The document outlines a strategy for building an effective online banking ("eBanking") value proposition for community banks. It proposes following 7 commandments: 1) listen to and respond to customers, 2) provide personal touch, 3) seamless assistance, 4) let customers customize tools, 5) provide tools to manage money, 6) integrate social networking, and 7) encourage viral marketing. Tactics would include website design, marketing analytics, and social media integration to help banks maximize their online presence and better serve customers.
1. Building the eBank Value Proposition
TonyTorero.com Consulting, LLC
Contact: (913) 538-1572
February 2011
2. Building the eBank Value Proposition
Agenda
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2.
3.
4.
Objective Definition
Facts and Figures
The eBank Value Proposition - Scope
The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
5. Tools of Execution
6. Summary & Game Plan
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3. Objective Definition
• The Community FI is at NO disadvantage to the large,
national box banks with their online presence. Quite the
opposite actually; they have the ability to leverage
strategic technology vendors to offer a combination of
technology and human attention to their needs that box
banks are unable to match.
• What they often lack are the resources to leverage this
advantage to the fullest. This is the gap we will fill;
allowing them to be bankers while we also allow them to
maximize the investment in their online presence and
make use of a team that will offer a unique skill set that
most Community FI’s can’t afford to keep on payroll.
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4. Facts and Figures – Part I
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Banks see online banking as a value-added customer service, and are taking great
pains to create user experiences that reinforce customer trust and a recognition of
what every online customer wants: convenience and speed at low cost. ¹
While about 95 million U.S. households use the Internet, 72.5 million of those
households participate in online banking, with 36.4 million using online bill pay.
Those numbers represent a 51 percent increase in Internet usage per household
since 2000, and an even larger increase of 84 percent in online banking and 78
percent in online bill pay.
One area of weakness could be among Generation Y, consumers born between the
late-1970s and the late 1990s, who are adopting new technology at a high pace, but
are more likely to pay through a biller direct service.
Online banking and bill payment are no longer "early adopter" technologies, and
often lead to increased customer loyalty.
While consumers often hear about online options through word of mouth, bank
branches have the best opportunity to educate customers on the services they
provide.
Online banking and mobile payments are growing at a faster pace than the Internet. ²
¹ http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=3
² http://www.banktech.com/channels/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225200064
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5. Facts and Figures – Part II
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72% of North American bank technology executives expect their budgets to
stay the same or decrease in 2010, according to a recent Aite Group report.
As a result, banks seeking to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and free up
capital are increasingly turning to outsourcing, according to reports.
Thanks to a combination of demographic trends, technology capabilities and
uncertainty in the banking competitive arena, personal financial management
(PFM) tools -- online resources geared toward helping consumers and small
businesses manage their finances -- really took off in 2009 and are likely to
present an even greater opportunity (or threat) to banks in 2010. PFM looks
to be an ideal way for banks to improve customer experience and loyalty and
to leverage their online banking platforms. Banks are in a prime position to
help customers take more control over their finances. But PFM's growing
popularity also raises the specter of disintermediation. The leading PFM
players, including Mint (acquired recently by Intuit), Geezeo and Yodlee, are
simultaneously potential partners and competitors to banks. ¹
¹ http://www.banktech.com/managementstrategies/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=GF45KRBAEQHCZQE1GHPSKHWATMY32JVN?articleID=2220
02892&pgno=2
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6. The eBank Value Proposition - Scope
• Just as the community FI value proposition consists of offering an
unparalleled combination of human and technological contact &
service, the online channels can offer the same marriage of old
(traditional) and new.
• In other words, we will offer our customers a strategic framework that
leverages the bank’s investment in their Technological Infrastructure
as well as opening up new web & Marketing opportunities by applying
a series of 7 eBanking commandments that will:
– Put eBanking controls firmly into the customer’s hands.
– Empower customers to communicate with their bank
when, where & how they want.
– Provide simple, easy to use tools that let customers
control their money, their finances and how they
communicate economically with the world.
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7. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
1.Listen to me & Respond accordingly (Make me
feel important)
Just like a branch customer, an eBanker wants to feel
important. They like to influence their eBanking experience.
They want the eBank to listen to their concerns and
suggestions and respond accordingly. They compare the
bank’s Web experience to every non-bank experience and
transfer those expectations from company to company. The
serious eBanker seeks a partner that appreciates new ideas
from a wide range of sources. Therefore, in designing the
eBank experience for our clients, we must compete against
a wide range of user expectations in terms of ease of use
and functionality and pursue continuing research on user
preferences.
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8. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
2.Personal Touch
eBankers do not see the Web experience as a separate
service or a replacement for the branch necessarily, but
as an extension of the overall bank experience. They
perceive relationship banking as an integrated
experience that works seamlessly, regardless of how
they choose to interact with the bank. They see the Web
as an integral part of all their personal relationships and
a way to enrich those relationships. They see no real
distinction between visiting a branch and researching or
interacting with a bank online. Therefore, we need to
intertwine the Web experience for our customers into all
the aspects of personal relationship banking rather than
treat it as a distinct channel.
