We just completed our latest Online Banking Report. It will be mailed to subscribers this week.
It's also available online here. There's no charge for current subscribers; others may access it immediately
for US$495.

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Improving Online Account Opening ROI
Ten strategies to increase online application conversion rates

102 pages (published 21 June 2009)

In this report (abstract PDF), we focus on ways to increase conversions and improve your results when opening financial accounts online or over a mobile phone.

The online application is the new branch new-accounts desk. And, just as you provide ongoing support, training and incentives to branch-based sales staff, you must continually fine-tune your online sales process.

In our experience, this is an area that needs attention at most financial institutions. Things have greatly improved during the 10+ years we've been tracking online applications. However, during the research for this report, we reached dead-ends at three of the 10 applications tested (note 1). That just can't happen.

The report outlines a 10-step approach to improving the process: 

• Direct users to the application
• Set expectations
• First things first
• Guide customers
• Bundle mobile access & alerts
• Upsell
• Fund
• Ask for referrals
• Stay in touch
• Humanize the process

We reviewed the online applications of the following companies:

• Bank of America
• BECU (powered by uMonitor)
• Capital One
• Chase Bank
• First Arkansas Bank & Trust (powered by FirstROI)
• Flagstar Bank (powered by uMonitor)
• HSBC Direct
• Huntington Direct (powered by CashEdge)
• M&I Bank
• National City
• Verity Credit Union (powered by Andera)
• Wells Fargo
• Zions Bank

Finally, a 10-year forecast for online account-opening volumes in the United States is presented.

M&I Bank has an attractive and informative application start page (9 June 2009)
Note: The online banking guarantee at the bottom is a good way to improve user trust.

Note:
1. Granted, user error was the problem in two of the three failed apps; however, we weren't purposely trying to make mistakes. The online application should have provided assistance in correcting them, rather than leaving us hanging.

One of my favorite Sunday pastimes is seeing which bank dropped $25,000+ on a front-section full-page Seattle Times print ad. Over the years, there have been fewer and fewer sightings. And usually, it's BofA, Key Bank, or US Bank making the bold print buys in our market.

But today, Boeing Employees Credit Union, or BECU as they refer to themselves now that they allow anyone in the state to join, bought the entire page A10 and used most of it to say:

Shouldn't you profit from your bank rather than the other way around?

That's an attention-grabbing headline, especially in Seattle with plenty of anti-big-business sentiment. But it won't drive sales unless the CU can back it up with tangible benefits. And it does, with a large reverse-type rate offer for Member Advantage Savings & Checking (bottom section of print ad at right):

7.50% APY on your first $500  

Analysis
This is a great approach for going after mainstream consumers. Why?

• They bash the banks to gain attention, always a popular strategy...even the banks do it (see here).
• They don't waste space, or risk customer confusion, by going into detail about their credit union status; in fact they don't even use the words credit union, other than the CU in their name, instead using the generic "bank" in the headline. 
• They pay 2%+ more on savings than even the highest-rate online bank...but it's only on the first $500. Now that won't bring in the $25,000 deposits, but it will bring in new checking accounts and relationships.
• The extra 6% BECU pays out on the $500 balance, only costs them $30 per year...a small price to pay for a new relationship, which requires an electronic connection, either direct deposit, online bill pay, or electronic statements (of course, the Seattle Times ad drives the acquisition price up considerably).
• The same headshot of "Cyrena S." runs in the lower-left of the print ad and in the middle of BECU's homepage (see screenshot below), nicely tying the website to the print-ad strategy.

A few areas could be improved, mostly within the Web portion of the call to action: 

• The online signup option is buried at the bottom of the Member Advantage landing page (here), and uses a generic link and understated small maroon button, rather than the large red/orange "Apply Now" graphic used by most retail financial institutions. 
• The online app appears in a small popup window and is an old school all-text version powered by uMonitor. If you want to drive online sales, the application should be more user friendly and graphic-rich. Despite the shortcomings of CashEdge's online application design (see here), its layout is easier to follow. 
• The go-to rate after the first $500 is just 1.75%; that's a bit less than one would expect from someone spending so much money pitching "earn more" in 48-point type.
• Although BECU appears as the top organic result in Google searches involving the credit union's actual name, it doesn't show up on the first page for generic searches for "seattle savings accounts" or even "seattle credit unions." BECU should consider supporting its print buy with search engine advertising.  
• The 7.50% advertised APY is identical to the 7.50% APR used by US Bank to promote its home equity product a few pages earlier in the same Sunday Seattle Times section. It might help to show a competitive comparison against other savings rates to emphasize that this is a fantastic DEPOSIT rate, not merely a competitive lending rate.