Visible Banking: initial comments on Bank of America small business community site

A couple of hours ago, I found out on finextra the recent announcement from Bank of America: Bank of America launches small business community site.

As you know, I am always very enthusiastic when a bank launches an innovative service leveraging web 2.0 features such as blogging or social networking.

In the last couple of months, I discovered and reviewed many web 2.0 initiatives such as:
* Join2Grow - Fortis initiative in the social networking space (I invite you to check my interview of Catherine Ossemerct, Head of Media-Channels)
* pickuradvisor - ING innovative blogging platform launched first in India then in Hong-Kong
* wtfcollective.com - Today, I met with the Head of Brand at Barclaycard to talk about the blogging/social networking site they recently launched to support their new onepulse card in London. I have scheduled with him a video interview next week.
 
BoA launches an online community for SMB to Learn, Connect & Share 
In that case, BoA's goal is to create a trusted online community for SMB. It is an excellent way to try a new, and fairly inexpensive, communication channel with their key market. Moreover, it will produce great learnings for their Experiential Marketing team.

So first of all, my congratulations to Mark Hogan, President of small business banking for Bank of America, and to his team for this excellent initiative.
Mark, I am very keen to get in touch with you. I would like to interview you or someone from your team asap and find out more about your initiative in the online community space.

UGC: a potential threat, but what a great opportunity for banks 
Usually, User Generated Content is perceived more as a high risk (brand damage) than a great opportunity. Indeed if you do it right, you can not only win back angry customers but occasionally you will even turn them into your best brand ambassadors.

In the web 2.0 era, your client expectations have changed: they won't hesitate to express themselves online, and they want you to show that you listen to them and prove that you care. You need to respond to them.

Even very negative comments are useful as long as you respond and explain the reasons behind your (unpopular) decisions. You may even have to admit your mistakes. People will understand. Honesty pays.
You will create trusted, stronger, relationships with your clients.
Please check my interview with Fergus Hampton, CEO of Millward Brown Precis.

My initial comments
Today (10th October 2007), I have spent an hour on the small business online community platform. Please find below my initial comments.

This initiative sits in the social networking space. It is a good platform, BoA successfully leveraged Web 2.0 features (like blogging, tagging and rss feeds) Overall, the interface is intuitive and it has a lot to offer. There seems to be a lot of activity on the site which counts several active members. And it feels like you are part of a community.

Can't you build your own network and contact directly other members?
But in this first release even if as a registered member you can post, comment or review articles and find other members, it looks like you can't really create a network of contacts nor directly contact the other members via the platform.

For instance, I couldn't find any security settings which would let me display my details on my profile.
As an anecdote, I found the profile of another banker who found a way round that limitation: instead of his website he put his email address "http://johnDoe@hotmail.com". Clever. It shows that many members surely want to contact or be contacted by other members.
 
The goal is to create trusted business relationships, isn't it? It is one of the 3 pillars of the community: Connect, learn and share.

Good example of member engagement: reward your most active contributors
Recruiting new members is not too difficult but engaging them, urging them to visit the site and contribute on regular basis is by experience more complicated. It is more complicated, AND it is critical. You need good UGC on your platform to sustain the growth and the quality of your member base.

To be successful, you need to reward your most active members. Members are giving away some of their spare time because they are seeking new opportunities. Give them more visibility!
 
On the UGC side, BoA do a good job engaging their members. They used good and proven features like questions/answers (Yahoo! Answers or Linkedin Answers, an excellent way to drive regular traffic and motivate/reward your members giving them more visibility)

a few facts and figures
On Wednesday 10th October 07 at 21:30 GMT, it looked like:
* 20 members were online
* they have over 1080 registered members
* they have over 150 threads on their forums, over 20 expert articles, over 15 Success Stories
* the first profile was created on 19th July 07.

LPO / Conversion rate: the BoA logo links to their SMB Homepage. A splash page may help
A discret but visible "powered by Bank of America" is displayed at the top of the screen.

By the way, in terms of branding and presence on their social networking site BoA, Fortis/Join2Grow, HSBC/yourpointofview.com and Barclaycard/wtfcollective.com have adopted very different approaches.

I like BoA's approach. The logo is present to remind you who provides this useful service, and I don't find it intrusive.

I would just challenge the link to the BoA SMB's homepage. I would be curious to find out about the journey from a community member who land on the SMB homepage. I suspect that people could easily get lost and that the conversion rate is probably low. Especially with a small number of registered members (and an even smaller number of active members).

I would probably test a splash page with for instance a few words on the online community, and maybe an option to know more about a specific product, chat online or be contacted by an advisor.
 
In the next couple of days, I will share with you more specific comments on the interface.

What's next for HSBC yourpointofview.com?

Yesterday, I had a very good conversation with Catherine Ossemerct, Head of Media-Channels at Fortis. Catherine successfully launched Join2Grow.biz, the online community for Entrepreneurs.

During ou conversation, Catherine told me that she was inspired by yourpointofview.com, a website launched by HSBC back in October 2005 (the advertising agency was JWT).









If you traveled from London Heathrow in the last two years, you probably noticed the clever HSBC ads:




This was an excellent initiative from HSBC. The global scale and the budget of the advertising campaign made that marketing effort exceptional. The call to action (visit a micro-site) was quite uncommon too.

Engaging people is always a smart move, and this campaign was a perfect opportunity for HSBC to:
* communicate on their global presence
* demonstrate their understanding of the local markets
* communicate a positive image of the company (Corporate Responsibility): your comments matter to them and they are actively involved in good causes such as saving the Earth.
* promote their service: they display banners randomly (cf left handside). They could improve their landing pages. Many times I felt lost on a main page, even when I was invited to download the Social Responsibility Report 2005.


Please find below a few comments and suggestions.

Even though there is not much activity from HSBC, it looks like members are still reacting to old topics and posting comments.

There are four main sections: Topic of the week, Polls & Data, Commentary and eCards. You can also find a few links to the various parts of the HSBC Group, watch all the Ads, Email a Friend, and give your feedback.

Not a social network
It is not a social network, and with this site HSBC didn't create an online community: there is no community section, no "your profile"/"your account" section, you can't browse the member database, you can't see your list of posts and comments, it is not possible to rate a post or find out who the most active member or best contributor is...

