Chase Manhattan
www.chase.com

Chase Manhattan Bank (New York, NY; $336 billion; 3.5 million ATM cards) eliminated fees for its online banking offering, and boy do they let you know it (screenshot below). This has more to do with regional competition than any strategic effort to migrate customers to electronic offerings. Citibank eliminated all electronic banking fees June 1, 1995, and has been dominating the NYC market for online banking. Industry estimates put Citicorp’s subscriber base at more than 400,000 compared to Chase/Chemical which stood at 60,000 at year-end 1996. In December, Chase officials predicted 200-300,000 subscribers by year-end 1997. Previously, Chase assessed a variety of fees based on deposit balances and options used.

These little “free” icons are all over Chase’s Web.

Separately, Chase has finally produced a respectable Web site. It still doesn’t offer account access, but the look, tone, and navigation are well-done. A far cry from its inaugural effort we lampooned a year ago. There’s an ATM locator and an online banking demo which is good-looking but PAINFULLY slow. It defeats the purpose to post a series of 50k graphic images to demonstrate how your PC banking program saves time. But we’re glad to see that Bruce and Julie Madsen’s real-life chronicle of life in an RV continues. Contact: Ron Braco is VP and heads the online program, 212.552.2222.