It's a sign of the times. Instead of creating interest in auto loans by showing a sexy new convertible on a windy seaside road, Chase offers to help customers stay in their same vehicle with a lower monthly payment (see today's homepage below).

Interestingly, the $44 number in the headline is the actual average savings to Chase auto loan refinance customers in August (see note 1 for how Chase calculated the savings). That makes the whole ad much more believable than the usual what-if scenario.

Instead of burying that key fact in the fine print on the bottom of the landing page (second screenshot), Chase should make it the main headline of the landing page. The bank could go "social" with it by adding testimonials, a blog or forum, calculators (how about one for the iPhone?), a Facebook page, sweepstakes and even a scrolling activity ticker showing actual refinance savings as they happen, much like the Progressive auto insurance quotes (see note 2).

It's not going to help Detroit much, but it's smart marketing for the pre-holiday period. A $44 lower monthly payment translates into $500 in annual savings, enough to put a little something extra under the tree this year.

Chase Bank homepage (13 Nov 2008)

Landing page pop-up (13 Nov 2008)

Notes:

1. Derivation of the $44 savings:

Monthly savings figure is for illustration purposes only. $44.43 is the average monthly amount saved by customers who lowered their rate by refinancing their auto loans with Chase during the period from 7/25/08 to 8/21/08 on which we have the information to determine savings. These customers started with an average balance of $17,500, with an average remaining term of 49 months at an average Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 10.50% and refinanced on average for 53 months at an average new APR of 7.31%.

2. An activity ticker is one of our top-rated projects for next year as published last week in our Online Banking Report 2009 Planning Guide.