This is so cool (a look at Bank Director's recent growth)

Eat-or-be-eaten

A lot has happened in the last year.  In addition to adding a new family member (a healthy little boy), I've seen Bank Director grow by leaps and bounds.  Already influential with members of the boards of financial institutions when I re-joined, our team has put into practice a number of ideas that bode well for the CEOs, CFOs, Chairmen and Directors that rely on us as their go-to information resource.  Let me share some of my favorites:

  • We began to redesign the look and feel of the company's brand -- beginning with our efforts to prove one fish eating another really is a cool cover;
  • We've taken social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and grown pretty impressive communities around each;
  • Released new apps for your iPad, iPhone and Android-powered mobile devices so you can read our quarterly magazine wherever and whenever you please;
  • Invested big time in our data sets to become a truly data-driven organization;
  • Moved into the cloud to manage client relationships and communications of our dispersed work force;
  • Put together new conferences for CEOs and their boards -- and had them sell out;
  • Established new business relationships with a number of prominent service and advisory firms keen to reach bank executives online, in-print and in-person;
  • Met with CEOs of banks whose asset size & market share make me shake my head in positive amazement;
  • Built BankBusiness.com -- the most extensive directory of qualified companies currently serving the financial community;
  • Produced three-to-five minute videos that feature some of the bigger banks in the U.S.; and
  • Created a new Analyst Forum to share macro-level trends with directors & officers of publicly-held banks.

Next week, we will introduce even more to our digital arsenal -- beginning with a live webcast from NASDAQ's MarketSite.  We will quickly follow that up with something I'm personally excited to do: "ring" the NASDAQ Closing Bell on Tuesday, December 6th.  I'll be doing so with our chairman, Bill King, to close our one-day conference.  While that will be really cool, I do wish we could have the whole Bank Director team up with me... so many talented people are working really hard to make 2012, 2013 and beyond spectacular years!

Oh so upwardly mobile we are today

I'm not sure if you read yesterday's WSJ article about mobile banking ("Banks Stumble Along Tech Frontier"); the piece looks at the various technologies that banks have invested in -- and rolled out -- without success.  One of my big takeaways?  The lack of integrated marketing strategies to promote these new services and product offerings once they are available.  For anyone who has worked in a technology company, you know how difficult it can be to translate tech jargon and silly acronyms into something consumer-friendly.  But dong so is essential -- and banks haven't totally grasped this in recent years.

Ironically, I wrote a piece on mobile banking for BankDirector.com that went up yesterday morning too.  In it, I talk with one of First Data's product development VPs to get his take on banks using mobile tecnologies to acquire new customers.  He made the point that going mobile as simply an extension of a financial services company's Internet banking experience miss the bigger picture.  Mobile is not necessarily risky, it’s almost a must-have.  Now, this is the fifth time I've written about mobile banking as viewed by the CEO and board of a financial institution for BankDirector.com; if you have time and are curious to see my latest column, take a look.  I'd be interested in your take.  Oh, and unlike the WSJ, payment not required to read it.

Flashbacks to the 90's? A mobile banking story

(*I wrote this post this morning's Bank Director blog as part of my weekly look at how technical trends and tools are changing the banking experience.  For more Bank Director posts, visit our blog)

In the mid-to-late ‘90s, when companies like InteliData were promoting online bill payment and presentment technologies, I was introduced to a wave of industry optimism that such technologies would dramatically improve our overall banking experience.  While the adoption cycle for online banking proved far longer than many forecast, history may be repeating itself.  Indeed, we are in another period of technological exuberance, albeit mobile in nature.
 
Given our growing love affairs with mobile devices of all shapes, sizes and underlying technologies, it’s really no surprise that mobile banking continues to transform the way people manage their finances. Now, I realize I’m just one of many sharing this perspective; indeed, far more experienced voices, such as Fiserv's CEO Jeff Yabuki, has been known to tweet out thoughts like this:
(*April 30, 2011)
 
Much like the pre-IT bubble days of online banking, I’m inundated with promotional materials from tech vendors promising to enhance the experience of a bank’s customers while reducing an institution's costs.