I am surprised that they chose not to add such a section. It is an efficient and easy way to do some profiling, identify evangelists and sneezers, reach smaller groups, and market your services in a cost effective way.

Limited web 2.0 features
Yourpointofview.com it is a kind of limited blogging platform. It is not a social network, there is no video, no rss feeds and no tagging.

Key remarks 
* Customer journey: watch out the landing pages! You don't want your members to get lost!
* The navigation is not intuitive. They should provide more statistics on the topics and polls (date, volume of responses), and improve the display of responses and comments.
* Search doesn't work?
* Refresh your assets! Logos, banners...
* Email a friend is a good feature and it helps to spread the word. But opening outlook is outdated, it doesn't look automated, and it is not easily trackable. I would create a form, ask for a few contact details such as the email address and name of the recipient, and automatically populate my php database.

Topic of the week
There are only 17 topics, whereas HSBC launched the site in October 2005.
You always need to manage expectations: if you have limited resources allocated to a project, why would you set a demanding frequence for updates? Fresh content and regular posts is critical if you want to drive traffic to your blog and keep your members curious and engaged.

Despite heavily promoting their current topic of the week (which week?), Global Warming, on the homepage, there are only four responses and no comments. And two responses are not even relevant: "Bakster, you know i don't speak spanish!!!!!!" and "Stop illegal logging please!".

There is no date. They don't display the total nb of responses and only four responses are displayed at per page. There is no way to quickly identify the most engaging and relevant responses because the number of comments are not displayed either.

For instance, how was I supposed to know that "Do you worry about internet fraud?" generated so much interest among the members? I found 68 responses...
 
Polls and data
The most recent poll open was in April 2007, the others are usually from the end of 2006...
You can display the results by country: it is a nice feature, but it could be disappointing or difficult to use because of a potentially small number of respondents (or no respondent at all). They could display the number of respondents and comments.

Commentary
There are only 11 key topics. The content is generated by a team of editors. The members can react and share their comments.
HSBC should leverage more the Polls and Data figures and create more dynamic pages ("how the world voted" in Is a can of tomato soup or an unmade bed really art? is static)
What is their editorial policy? They could ask the members for their favourite topics.

ecards
Why would I send yourpointofview ecards? You need to urge me to send one of your ecards!
And is it the right time to push for HSBC products and services?


How bright is the future for yourpointofview.com?
It looks like there is not much activity on the website... I wonder what HSBC strategy is for yourpointofview.com:
* do they plan to spend more money and take the website to the next level (create an online community, engage their members and leverage web 2.0 technologies such as rss feeds or tagging)?
* today, it looks like they don't allocate any more resources to the website...

The key challenge is not to create a platform, but build and engage your community. Why would I visit this site on regular basis? What can I find on the platform? How useful is the content to me?
And the key question is what is your goal? Create online communities and leverage the trendy web 2.0 technologies is ok but what banks want to achieve? Which segment or group do they target?

Michael Udell - Creator’s Comments:
“Launched in October 2005, yourpointofview.com had been in formulation since the early part of the year; it changed form and structure but always stayed true to HSBC’s objectives.“
“After a number of brainstorms focusing on possible content and functionality we realized that the potential of the site was huge, we just had to remain focused. There was the risk of creating a global dating Web site, connecting people with similar points of view across a range of topics, but that wasn’t our task.“
“To develop an engaging platform that illustrates different points of view, we focused on the topics brought to life in the initial TV and print campaigns (modern art, cloning, wind farms, haute couture and gorillas) and attempted to understand how people reacted to them.“

ING's "Pick your financial advisors" blog

ING is one of the most dynamic and innovative European banks in terms of web 2.0 and buzz/viral marketing. They have a Dutch "mini-state" on Second Life, they recently launched moveoutmoveup.com a viral marketing site with its own profile on YouTube...

On regular basis, I check the ING Asia/Pacific's blog initiated by Jacques Kamp, CEO ING Asia/Pacific. A couple of weeks ago, I found out about their excellent initiative in India, the Pick Your Financial Advisor blog.

I am always very pleased to see a leading bank innovating and utilizing web 2.0 features. Even if the new platform or service is not perfect. Recently, I reviewed the phase 2 of Join2Grow.biz, the European Network for Entrepreneur launched by another innovative bank in the Benelux, Fortis Bank.

My goal is to share my comments and my suggestions to improve the service and better engage their members. The customer experience is key: nowadays, in the web 2.0 era, people want more control. Before launching a new platform, companies should aim to create and build a community. Then, they need to make sure they engage their members and urge them to post some value added content on regular basis. Companies must focus mainly on providing a comprehensive and intuitive platform, and let their members produce the content.

But most banks refrain from implementing web 2.0 technologies because of potential brand damage. They are scared of user-generated content. But an aggressive comment or complain on your blog is not a problem, as long as you respond to it!

PickURAdvisor.com is a sort of blogging platform, not a social network. It is a good initiative, I like the idea of being able to choose your advisor, know a bit more of her/his background and put a face on the advisor, and see some activities and responsiveness from her/him.

As a potential client, it should definitely urge me to use the service and get in touch with the most suitable advisor. Moreover, I have a good feeling about ING which demonstrate they want to develop a good long-term relationship with me.

But how am I supposed to choose among the advisors? How do I get to use this service if ING don't promote it on its website? What if the interface is not intuitive? How comfortable with the service should I be if I find some inappropriate content or other visitors/members personal contact numbers?...

This is a good example of potentially damaging user-generated content. The good news is that it is easily addressable, with a moderator who constantly monitor the blog.
 
Please find below my comments and my suggestions.

Interface - main menu
FIRST COMPANY TO FEATURE ITS INSURANCE ADVISORS...
It links to the media section of ING's website. You are lost, and there is no link to the original press release...
Is this link targeted to potential clients, potential employees or investors?

BASICS OF LIFE INSURANCE
I think the Font used is too small, and not suited to older people.
There are no hyperlinks on the pages and at the end there is no call to action. For instance, on page 13, I was expecting to find a link to the "Lifemaker application" info page on their website.

