Banking’s roots are in personal service. There was a time when loans were consummated with a handshake and everyone in the bank knew your name. But you also had to show up before 3:00 p.m. to get your cash. While many financial institutions still thrive by providing high service levels, there is little doubt that the advent of mass-produced and mass-marketed financial services has led to an overall decline in personal service.

While some may long for the days when there was a bank headquartered in every municipality with a paved main street, consumers have generally benefited from the innovations and cost efficiencies wrought by mass production. Credit cards, mutual funds, discount brokers, ATMs, the secondary mortgage market, and call centers provide unprecedented levels of convenience and financial control.* We think the widespread adoption of online connections will provide even greater levels of “financial satisfaction” to the average consumer.

But mass-marketed financial “products” have their downside. They have become commodities purchased by indifferent consumers who remain customers due to the shear hassle of switching accounts, not because they like what they are buying. This helped fuel industry consolidations leading to widespread speculation that the banking industry would bifurcate into a handful of HUGE companies along with a plethora of tiny ones feeding off their crumbs.

But a funny thing happened on the way to ubiquitous Citibanking. Microprocessors became dirt-cheap, powerful PCs became standard desktop equipment, and almost magically, the world became interconnected through the Internet for 20 bucks a month (per U.S. user).

Now financial institutions of all sizes can harness the power of cheap information processing combined with free and instantaneous online communications to create truly unique, customized products for each and every customer. A new and better personalized banking experience.