, the latest popular myth: “Email is dead.” All of these issues are either flat out wrong, or can be addressed with a little strategic attention.

…And There Are Solutions

For an annual investment of less than $1 per customer, you can connect personally with most of your customers / members with multiple messages that are timely, targeted, relevant, informative and interactive. No wonder email continues to deliver the highest ROI of any channel. It’s important to note that that relevance is critical to email’s success, but is difficult to achieve without some level of integration into core systems and processes. This is why it’s important to make email a true strategic initiative across the enterprise, so that it’s a seamless, natural part of the customer contact strategy.
The conversation is much more complex, but the problem is that the conversation is not even taking place. But now is the time to use email to stay connected with customers a strategic goal. Here’s a checklist to get started:

• Develop an email content and contact strategy that is sustainable and delivers actual value to the customer.
• Restore customer trust in your emails. Use authentication techniques, keep front line in the loop on email campaigns, and educate recipients about safe email practices.
• Educate customers about the roles and value propositions of email (“what’s in it for me?”). Deliver that value with relevant, informational, respectful messages and special offers. That means integrating with your MCIF or integrating product usage in your email database.
• Put systems in place to measure ROI. Most MCIF systems have campaign tracking tools that should make this easy. If you don’t have an MCIF, use click-through reports to compare new accounts to campaign efforts. When calculating ROI, don’t forget to include the intrinsic value of brand impressions made with message views. Reaching customers via other channels costs money; assign the typical cost of an impression (50¢ to $1.50 per impression is not unreasonable).
• Capture and validate email addresses and preferences at all possible contact points. A great place to start is with a new account or new product welcome email sequence.
• Use a system that can differentiate and handle multiple levels of opt-outs, and retain email addresses for delivering operational messages.
• Ensure that email addresses are treated with the same importance as physical addresses, with respect to accuracy, accountability and system integration. (Some clients are implementing postal and phone follow-ups when emails bounce. It’s that important.)
• Get professional email support on the budget somewhere. It’s not a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have. Don’t be afraid to educate senior management on email’s value. There’s plenty of supporting material out there. If you want to make email strategic, use a provider that can meet your security, compliance and regulatory standards. We’ve seen a number of low-cost self-service providers get the boot when facing regulatory scrutiny.
• Review systems and processes to ensure that they are “email-friendly.”

A few years ago, many financial institutions made the regrettable decision to concede their email channel, telling customers they would “never contact them by email.” Capitulating email to spammers and phishers may have been the only option 5-10 years ago, but nowadays financial institutions must reclaim control of this most critical, strategic channel to stay connected with customers. If financial institutions want to stay connected with their growing online customer base, doesn’t it make sense to pay attention to email as the electronic system of record? Factor in the proven savings (and other benefits) over rising postal costs, and the strategic argument for email is compelling.

Ray Parenteau is the founder and president of ClickRSVP, an email service provider specializing exclusively in serving financial institutions since 2000.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• 11% of Consumers Have a Social Media Connection with Their Bank? No Way…
• 20 Things Financial Institutions Should Do (But Don’t)
• Mobile Banking Explodes, Fast Becoming a Basic Expectation
• Journalists, Trade Press Irresponsibly Fan Flames on the Financial Social Media Fire

[Editor's Note: If you'd like to have your financial institution's in-house marketing department profiled on The Financial Brand, please complete the questionnaire here.]

Name of Financial Institution: Tropical Financial Credit Union
Area served: Southeast Florida
Founded: 1935
Website: www.tropicalfcu.org

Assets: $587 million
Number of members: 55,000
Number of branches: 11
Members per branch: 5,000
Loans: $375 million
Investments: $195 million
Capital: $52 million (8.86%)
12-Month Share Growth: -1.25%
12-Month Loan Growth: -9.88%
ROA: -0.20%

Number of total employees: 170
Ratio of customers to employees: 324:1

Number of employees in marketing department: 5 (2.94% of entire workforce)

• Amy McGraw, VP Marketing
• One Manager
• One Graphic Designer
• One Research Analyst
• One Coordinator