It is an interactive book. Why not, but it is not ideal in terms of user experience, and it could have been more interactive. As best practice, I invite you to check "the Virtual Forest" section of first direct interactive.

DOWNLOAD THIS WALLPAPER
Why would I do that? Moreover, it looks like the picture is not displayed on the website... I would be curious to find out a) the reasons why they decided to add that option... b) how many times this wallpaper has been downloaded!

GET TAX FREE INCOME ON RETIREMENT
It is merely a link to the website...

Interface - poor navigability
The interface is not intuitive and a bit messy: a lot of info or features are below the fold, the home button is at the bottom of the page... The user experience is critical if you want to drive traffic to your service, and urge your members to login frequently, be more active and contribute.
* A fair proportion of "communty blogs" are useless: you can only see the standard "Please enter your message here". Also, it is easy to duplicate your message by mistake... Before submitting the post, they should launch a script which controls the body of the message.
* Browsing the communty blogs is not user friendly, and it takes for ever to find a message which is relevant to you.
   
One of the key misses is the absence of categories or taggs. Tagging is the base of pretty much all the web 2.0 websites and communities. It is a very efficient way to find all the relevant info about a specific topic, share that info between members and urge them to contribute.

Registration & User Profile
Early in the registration process, they ask you to choose my advisor. But how are you supposed to choose your prefered advisor at that stage?

* Add testimonial: it is good to urge your members to leave a testimonial. But here, it looks like there is only one online! Does it mean that: no one ever left a testimonial? They received many testimonials but they were that bad? They receive many testimonials, but they don't bother checking and publishing them?
* Blog rating: this is an interesting feature. Now, I feel like I am in control. But am I rating each post? Or the whole private blog with my personal advisor? What is the impact of my vote? There is no point sending my feedback if no action is taken.
* Reminders: it is a basic reminder/alarm service. I couldn't find the list of reminders on my personal homepage.
* Face-to-Face meeting: when you click on the link, another page appear saying that you will be contacted shortly. That is it!

The Advisor profiles
* The way advisors introduce themselves is diversed but there is no consistency.
Is the goal of the blog to recruit more advisors OR to develop warmer, more personal, relationships with clients? As a potential client, do I really want to hear about "growth potential"? Nope.
* I was surprised to find some personal email addresses?
* I would challenge the value of displaying personal photos. Moreover, most of the time the advisors forgot to add a description. There is no checking: "Upload family photo and enter a caption".
* They introduce their personal background.

Fine, but I need to better understand what their approach is and find out about their key skills which could help me as a client. I need to understand how successful and popular my advisor is: it would be benefitial to have access to the nb of community blogs, private blogs, face 2 face meetings, and blog ratings by advisor.
 
No control? It means a higher risk of brand damage
No "moderator"? Visitors promote pharmacy, viagra, ringtones, porn...
It looks like the advisors themselves don't check their community blogs!

It does not communicate a positive image of the company. A visitor may well think: "OK it is a good service, but ING don't care. They don't even read the content of the posts..."


No promotion on ING Vysya Life Insurance website?
I briefly browsed the ING V.L.I. website. I may have missed them, but I couldn't find any references or links to pickuradvisor.com.

When companies launch such an innovative service they should: a) be proud, b) communicate and send press releases to early adopters and sneezers, c) promote the new service on their website.

Stats - 31 July 07
* 6 cities & 27 advisors: Bangalore (5), Chennai (5), Delhi (5), Hyderabad (4), Mumbai (4) and Pune (4).
* It looks like there are just 490 posts for over 20 advisors since the launch. 

Terms and conditions
I rarely go trough all the T&Cs, but this time I wanted to find out more about ING's policy in terms of control and moderation on the blog.

Messages
This site hosts message boards, and chat services for both public and private forums. The Users may please note that any information that is disclosed in public forums becomes public information. Users should exercise caution when deciding to disclose their personal information on such forums.
Fair enough, but what if the advisors are asking for those contact details in the community blogs... Should they do it? On many occasions, I found some personal contact details in public posts.
 
Editing
IVL reserves the right to edit/delete the content contributed by Users in its blog forums, if the same in the opinion of IVL is against law, morality and IVL’s Business Principles.
Cf my "No control?" section...

Visible Banking News #14

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you comments!

NEWS - 16 July to 22 July 2007

AWARDS
* PayPal Contest to Award Best New Facebook Application - 20 July 07

BLOGGING
* Welcome William Azaroff, Vancity Social Media Guru, and NetBanker Guest Blogger - 17 July 07

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* Value added services to enhance the customer experience - 19 July 07

EVENTS
* Why BarCampBank? - 22 July 07
* BarCampBankSeattle day one - 21 July 07
* My BarCamp Bank Topic Wish List - 20 July 07

FRAUD
* NZ banks under fire over online fraud liability - 19 July 07
* Anti-Spam: Gateway vs. Desktop - 15 July 07

INTERVIEWS
* “Make it much easier for consumers to find those institutions whose revenue models most meet their needs” | Bankwatch Interviews Marc Hedlund, Wesabe - 18 July 07
* Jerry Dischler, Google - 17 July 07
* Can e-Business Contribute to the Essence of Private Banking? - 12 July 07

LAUNCHES
* Tesco launches online used car checker - 19 July 07
* Deutsche Börse launches mobile information portal - 19 July 07
* Emirates Bank offers international remittances via SMS - 18 July 07
* Everbank's Latest Multi-Currency CD: World Energy Index - 17 July 07
* For Low income Un-banked | Emirates Bank to Launch Global Remittance Services through SMS Technology and Salary Cards - 17 July 07
* WSECU and Fuze Announce Mobile Offering - 17 July 07
* A&L launches expat Internet savings account - 16 July 07

MARKETING
* Lending Club announces $5000 video contest - 18 July 07
* Update on Prosper's referral program - 16 July 07

MOBILE BANKING
* Fundamo as a leading supplier · 21 July 07
* WAP Review - ING DIRECT Mobile Banking - 20 July 07
* Mobile Banking from the Public’s Perspective - 19 July 07
* Review of .mobi · 19 July 07
* Rwanda: Eastern Province Residents Applaud Mobile Banking - 17 July 07

NEWS
* Co-op to cut 1000 jobs as Internet challenges traditional banking model - 20 July 07

