10 Ways to Boost Revenues in a Down Economy (NetBanker)

We like to be optimistic, reviewing features and benefits aimed at consumers who are upbeat. In much of the world, economies are sputtering and consumer confidence is down. This is a good time to look at your product set through the eyes of a pessimist and see if you can alter the four P’s (product, promotion, place, price) to appeal, and help, a more skeptical and frugal consumer.

	Project	Comments	Supports
1.	Goal-based automatic savings/investing plans	Provide a simple way for users to initiate and change automatic savings plans; email messaging could confirm each transfer and keep the user apprised of their progress towards goals.	deposits, investments, account retention
2.	Mortgage refinance center	If you haven’t looked at your refi area for a while, take a fresh look, then compare it to the top mortgage companies profiled in OBR. You’ll likely find a number of simple improvements that can be made to drive profitable refi and home equity loan volume.	mortgage refinance and home equity loans/lines
3.	Home equity lending center	Build more interest in the product by building a Web area with ideas on how to put home equity to use, such as home improvement, vehicle purchase, business opportunities, etc.	mortgage refinance and home equity loans/lines
4.	Overdraft protection	With NSF/OD fees growing ever higher, it’s important to provide overdraft protection solutions; add an easy sign-up form/application displayed prominently on your Web site.	deposits, credit lines, cost savings in customer service, retention
5.	Credit report monitoring	As we outlined this summer, credit report monitoring is the perfect product for these times of privacy fears and credit awareness; not only will customers appreciate the protection, they have demonstrated a willingness to pay up to $100/yr for the service.	fees, loans, retention
6.	Security center	Build an educational area where users can read about safeguarding their privacy and avoid identity theft; include credit bureau links and info (see One-Click Security at Charter One).	retention, cost savings in fraud
7.	Personal ebankers (sales focused)	As an experiment, assign an e-rep to 50-100 promising online customers; equip the rep with email, after-hours capability from home, personal Web pages, and so on; over the next year, measure account balances and customer satisfaction, with a before-and-after survey.	retention, cross sales
8.	Value investing with mutual funds	The margins may be thin, but helping your customers establish automated investments into a portfolio of indexed mutual funds could be your ticket to keeping the majority of your customers’ assets within your company.	retention, investments
9.	Recurring bill payment solutions	In an era when consumers are watching every penny, help users establish recurring automatic payments to avoid incurring late fees and/or additional finance charges.	retention, deposits, checking
10.	Expedited payments (FedEx Pay)	For those who haven’t opted for automatic recurring payments (#9), help them pay at the last minute to avoid extra charges.	fees, checking, retention

Source: Online Banking Report, 10/02

10 Ways to Boost Revenues in a Down Economy

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