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9. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
3.Seamless Assistance with my Banking Needs
eBankers want to be able to conduct a full range of
transactions online, from opening accounts to chatting
with a customer support person. They are likely to seize
upon a range of imbedded functionality that will put them
in direct, real-time contact with eBank support staff as
well as their personal banker. These users see email,
texting or instant messaging in the same light and view
them as largely interchangeable. The eBanker now
expects their online tools to give them the power to
manage their finances, budget for current & future needs,
financially forecast and give them the option of taking as
firm control of their finances as they wish, whether
they’re on their computer or mobile device.
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10. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
4.Banking my way (Let me choose how to
use/customize web tools)
The more advanced eBankers want to be able to
customize their Web experience. Every eBanker is
concerned about security but this group is even
more aware of the paramount importance of proper
online security. They even prefer to be able to set
their own security levels based on their personal
risk assessment to meet their unique needs. They
want to add features at their discretion and add or
delete optional services on demand. Consumers
want choices and the ability to customize the Web
experience.
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11. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
5.Tools to better manage my money (PFM
Tools)
The advent of online Personal Financial Management (PFM)
services has put a dent into Quicken’s stronghold within the
PFM market. Many more users are seeking a simple set of
tools to better manage their personal finances. A basic,
integrated PFM capability has become increasingly
important with the ability to set up and track budgets and
expenditures. In these difficult economic times, users are
seeking an easy way to better manage their finances and
build net worth. eBankers are seeking impartial and helpful
financial advice from a reliable source. Therefore, we need
to encourage our customer to leverage their trusted
relationship with the bank, which has historically occurred
as a result of our branch presence.
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12. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
6.Social Networking
For many eBankers, social media sites, such as Facebook, have become an
integral component of their day to day lives. They develop or nurture
relationships that impact their business decisions, as well as their friendships
and professional ties within these social spheres. Increasingly, these sites
have become an influential source of impartial information, advice, and
guidance. Business Reputations & Brand Equity are made or broken with
feedback from customers. Referrals are generated between network members
based on past experiences. This form of word of mouth marketing is always
the best, and the least expensive, marketing. Therefore, we need to help our
customers understand the vital importance of tapping into these networks,
monitoring this feedback and encouraging positive “viral’ marketing where
possible. Simply put, when it comes to social networking, forward thinking FI’s
should strongly consider testing this blue ocean while its still blue because:
– It costs little if any to introduce your business within this sphere.
– If you don’t protect your brand on the social networking airwaves,
somebody else is liable to do it for you!
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13. The 7 eBank Commandments
Explained
7.Viral Marketing
A true community bank has a unique ability to differentiate
itself in the local market by adding a personal touch that a
large, box bank cannot replicate. In that sense, the driving
philosophy behind eBanking is really no different than the
branding and positioning we apply to the FI’s overall image.
Some examples of Viral Marketing on the web may include:
offering a humorous twist to financial advice via a blog or
micro-site or highlight local events in a unique and
distinctive manner via social networking sites. Since we
know each eBanker when they log-in, we have a unique
ability to deliver a level of personal response, on a mass
basis, that is unprecedented in banking. Our strategy
should look to highlight opportunities to add a personal or
local touch wherever possible.
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14. Tools of Execution
• It is Crucial to note that the 7 eBank Commandments
represent a framework and strategy. The actual tactics
employed to address the needs of each bank under the holding
company will vary depending upon their individual eBank
strategy that is developed & agreed upon.
• The tools employed to execute the tactics that will be developed
with customers will include, among others:
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eBank Site & Platform Strategic Planning, Design & Implementation
Online Marketing Efficiency & Profitability Reporting & Analysis
Social Media Integration with Web Marketing Strategy
SEO & SEM Consulting and Strategy
Sophisticated Analytics
Website Usability Studies
Concentrated eMail Marketing (e.g. Drip & Custom Campaigns)
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15. Summary & Game Plan – Part I
• Part web development, part eMarketing, part product and
services discovery & optimization… we will work tirelessly
with a hands on, exhaustive approach to help the bank’s
create a unique customer experience & realize the full
technological potential that is available to them.
• We will develop a standardized, yet dynamic series of lists of
tactics our team will offer under each strategic area we will
offer our banks though one size will most definitely not fit all!
• We will review each bank’s web marketing presence,
analytical data as well as the overarching online banking
suite to best gauge how the 7 eBank commandments can
best help each institution reach their communities.
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16. Summary & Game Plan – Part II
• Advanced Mobile & Tablet devices will usher in a blue ocean
opportunity centering around mobile payments. We will
discover the best opportunities for partnership, resonance &
ubiquity.
• Social Media doesn’t end with Facebook. We will leverage
the infinite tools within the SM Universe to communicate &
engage customers in new ways.
• Determine what emerging eBanking technology areas we
lack or underutilize today that could be worth making a
strategic focus for growth & penetration?
• How do we get our internal customer/employee base
engaged and euphoric in evangelizing our message and
excited about our presence & product suite?
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17. Conclusion
• Thank you for the opportunity to present this
framework. I believe we could use it to
accomplish something special!
“The Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet.
The future is still so much bigger than the past.”
“You affect the world by what you browse.”
- Tim Berners-Lee: Creator of the World Wide Web
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