PERSONAL FINANCE
* Are New Online Personal Finance Sites Safe? - 20 July 07
* Wesabe in Newsweek - 18 July 07
* A challenge to Wesabe · 16 July 07

REPORTS
* Celent measures young adults banking usage - 18 July 07

SOCIAL LENDING
* Lenders united! - 20 July 07
* Student Loan Marketplaces Profiled in Wall Street Journal - 19 July 07
* Wiseclerk featured - Wallstreet Journal article - 18 July 07
* India Gets an Internet Lending Portal - 18 July 07
* What is Loanio? - 18 July 07
* Wall Street Journal: Options grow for investors to lend online - 17 July 07
* Micro-lending regulation in Europe - 16 July 07
* Zopa is not a Social Lender, and why that matters - 16 July 07

SOCIAL NETWORKING
* Jeremiah Owyang | “All your widgets are belong to Facebook” - 22 July 07
* Facebook vs. iPhone  - 21 July 07
* Another ‘web based platform’ | Bebo signals plan to open up to developers - 21 July 07
* Why Facebook is NOT the next Microsoft: Lending Club example - 20 July 07
* You cannot stop social networking ... even when you're dead - 18 July 07
* Social computing/ finance definitions and potential success criteria - 17 July 07

SURVEYS
* Young Adults Bank by Web and Phone - 17 July 07

VENDORS
* Tempo Debit allows institutions to establish debit card relationships with consumers other than their own checking account customers - 20 July 07
* Suriname's Godo CU chooses Comodo for Internet banking security - 20 July 07
* Green Armor unveils m-banking authentication platform - 19 July 07
* Billeo represent an example of dis-aggregated financial services - 16 July 07

VIDEOS
* Mobile Banking - A New Way to Bank - 16 July 07

WEB 2.0
* Atlassian making waves - 22 July 07
* How should Banks react to web based application providers? - 20 July 07
* Prosper.com, Zopa.com, Kiva.org: Towards a Model for Web 2.0 Insurance - 19 July 07

Visible Banking News #11

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you remarks, or with any article I missed!

NEWS - 18 June 2007 to 01 July 2007

BLOGGING
* Comparasites - 28 June 07
* Can banks ever be cool - 27 June 07
* Entertainment Access Spotlight | American Express blog - 25 June 07
* Particpating in online blog conversations is not useful #@ - 25 June 07
* My Fave Five Banking Industry Blogs (B2B) - 25 June 07
* In blogs we trust - 22 June 07

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* Lack of a clear customer experience strategy forms largest obstacle! - 25 June 07
* Turning Customer Experience Into A Competitive Weapon - 25 June 07
* “Don’t Let Someone Else Take the Chance to Educate Your Customers” - 22 June 07

EVENTS
* Conference Notebook: SourceMedia's Mobile Commerce Summit - 20 June 07

FRAUD
* Banks should have their own secure domain - 01 July 07
* Unparalleled onslaught against online banking taking place - 01 July 07
* First National Bank of South Africa goes two-factor with Vanguard - 26 June 07
* China UnionPay and Arcot form Internet fraud prevention partnership - 27 June 07
* First National Bank of South Africa goes two-factor with Vanguard - 26 June 07
* Mobile Identity Theft Protection from Intersections - 21 June 07
* The sign of the Black Horse - 15 June 07

INTERNATIONAL
* Holland | 54 % of the customers do not visit their bank branch - 20 June 07

LAUNCHES
* Northwest Airlines Lets Customers Pay With PayPal - 29 June 07
* New Direct Bank: Element Financial from Irwin Union Bank - 28 June 07
* Top Banks Plan to Introduce Expedited Bill Payments - 21 June 07

MARKETING
* US adult opinions about advertising methods - 28 June 07
* Brand matters |Sapient - 26 June 07

MOBILE BANKING
* CNBC Explores the Growing Mobile Banking Space - 29 June 07
* Wells Fargo, Visa Test Pay-by-Phone - 28 June 07
* Upwardly Mobile in Vietnam - 28 June 07
* Citi Goes Mass Market With Its Mobile Banking Application - 22 June 07
* Verizon Rolls Out Obopay's Mobile Payment System to 60 Million Subscribers - 20 June 07
* Do You Know the Mobey Forum? - 18 June 07

NEWS
* Financial Web Site Considering $2 Bllion IPO - 29 June 07

PERSONAL FINANCE
* Wesabe closes $4m financing - 20 June 07
* Why Union Square picked Wesabe - 21 June 07
* Venture Funding Flows to Wesabe and Prosper; Wesabe Launches on Facebook - 20 June 07
* Wesabe announces that the company closed a $4 million Series A round - 20 June 07

REPORTS
* Understanding the real impact of online financial services - 26 June 07
* US financial firms failing online customers - study - 26 June 07
* Forrester | ‘Experience Based Differentiation’ - 25 June 07
* Online account opening is difficult to automate - 23 June 07

RESOURCES
* Direct Banks born from retail part 1 - 28 June 07

SECOND LIFE
* BNP Paribas recruit staff in Second Life - 18 June 07

SOCIAL LENDING
* FaceBooks Lendingclub surpasses $100K loans in first two weeks - 20 June 07
* Prosper raises another $20 million - 20 June 07

SOCIAL NETWORKING
* Why Banks are vulnerable in the long run, to social networking - 28 June 07
* Friends Reunited adds Paypal - 27 June 07
* Thoughts on Social Network evolution - 22 june 07
* PayPal Launches on Facebook: Who Wants to be the First Bank? - 22 June 07

SURVEYS
* Benchmark globally, diferentiate locally - 26 June 07
* 71% in the UK saying they do not trust their banks (Unisys) - 21 June 07

VENDORS
* MFoundry adds support for Apple's iPhone - 28 June 07
* Tyfone Launches Harmony, a Secure Mobile Financial Services Communications Platform - 27 June 07
* A&L looks to Verticalnet for procurement savings - 27 June 07
* TriCipher enhances online protection package - 27 June 07
* ViVOtech and mFoundry team on mobile banking - 25 June 07
* Proformance unveils e-signature technology - 25 June 07
* Tyfone releases mobile financial services communications platform - 26 June 07
* KeyBank to Deploy Web Analytics Software - 20 June 07
* Fifth Third implements Fiserv Imagesoft Nautilus for mortgage processing - 20 June 07

VIDEOS
* ING Direct's Man on a Mission - 26 June 07
* Technology Credit Union's YouTube Page - 20 June 07
* Citi Mobile on National Television - 20 June 07

WEB 2.0
* China embracing the web and 2.0 - 19 June 07

Visible Banking News #10

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you remarks, or with any article I missed!