Number of campaigns run every year: 4 major promotions, plus monthly promos

Systems & Tools

In-House vs. Vendor

Social Media Strategy

The social media strategy is just now being implemented. It is a hub-and-spoke type of strategy. There is a central hub that determines direction of the various teams as well as monitor and moderate posts through SocialVolt. Each team is platform-based. We have a Facebook/Google+ team, Twitter team, YouTube/Flickr team, LinkedIn Team, Blogging Team, and Blog commenting team. Each team is made up of 3-5 people from various departments — not all marketing. Each day the central team disseminates a topic for the various teams to engage about, and each team is responsible for posting and engaging depending on the platform. Through SocialVolt, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter activity is monitored and can be scheduled. Blogs are vetted ahead of time and blog commenters are all executive staff. Each team member is assigned an iPad to keep data secure and happy; none of the engagement is happening over our network, but through WiFi or 3G on their iPads. Measurements through SocialVolt include Facebook insights, share of voice, and other free tools.

URL for Twitter account: @TropicalFCU
Nature of tweets: Announcements and intra-industry networking
Twitter account created: March 5, 2009
Twitter followers: 169
Assets per follower: $3.47 million
Number of followers for every 1,000 members: 3.1
Accounts followed: 140
Tweets sent: 323
Average # of tweets sent per day: 0.29
Average # of followers added per day: 0.15

URL for Facebook page: facebook.com/tropicalfcu
Facebook page created: September 16, 20o9
Number of Facebook ‘Likes’: 518
Assets per Facebook ‘Like’: $1.13 million
Number of Facebook ‘Likes’ per 1,000 members: 9.4
Average # of Likes added per day: 0.56

URL for YouTube channel: youtube.com/TropicalFinancialCU
YouTube account created: August 13, 2008
Number of videos uploaded: 13
Number of subscribers: 5
Total video views: 3,514
Average # of views per video: 270

URL for LinkedIn Page: linkedin.com/company/tropical-financial-credit-union
Number of LinkedIn Followers: 210

Google+ page: Pending launch

Marketing Channels Deployed

Marketing Strategy

Biggest challenge in the next 12 months?
Reduction of budget, strong competition, expensive media market, website redesign, deployment of new social media strategy, and redesign of checking product.

Critical products/services to market this year?
Loans, checking, loans, growth of consumer and commercial accounts, loans… Did we mention loans already?

How are branches and front line staff integrated into marketing initiatives?
Monthly marketing bulletins distributed via email, weekly branch conference calls on Fridays, monthly branch manager and assistant branch manager meetings that marketing presents upcoming and present promotions. Marketing coordinator also makes “road show” rounds to make sure the branches are presenting a unified member experience.

How do you track marketing ROI?
It depends on the campaign/promotion. We’ve used year-over-year stats, we’ve used specific calls-to-action, like “bring this in” or “mention this ad.” We also use Google analytics to measure web based traffic.

Each promotion is reported to the board in terms of costs, results and comparison to year prior, or month prior, depending on the promotion.

Bigger campaigns are given status updates with monthly costs as well as overall costs and monthly side-by-side, year-over-year results. We report the success as well as those that weren’t so successful. That is important for transparency because not everything is going to work every time.

Favorite campaign?
Amy McGraw: I’ve been here only seven months, and my favorite has been the “Swipe Where It Counts” promotion we launched mid-October 2011 in response to BofA’s $5 debit fee announcement. For every five debit swipes (signature or PIN) the member receives $1, up to $5 a month for the first 6 months the account is opened. We put it together in less than 20 hours and it has become so popular it was made a permanent feature for all new checking accounts starting in March 2012. Members are still talking about it.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Peek Inside: Mid-Atlantic FCU’s In-House Marketing Department
• Is Facebook The Only Social Channel That Really Matters?
• Peek Inside: Pen Air FCU’s In-House Marketing Department
• Peek Inside: Fidelity Bank’s In-House Marketing Department

One study commissioned by the Federal Reserve System examines the increasing impact mobile tools have had on consumers’ banking, budgeting, shopping and payments behaviors. The report titled “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services” presents findings from an online survey with over 2,200 participants, conducted in December 2011 and January 2012. The report explores the use of mobile technologies as a means to access financial services and make financial decisions.

