Every banker talks about the importance of core deposits, but in most years it's hardly front-page news: 2008 changed that.

As demonstrated by the shocking downfall of WaMu, Wachovia, and others, a stable deposit base is crucial to your profitability, your brand, and even your viability as an organization.

As a result, deposit product marketing is on the forefront of many bank and credit union marketing plans for 2009 and beyond. With that in mind, we offer the latest issue from Online Banking Report:

Growing Deposits in the Digital Age:
Seventeen smart strategies for gathering core deposits while building your brand

The report includes 72 pages of ideas, tactics, and strategies to expand retail deposits in 2009 and beyond. It was written by guest author Jeffry Pilcher, a branding and marketing guru who recently launched his own brand consultancy, ICONiQ. Pilcher joins OBR Editor Jim Bruene in looking at seventeen promising deposit-building strategies. Many are tried-and-true techniques, such as sweepstakes and rewards, updated with a digital touch. While others, such as bidding on deposits at auction at MoneyAisle, are pure Internet-enabled inventions.

Online Banking Report subscribers may download the report (here) free of charge. Others may purchase (here).

The seventeen strategies explored in Growing Deposits in the Digital Age:

• Customizable accounts
• Debit savings rewards
• DIY online-only accounts
• Deposit auctions
• Gen-Y checking
• Green banking
• High-yield/big rate
• Instant online depositing
• Mobile savings apps & online widgets
• Online savings buzz
• Rewards checking
• Savings automation & incentives
• Social savings contests
• Socially conscious banking
• Sweepstakes & giveaways
• Social "friends & family" savings