I would like to thank Debbie from Wesabe, one of the most exciting web 2.0 startups, who sent me their press release a day before distributing it.

NEWS - 11 June 2007 to 17 June 2007

AWARDS
* Computerworld Awards - 14 June 07

BLOGGING
* Private Banking Innovation - a new blog - 12 June 07
* Financial Advisor Blog - When Global Is Not Just Jargon! - 07 June 07

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* Online banking now norm for industry - 14 June 07
* Customers often prefer branches, but for the wrong reasons - 13 June 07
* Will banking ever become an industry embraced by its customers? - 13 June 07
* Is there a new Commbank site coming? - 15 June 07
* Bank of America focus on customer is disturbed by growth, or is it something else? - 12 June 07

FRAUD
* Banks warned on IT security - 14 June 07
* Arcot launches Flash-based two-factor authentication system - 11 June 07

LAUNCHES
* GE Money, EBay Introduce MasterCard Rewards Card - 15 June 07
* NatWest introduces direct-only mortgage - 14 June 07
* Zimbabwe: FBC Launches Virtual Service - 14 June 07
* There's no such thing as a free insurance quote - 13 June 07

MARKETING
* Online incentives attract customers - 17 June 07
* WHICH BANKS CHARGE THE MOST IN FEES? WHEN DOES MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? CHECK
WESABE AND ITS HALF-BILLION DOLLAR DATABASE - 14 June 07

MOBILE BANKING
* mPoria and PayPal Partner to Create Mobile Commerce and Payments Powerhouse - 15 June 07
* T-Online Germany launches mobile banking service - 14 June 07
* Update on iPhone Banking - 14 June 07
* Wells Fargo Confirms Tests of ClairMail's SMS Banking System - 14 June 07
* SMS Notification was always coming - 13 June 07
* A&L lures younger customers to m-banking with £10 sweetener - 12 June 07
* You can now bank by cell phone, and although few do so, the industry sees huge growth ahead - 12 June 07
* Pak Oman micro-finance bank launches mobile banking in Pakistan - 11 June 07

PERSONAL FINANCE
* Wesabe Database helps Members Make Better Financial Decisions - 14 June 07
* Wall Street Journal Publishes Roundup of Social Personal Finance Sites - 13 June 07
* MySpace Meets Quicken: What's Happening in Social Personal Finance - 12 June 07
* Wesabe finds meaning in its database - 14 June 07

REPORTS
* Online Banking: an application or a platform capability? - 14 June 07
* First get the strategy figured out … - 14 June 07
* Retail Banks Fail To Make the Most of Sales Opportunities, Says New Global Study - 13 June 07
* The delicate yet unstoppable channel mix conundrum - 13 June 07
* Channel management big challenge for banks - Booz Allen Hamilton - 13 June 07
* Mobile banking popular with young - 13 June 07

SECOND LIFE
* Why Wells Fargo left Second Life - 13 June 07

SOCIAL LENDING
* Boober p2p lending service to reach 1 million Euro loan volume - 14 June 07
* Advertorial on CircleLending - 12 June 07

VENDORS
* Laurentian Bank selects Emergis for electronic mortgage processing - 13 June 07
* PaymentOne adds mobile payments to PhoneBill service - 12 June 07

WEB 2.0
* Amplify FCU's MoneyTracker Features Personal RSS Feeds - 11 June 07

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you remarks, or with any article I missed!

I would like to thank Debbie from Wesabe, one of the most exciting web 2.0 startups, who sent me their press release a day before distributing it.

NEWS - 11 June 2007 to 17 June 2007

AWARDS
* Computerworld Awards - 14 June 07

BLOGGING
* Private Banking Innovation - a new blog - 12 June 07
* Financial Advisor Blog - When Global Is Not Just Jargon! - 07 June 07

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* Online banking now norm for industry - 14 June 07
* Customers often prefer branches, but for the wrong reasons - 13 June 07
* Will banking ever become an industry embraced by its customers? - 13 June 07
* Is there a new Commbank site coming? - 15 June 07
* Bank of America focus on customer is disturbed by growth, or is it something else? - 12 June 07

FRAUD
* Banks warned on IT security - 14 June 07
* Arcot launches Flash-based two-factor authentication system - 11 June 07

LAUNCHES
* GE Money, EBay Introduce MasterCard Rewards Card - 15 June 07
* NatWest introduces direct-only mortgage - 14 June 07
* Zimbabwe: FBC Launches Virtual Service - 14 June 07
* There's no such thing as a free insurance quote - 13 June 07

MARKETING
* Online incentives attract customers - 17 June 07
* WHICH BANKS CHARGE THE MOST IN FEES? WHEN DOES MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? CHECK
WESABE AND ITS HALF-BILLION DOLLAR DATABASE - 14 June 07

MOBILE BANKING
* mPoria and PayPal Partner to Create Mobile Commerce and Payments Powerhouse - 15 June 07
* T-Online Germany launches mobile banking service - 14 June 07
* Update on iPhone Banking - 14 June 07
* Wells Fargo Confirms Tests of ClairMail's SMS Banking System - 14 June 07
* SMS Notification was always coming - 13 June 07
* A&L lures younger customers to m-banking with £10 sweetener - 12 June 07
* You can now bank by cell phone, and although few do so, the industry sees huge growth ahead - 12 June 07
* Pak Oman micro-finance bank launches mobile banking in Pakistan - 11 June 07

PERSONAL FINANCE
* Wesabe Database helps Members Make Better Financial Decisions - 14 June 07
* Wall Street Journal Publishes Roundup of Social Personal Finance Sites - 13 June 07
* MySpace Meets Quicken: What's Happening in Social Personal Finance - 12 June 07
* Wesabe finds meaning in its database - 14 June 07