Ah, the promise of mobile banking.  All upside, right?  Well, the Boston-based Aite Group offers an interesting counterpoint.  Last month, the research and advisory firm published its analysis of the group's mobile banking consumer behavior survey. Its big takeaway: Banks will have to make significant investments to improve or develop their mobile marketing capabilities based on:
  • The lack of retention benefits from the mobile banking channel;
  • Potential losses of overdraft fees from balance monitoring; and
  • Shift in consumer attention towards mobile banking capabilities.
Juxtapose Aite's observation with a recent TowerGroup forecast. There will be 53 million mobile banking users by 2013, which represents an annual growth rate of more than 50 percent.  Clearly, this is a huge opportunity for financial institutions to use mobile banking as a growth strategy.  According to FIS, another leading technology firm in our industry, those institutions that are not waiting on the sidelines are benefitting in a number of ways:
  • Attracting new market segments;
  • Reducing operating costs;
  • Creating brand differentiation;
  • Deepening account relationships;
  • Increasing satisfaction and loyalty; and
  • Generating revenue.
Despite the promise of these benefits, far more financial institutions have yet to go mobile. For those who haven't, what are you waiting for? And no, this is not a rhetorical question. We'd like to know as we prepare to roll out our new digital platform for the financial community next month, so we might better help you understand the benefits and drawbacks of products and services.

 

A look into mobile banking strategy

Aa_flight

(*I wrote this post for Bank Director earlier this week as part of my weekly look at how technical trends and tools are changing the banking experience.  For more Bank Director posts, visit our blog)

It’s funny the things that cross your mind in an airport. I snapped this picture of a classic American plane docked in Chicago pre-flight to China this morning. Patiently waiting by the gate must have been 200+ people, 95% of whom appeared glued to their iPad, iPhone or Android-powered mobile device. To say I was impressed is an understatement. Users of mobile technology are known for being many things: patient is not one of them. They want new tools, new applications and they want them today. Maybe I should have photo'd the departure lounge...

From the board room to a branch office, it’s no state secret that today's mobile banking customers expect access whenever and wherever they are. With so many banks investing in new technologies that allow customers to complete transactions, manage accounts, and perform banking research via their mobile devices, one can see why. Mobile banking services -- think remote deposit capture, two-way text banking, apps for locating branches and ATMs using GPS and bill payment -- have become the norm. So how to differentiate your bank from your competitors?
In my next few posts, I’ll take a look at this question.  With banks (both big and small) riding the mobile wave to strengthen relationships and add to their bottom lines, I thought to set the table with insight gleaned from our friends at PwC.  Last month, the Banking & Capital Markets group published "How Retail Banks Can Thrive in a Disruptive, Mobile, Regulated World" to assess the implications and opportunities created by mobile phones and social media.  My cliff's notes:
  • Social media continues to provide banks with new ways to improve brand recognition, expand customer reach, enhance a customer's experience and introduce new products (for more, see these posts we ran in January about how to benefit from social media and social networking platforms);
     
  • While most large national banks have slowed their pace of retail bank acquisitions because of regulatory limits, banks with access to capital continue to view acquisitions as a growth opportunity. Such acquisitions benefit banks by enabling them to (a) reduce combined operational costs by eliminating redundant back-office functions, (b) spread technology investments and regulatory compliance costs across a larger base, (c) gain access to new markets and customers for cross-selling, (d) increase the ability to invest in state-of-the-art technologies; and
     
  • Leading institutions are adopting a new customer-centric model to replace outdated product- centric models.
A few big takeaways for me? Bank execs need to quickly and decisively adopt new approaches or risk being left behind. Moreover, by tailoring channels to a specific customer segment or purpose, banks are capitalizing on the distinct and complementary roles of distribution channel, all while managing costs. Yes, this is the land of opportunity, and the applications of new mobile technologies and strategies bears close watching. More to come next week.

Going mobile

So I had a great conversation last night with two tremendously talented women.  No, I will not give away their identities; rather, point you to their respective blogs: Fresh Ideas and Next Stop, Happiness.  Somehow -- and I wish I could remember why -- I found the three of us discussing the convergence of mobile applications and broadcast television.  Ok, it might be that one of them works for Showtime and we'd been talking about mobile consumption habits + SEO and SEM strategies at places like ESPN.  But I digress.

Any way, yesterday's conversation -- coupled with Apple's iPhone announcement -- got me thinking today about the various mobile platforms that people are building apps for.  Off the top of my head: RIM/Blackberry, Apple/Phone + iPad, Microsoft/Windows Mobile, Google/Android (*What am I missing?).  While I work with developers at Computech that I'm sure salivate over the prospect of building to one of these standards, I'm keen to learn about new apps being developed for:

  • Customer use / engagement;
  • Business intelligence;
  • Field service automation; and
  • Merchandising.
Yes, I know there are a number of  cool apps for these and other areas (e.g. supply chain management, sales force automation, etc.)  But I wanted to post this to begin a conversation about "what's next."  Drop me a line + let me know your thoughts!