The study concludes that the ubiquity of mobile phones is clearly changing the way consumers access financial services. Today, 87% of the U.S. population has a mobile phone, and 44% of those are internet-enabled smartphones. 21% of mobile phone owners have used mobile banking in the past 12 months. Compare that to the 68% of those consumers with regular internet access and a bank account who have used online banking in the past 12 months. In simple terms, mobile banking has exploded into a channel about one-third the size/significance of online banking …and it’s still growing strong.

Checking account balances or recent transactions is the most common mobile banking activity reported by mobile banking users (90%). Transferring money between accounts is the second most common use of mobile banking (42% of mobile banking users). 12% of mobile phone owners have made a mobile payment in the past 12 months.

Consumers report using mobile banking up to 60 times per month, however, the median number of mobile banking transactions is four or five times in a typical month.

11% of those not currently using mobile banking think that they will probably use it within the next 12 months. An additional 17% of those who report that they are unlikely to adopt mobile banking in the next year say they will “definitely” or “probably” adopt mobile banking at some point. Most of those who had not yet adopted mobile banking (58%) hadn’t done so because they felt their banking needs were already being met through other channels.

Two major impediments to consumers’ adoption of mobile banking and mobile payment technologies are (1) concerns about security and (2) the possibility of hackers remotely accessing consumers’ phones. Concerns about the security of the technology were the primary reason given for not using mobile payments (42%), and the second most common reason given for not using mobile banking (48%) altogether.

Needed: More Marketing, More Tutorials and How-Tos

In another study, ath Power Consulting concluded that banks were not adequately promoting their mobile banking offerings.

“It is alarming that only 10% of users were prompted to first use their bank’s mobile channel by their actual bank,” said Frank Aloi, President and CEO of ath Power Consulting. “This indicates a clear lack of customer education, yet an obvious opportunity for banks to take initiative to promote their offerings.”

“Many people weren’t aware of some of the things that were possible,” Michael McEvoy, managing director at ath Power Consulting, told American Banker. “They didn’t know, for instance, if their bank offers remote deposit capture.”

Customer support is another facet lacking in banks’ mobile services. 40% of all mobile bankers failed to find links for technical support.

“Users feel they’re not getting the kind of mobile banking help and guidance that they’d like to have,” McEvoy points out. “Some complained about difficulty navigating the app. Some felt there was a lack of support and guidance to help if you’re not sure what to do next.”

McEvoy says easier navigation and chat tools would help banks improve uptake of mobile banking tools. He also believes banks don’t do a good job of making people feel comfortable that mobile and online channels are secure.

On the upside, the study found that mobile customers are more loyal. Only about 1 in 8 mobile banking customers say they’re thinking about changing banks some time in the next two years compared vs. 1 in 5 among the general customer base. For this reason alone, financial marketers would be wise to fuel interest in- and adoption of mobile solutions.

In the ath Power study, 70% of mobile banking users said that online banking was their primary channel of choice. 16% said mobile banking, 9% said a branch, 3% said their phone and 2% said an ATM.

Opportunities Lurking Among Gen-Y, Minorities, the Unbanked and Underbanked

The study commissioned by the Federal Reserve found that underbanked make comparatively heavy use of both mobile banking and mobile payments, with 29% having used mobile banking and 17% having used mobile payments in the last year. 10% of the completely unbanked report using mobile banking in the past 12 months, and 12% have made a mobile payment. 62% of the underbanked who use mobile payments have used it to pay bills.

Mobile phone penetration is high among younger generations, minorities, and those with low incomes — groups that are commonly unbanked or underbanked. For instance, 89% of African Americans and 86% of Hispanics own a mobile phone, and they are far more likely to have smart phones than Caucasians.

Unsurprisingly, mobile phone adoption is highest for younger age groups: only 5% of individuals ages 18 to 24 do not have a mobile phone, and half have a smartphone.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

Similar Articles:

• Survey Proves Value of Online Banking, Bill Pay
• Marketers Must Stress Security Of Mobile Banking Channels
• Mobile Banking Explodes, Fast Becoming a Basic Expectation
• Checks Die While Online Thrives, But Gen-Y Still Use Branches