REPORTS
* Online Banking: an application or a platform capability? - 14 June 07
* First get the strategy figured out … - 14 June 07
* Retail Banks Fail To Make the Most of Sales Opportunities, Says New Global Study - 13 June 07
* The delicate yet unstoppable channel mix conundrum - 13 June 07
* Channel management big challenge for banks - Booz Allen Hamilton - 13 June 07
* Mobile banking popular with young - 13 June 07

SECOND LIFE
* Why Wells Fargo left Second Life - 13 June 07

SOCIAL LENDING
* Boober p2p lending service to reach 1 million Euro loan volume - 14 June 07
* Advertorial on CircleLending - 12 June 07

VENDORS
* Laurentian Bank selects Emergis for electronic mortgage processing - 13 June 07
* PaymentOne adds mobile payments to PhoneBill service - 12 June 07

WEB 2.0
* Amplify FCU's MoneyTracker Features Personal RSS Feeds - 11 June 07

Wells Fargo 2.0

My goal with this post was to list and comment the key online initiatives & features Wells Fargo launched in the last couple of years.
Please note my list is surely not exhaustive.

I started to keep track of Wells Fargo (WF) a few month ago, at the Online_Banking_Summit_2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was one of the key speakers and my panel was on banking and web 2.0.

Among my fellow speakers and the attendees, there were a few people from Wells Fargo. I am glad I had the chance to meet Richard Weeks, Senior Vice President - Business Internet Services, and his colleagues David and Barry.

Best of breed: Innovation, customer experience and web 2.0
As far as I am concerned, WF is the most innovative bank online: they use many web 2.0 features and provide one of the best customer experience on the web.

They even have a VP, social media: Ed Terpening.
Check Ed's interview.
Ed, what a great job you have!

Wells Fargo online banking services won many awards in the last couple of years: Global Finance Magazine (2005), Global Finance Magazine (2006), NetBanker (2006).

Please find below a list of articles published in 2002, 2004 and 2005 demonstrating Wells Fargo's core strategy to integrate all channels and to provide the best possible online customer experience:
* Wells Fargo: All ATMs Now Web-Enabled, All Banking Stores with Online Stations (2005)
* Wells Fargo Re-Envisions Online Banking for Corporations As It Moves to Bank of the Future Today (2004)
* Wells Fargo Leads Customer Service as First To Market, Offering Real-Time Web Collaboration To Online Commercial Customers (2002)


New Homepage: 50% increase in online application
This is one of the most recent initiatives from Wells Fargo. And it will surely be one of the most successful.

WF recently launched a new homepage designed to better meet the expectations from both visitors and customers.

Video sharing and social networking sites (like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook or Linkedin) became extremely popular and Web 2.0 is all about giving the power to people: nowadays, you can easily generate your own content (articles, audio, video), share your ideas, publish your comments... Your expectations have changed too: you expect companies to listen to you; you want your bank to act as a trusted financial partner.

With this re-design, WF has dramatically improved its customer experience, which will surely translate in better customer acquisition, better customer retention, and more online sales. Well done!

From Paul Penrose, finextra: methodology and early results
The updated Wells Fargo website takes a highly customer focused approach to ease access to most wanted features. The results have been spectacular with a 50% increase in online applications.
(...)
The bank’s Internet Services Group used site stats, survey data and internal search information to pick up on customer requirements and shortcomings in navigation and fed this back into the re-development.

The key features and tools available on the homepage are:
* Direct access to all the key features of Internet Banking,
* ATMs & Stores locator,
* Rich text content (video),
* Open an Account for the key products (you land on the first page of the application process)
* Check today's rates.

WF listened to their clients and online visitors, and they showed they were listening: this is exactly what customers were looking for.

If you want to know more about this re-design, I invite you to check the excellent case study from Forrester Research, published on 23rd May 2007.

In addition to this case study, I found some useful insight in a couple of blogs: finextra, the EDM blog and the Bankwatch.


Wells Fargo 2.0
WF use an impressively long list of available web 2.0 features such as blogging, social networking (presence on MySpace and Second Life), Podcasts, RSS Feeds, Tagging and Video sharing.

I invite you to check out the excellent Wells Fargo posts on the brilliant NetBanker blog.

Please find below some stats on Wells Fargo:
* First U.S. bank with a blog (though Verity Credit Union beat them to it by more than a year)
* First bank with a student loan blog
* First bank with a business banking blog
* First bank in the world with a Second Life presence
* First bank on MySpace at <www.myspace.com/stagecoachisland>
* First bank with 2, 3, and 4 blogs
* First bank with an avatar persona on MySpace
* First bank with a VP Social Media

It is impressive. Indeed, even though research companies such as Gartner in August 2006 advised banks to use web 2.0 features to target the youth market or increase customer retention, most banks are still cautious and are not using web 2.0 technologies.

Blogging
Most banks still refrain from launching a blog for instance. They are concerned with the potential brand damage.

Wells Fargo is extremely involved in blogging with 4 blogs.
"The Student LoanDown" blog is extremely popular among students. They have just celebrated the first anniversary of their first blog, "Guided by history".
 
Personal Finance
In a previous post, I talked about the increasing importance of providing good Personal Finance tools.

Wesabe is one of the most famous communities built around Personal Finance. 

WF provide a comprehensive service to help manage your finance: the My Spending Report service.

With this service, based on tagging, WF customers can:
* Automatically tracks their accounts in one place
* Sorts card and Bill Pay purchases into familiar categories
* Updates information automatically, every business day
* Organizes spending view by month, up to three months
* Download a year or more of your spending history
 
Podcasts
Event though their offer is not as rich and comprehensive as a first direct and its first direct interactive service, WF provide podcasts. It is another web 2.0 box you can tick.


Social networking
Banks have four options with social networking: they can
* launch a new social network from scratch with a brand new platform
* launch a new social network using one of the leading platforms such as Xing
* develop their presence on the most popular social networks such as Facebook or MySpace
* develop their presence in virtual worlds such as Second Life

Wells Fargo has a presence on MySpace (an avatar and a page) and in Second Life.

Mobile Banking
Wells Fargo is also active in Mobile Banking. They recently launched a CEO Mobile Banking service for their business banking customers.
* Wells Fargo Launches CEO Mobile Banking Service - 18 May 2007
* Wells Fargo introduces mobile banking for business customers - 18 May 2007

Site Search
Providing a search feature (or not) is a commonly debated topic in the banking industry. Indeed, it is quite challenging: ideally, you would like to access the info after one of two clicks maximum. Providing a search engine is easy. Providing useful, optimized, results is extremely challenging.

Banks have two key goals: provide the best user experience and sell more online.
The key problem is the lack of patience from the visitors: the more clicks, the bigger the drop off rates... It is a major problem which has a significant impact on the top of the sales funnel.

Usually, media agencies advise banks to encourage their users to browse their website using the navigation bars.

WF provide an elaborated Search feature: you can enter a specific question or a phrase, and the results are categorized in 4 sections: Individuals, Small business, Commercial and about Wells Fargo.



Wells Fargo Online Tour
Wells Fargo offer a good interactive presentation (in flash) to introduce its comprehensive internet banking service.

Hands on banking
This training and resource center is available at handsonbanking.org.

Wells Fargo developed this entertaining and educational program for kids, teens and adults as a commercial-free public service. It can help you improve your knowledge of:
* Budgeting
* The importance of saving
* Bank accounts and services
* Borrowing money and maintaining good credit
* Buying a home
* Investing
* Starting and managing a small business

In the library, you will find some tips categorized by topic and available in pdf format. For instance, I invite you to check WF's high level shopping and spending tips.

My Savings Plans
WF provide another interesting tool to its internet banking users: My Savings Plan. It is a clever way to:
* increase customer satisfaction improving customer experience and customer support,
* urge your clients to register to Internet Banking, save money and apply for WF saving products online.

Resources: Wells Fargo and Web 2.0
Please find below some articles on WF approach to Web 2.0.
* Wells Fargo Taps Web 2.0
* Wells Fargo Experimenting with Web 2.0
* Why Wells Fargo bank is different
* Most Business Tech Pros Wary About Web 2.0 Tools In Business
* Adoption of Web 2.0 Is Taking Off, But Some Firms Are Still Reluctant

Visible Banking News #9

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you remarks, or with any article I missed!

NEWS - 04 June 2007 to 10 June 2007

AWARDS
* The Three Factors for a Successful Online Banking Site - 25 April 2007

BLOGGING
* New Mobile Banking Blog from the Publishers of NetBanker/Online Banking Report - 05 June 2007

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* May I Help You? - 04 June 2007

FRAUD
* Barclays introduces 'PINsentry' - pioneering new security for online banking - 09 June 2007
* Nordea to roll out Todos card readers to e-banking customers - 08 June 2007
* Scottrade offers free McAfee security software - 06 June 2007

LAUNCHES
* Gulf Bank Launches New Homepage - 09 June 2007
* Citibank introduces electronic deposit service - 08 June 2007
* Cingular launches mobile banking with U.S. banks - 06 June 2007

MOBILE BANKING
* Cell Phone Banking Will Bring A Microfinance Revolution - 08 June 2007
* Amplify Credit Union Proves a Good Mobile Banking Demo is Worth a Thousand Words - 08 June 2007
* 10 Ways for Banks to Leverage Apple iPhone Hysteria - 07 June 2007
* Hungama Mobile To Set Up Digital Distribution Network, Mobile Banking - 07 June 2007
* Mobile Web Use Climbing in U.S. - 06 June 2007
* Preliminary paper on mobile banking - 06 June 2007
* CNET Mobile Banking Special - 06 June 2007
* Bank of Stockton First to Launch Text-Based Mobile Banking via ClairMail - 05 June 2007
* BlackBerry Users Slow to Adopt Mobile Banking - 03 June 2007

PERSONAL FINANCE
* NetBanker | Report on Social Personal Finance - 05 June 2007
* New Online Banking Report Now Available: Social Personal Finance - 04 June 2007

PODCASTS
* Scottish Life introduces podcasts for advisers - 04 June 2007

REPORTS
* Online banking profits soar in Spain - 10 June 2008
* Looking for Loyalty Through Online Banking Tools - 08 June 2007
* By 2011, 101 Million Adult Internet Users will be Banking Online - 08 June 2007
* New Online Financial Services Performance Metrics from Compete - 08 June 2007
* Online Banking - Deploying Personal Financial Management Tools to Enhance Loyalty - 05 June 2007

SOCIAL LENDING
* P2P lending Korea - Donjoy - 07 June 2007
* BBC report on Zopa -
* Prosper Borrower Seeks "iMoney for iPhone" - 07 June 2007
* P2P Lending Korea - Popfunding and Moneyauction - 06 June 2007
* Prosper loan figures - 06 June 2007
* Banking Industry votes Social Lending as the future of finance - 04 June 2007

SOCIAL NETWORKING
* Preliminary paper on mobile banking - 06 June 2007

VENDORS
* Boubyan Bank goes live with Sybase’s Internet Banking Solution - 10 June 2007
* U.K.'s Morse to separate, list, develop mobile-banking unit - 08 June 2007
* Mellon Financial to Consolidate Web Banking Systems - 07 June 2008

WEB 2.0
* Banco Sabadell and IBM to Jointly Innovate in Web 2.0 for Financial Services - 05 June 2007

Visible Banking News #8

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you remarks, or with any article I missed!

NEWS - 28 May 2007 to 03 June 2007

* Increased interest pumps up online banks - 03 June 2007
* Are Banks Ready to Cash In Online? - 01 June 2007
* Online Banking Paying Off - 01 June 2007
* 9 Hours On Westpac Online Still Not Restored - 01 June 2007
* Westpac Banking System Crashes Thousands Affected - 01 June 2007
* Online Banking produces large volumes of activity - 31 May 2007
* HSBC sees surge in online sales - 31 May 2007
* Banks Battle for Online Switchers - 31 May 2007
* HSBC bank reports 55% growth in online business - 29 May 2007
* 18 million now bank online - 29 May 2007
* How Should Financial Institutions Implement Online Banking PFM? - 28 May 2007

BLOGGING
* The slog of the blog: social networking for businesses - 31 May 2007

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* WaMu Free Checking® is #1 Online, According to comScore Inc. 35% of Online Banking Consumers Choose WaMu - 30 May 2007
* Japan as an early warning signal for customer service - 28 May 2007

EVENTS
* An innovators forum - 31 May 2007

FRAUD
* Alarm sounds on cyber piracy as online banking rises - 03 June 2007
* Record levels of phishing URLs detected in April - 31 May 2007
* BarclaycardCyber war - Estonia shut down, including focus on Banks - 29 May 2007
* Bharosa upgrades online security software - 29 May 2007
* Web Bankers Adopt More Online Security Methods - 29 May 2007

LAUNCHES
* A&L launches offshore Internet savings account - 29 May 2007
* More blue and orange in online banking - 29 May 2007

MOBILE BANKING
* Now, pay your bill with an SMS - 02 June 2007
* .....el nuevo concepto de instant banking - 01 June 2007
* Mobile banking still slow to catch on in U.S. - 31 May 2007
* Banco Sabadell and Telefónica team for 'instant banking' services - 29 May 2007

PERSONAL FINANCE
* Someday, Maybe You Will "Wesabe" Verizon Before Signing that Two-Year Contract - 31 May 2007
* Online Banking Report | Social Personal Finance … coming nest week - 31 May 2007

REPORTS
* Internet banking bigger than the iPod - 31 May 2007
* The Digital Money Decade - 30 May 2007
* Internet Banking and the Impact of Seller Support and Third Party - 30 May 2007

SOCIAL LENDING
* New Person-to-Person Lender Loanio Readies for Launch - 01 June 2007

SOCIAL NETWORKING
* Community Currencies, a thing of the future - 01 June 2007
* MESH07 | Building communities - 31 May 2007
* UK's Co-operative Bank Goes Green at MySpace - 30 May 2007
* Some thoughts on customer centric, 360 degree view, and Social Networks. - 28 May 2007

VENDORS
iSentric courts customers for m-banking - 01 June 2007

WEB 2.0
* MESH07 | Web 2.0 and implications for Banks - 02 June 2007
* MESH07 | Richard Edelman - 31 May 2007
* Spin about Web 2.0 will hurt Banks - 31 May 2007
* Successful Wells Fargo site redesign levers analytics, not opinions - 28 May 2007

Visible Banking News #7

On regular basis (ideally weekly), I will post a list of key news on web 2.0 & Banking.
As usual, please do not hesitate to get back to me with you remarks, or with any article I missed!

NEWS - 21 May 2007 to 27 May 2007

BLOGGING
* Wordpress grows beyond 1 million blogs - 24 May 2007
* New CU Blogs: Midwest Financial, Old Hickory, and Secure One Credit Unions - 21 May 2007

CUSTOMER COMMENTS
* Online banks hardly stuff of sword-and-sandals epic - 24 May 2007
* Making the Switch to Unadulterated Online Banking - 24 May 2007

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
* Wells' Web makeover woos punters and analysts - 25 May 2007
* Abbey in bank holiday meltdown - 25 May 2007

EVENTS
* Next MobileMonday Austin event: Mobile Banking and Payments, June 11 '07 - 26 May 2007

FRAUD
* A decade of online banking - and online fraud - 25 May 2007
* Anti-phishing filters bypassed in IE7? - 25 May 2007
* A first in Quebec's banking industry - Laurentian Bank innovates: 2 additional security barriers for online transactions - 24 May 2007
* Credit cards are still very vulnerable online - 24 May 2007
* Transaction hijacking - cheaper alternatives, at point of purchase - 24 May 2007
* Target 5 Warns Of 'Online Insecurity' - 24 May 2007
* House Passes Anti-Spyware Legislation - 23 May 2007
* Cyber fraudsters target accounts with 'one cent deposit' scam - 21 May 2007

INTERVIEWS
* Wells Fargo & Company at Lehman Brothers 10th Annual Financial Services Conference - Final - 23 May 2007

LAUNCHES
* Singapore's DBS Bank unveils plans for expansion in China - 25 May 2007
* ANZ and ING introduce direct access banking for pension funds - 25 May 2007
* Who launched the UK's first Internet bank? - 23 May 2007
* First National Bank of Omaha Launches Internet Bank - 22 May 2007
* Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank extends bill payments network - 22 May 2007

MARKETING
* Tenth anniversary of online banking - 27 May 2007
* Apacs marks 10 years of Web banking - 22 May 2007
* One-quarter of 50 Largest Online Advertisers are From Financial Services - 21 May 2007

MOBILE BANKING
* Mobile Phones Revolutionize African Banking - 24 May 2007
* ING Direct Adds Mobile Banking - 24 May 2007
* NY Times Reviews Citi Mobile - 24 May 2007
* Barclays introduces mobile banking services - 23 May 2007
* Bank of America completes m-banking roll out - 22 May 2007

PERSONAL FINANCE
* Mint.com Set to Freshen the Personal Finance Space* - 23 May 2007

REPORTS
* Traditional vs. online banking: Which one is for you? - 27 May 2007
* Case Study: Metrics Drive Wells Fargo's Home Page - 23 May 2007
* Online banking boosts direct debits - 23 May 2007

SOCIAL LENDING
* New Person-to-Person Lender, Lending Club, Hopes Facebook Linkage Allows it to Prosper - 25 May 2007
* Social lending goes red hot, as FaceBook enters the space with “LendingClub” - 25 May 2007
* Now there's big money in P2P - 22 May 2007
* Virgin enters the P2P loan market - 20 May 2007

SOCIAL NETWORKING
* Facebook | will people share their pictures, thoughts and information with commercial interests? - 26 May 2007
* Prosper and Forbes tap Facebook; Co-op Bank joins MySpace - 25 May 2007
* Social Networking to infinity and beyond - 25 May 2007
* Could FaceBook risk becoming another AOL? - 25 May 2007
* Social Network ad spending predicted to grow (eMarketer) - 24 May 2007
* Community ROI - a sensible view - 24 May 2007
* A sense of community - 23 May 2007

VENDORS
* Origo to develop XML standards for full mortgage applications - 24 May 2007
* Financial Objects ships mortgage module - 23 May 2007