Someone's getting creative on Chase's search-engine marketing team. Look at the ad they placed on the RSS feed of a recent Payments News article (see first screenshot below, note 1). Using Google AdSense, the bank cleverly placed an ad against a story about Wells Fargo's same-day bill pay service.

Chase probably figures consumers reading about same-day payment capabilities might also have experienced problems with overdrafts in the past. But, I'm not sure why Chase used a call-to-action aimed at driving prospects to a branch:

Wamu Overdraft Forgiveness 
Help Take Control of your Finances. Find a Chase Branch Near You Today! (emphasis added)

Prospects that clicked through on the first ad landed on a microsite with a large branch finder at the bottom. This is a good microsite, although it doesn't directly mention taking control of your finances (see second screenshot).

Over at the main Google site, Chase used a pitch that seemed more likely to induce clicks (see third screenshot): 

Welcome to Chase
Chase Checking Alerts Help You Avoid Fees. Learn More Today!

These search ads were not displayed in searches today, so perhaps they were pulled after performing poorly.

Lesson: There's a lot of attention in the press these days about overdraft fees (see NY Times editorial today). If you have good tools to avoid them, especially mobile alerts, it might be an effective way to attract new customers.

And even though these particular ads may not have worked, it demonstrates that Chase is being creative in its search engine marketing efforts. The only way you can find what works in your market is by continuous trials (note 2).

Google ad on Payments News RSS feed (29 July 2009)

Chase landing page from ad shown above (link, 29 July 2009)

Google AdWords ad for "Wamu overdraft forgiveness" (29 July, 12 PM Pacific, from Seattle IP address)

Notes:
1. Viewed in a soon-to-be-defunct NewsGator reader.
2. For more info on search engine marketing, see Online Banking Report: Searching for Customers 3.0 (March 2008).

Chase Bank is sparing no expense in launching its brand in former WaMu strongholds, particularly Seattle, the previous headquarters of WaMu. The bank is remodeling the branches, hanging new signage, taking full-page ads in the Seattle paper, running radio spots, and bidding for the top spot on Google.

Analysis
The Chase Washington State microsite is gorgeous, really impressive. The graphic design is eye-catching, serene, and uplifting. Chase's logo is superimposed where the sun would be, creating a nice effect and great first impression of the bank, which is new to Washington state (see screenshot 1 below).

While the website designer scores an A+, the online app gets an incomplete (as in, I couldn't get it to work), at least for the checking account I tried to purchase (note 2). 

My first issue with the application, and this is more of a nitpick, is the location of the compare accounts links. Chase lists four main checking choices plus two student-oriented accounts (see screenshot 2 below). Since the account names provide no help in selecting the right one, I looked for a way to compare accounts. But my eyes were drawn to the Get Details and Open now buttons, and I never saw the links in the upper right corner. Since most users will need help selecting the right checking account, the Compare option should be at least as prominent as the Get Details button.

The much bigger issue prompting me to write this article is that online account opening didn't work, at least for the account I selected, Chase Premier Platinum Checking. After completing the first page of the online app (see screenshot 3 below), I was greeted with a cryptic message telling me to visit a branch for help (see note 1). And this is from a bank introducing its name in a new market.

Lessons for financial institutions:

• Make sure you test all the options in your online application (see note 3)
• If there are valid reasons why you cannot open the account online, explain them to your customer in detail (and don't lead them to believe the account can be opened online if it can't)
• Provide more options for help than just "visit your branch;" for example, online chat, telephone numbers, Web-based inquiry form, and a call-me button
• APOLOGIZE and thank the customer for their application attempt. Chase does neither. The bank's entire message (see screenshot 4):

   Unable to Continue: We are unable to open a Premier Checking account
   online. Please visit your local Chase Branch for assistance.

1. Chase Bank's Washington-state transition site main page (1 June 2009)

2. Chase checking account options

3. First page of Chase's online loan application

4. Fail screen displayed after hitting next on previous screen 

Notes:
1. I had selected "not a Chase customer" so I thought perhaps I was having trouble because the bank's cookie's showed me to be a Chase card holder. So I tried it on another machine, with the cookies erased, and the same thing happened.
2. The problem seems to be with Premier Platinum Checking. I was able to start the app process just fine with Chase Checking.
3. Chase isn't the only one with online account-opening problems. I am researching account opening for an upcoming Online Banking Report, and just today I reached a complete dead-end in the online application at a large credit union, and was forced to abandon the app late in the process, after I'd been through credit-bureau validation. 

When's the last time you Googled something and found nothing? Evidently WaMu's innovative P2P funds transfer service got lost in all the "excitement" this year and word never got out.

Luckily, I was seated beside Aliaswire (see note 1) SVP Keith Smith at dinner in Orlando two weeks ago. His company powers WaMu Send Direct, a service for P2P payments service for WaMu credit card holders, launched earlier this year at <wamusenddirect.com>.

WaMu Send Direct uses a variety of methods to transfer funds with as little hassle or with as much privacy as desired (see note 2). Cost to the sender is 2% of the amount sent with a $2 minimum. Recipients pay nothing.

This makes for a good pricing model for such things as parents sending money to a child, but not so good for consumer-to-business payments, UNLESS the consumer can avoid a late payment and/or finance charge (aka, expedited payments).

In addition to the 2% fee, the amount sent is posted to the WaMu credit card as a purchase and is subject to the prevailing APR and presumably an interest-free grace period if applicable (see note 3).  

Transfers all come out of a WaMu credit card, but they can go to the recipient in any of the following ways:

• Directly to a checking/savings account if the sender has the bank account info of the recipient
• Directly to a debit card, ATM card, or credit card if the sender has the recipient's card number
• To the recipient's phone or email address, requiring the recipient to call or log in at WaMu to claim the funds by providing bank account info; however, on subsequent transfers the recipient would not be required to contact WaMu so long as they signed up for Automatic Claim

Transfers can be initiated via:

• Website <wamusenddirect.com>
• SMS message to specific short code
• Telephone call to a toll-free number

It's a cool service. It will be interesting to see if Chase continues the service as they assimilate the WaMu credit card portfolio. 

WaMu Send Direct Homepage (5 Dec 2008)

Note the text message box at the bottom offering to text a bookmark to the user. 

Notes:
1. The name comes from the ability for a user to transfer funds (aka "wire") to other users via "alias", e.g., email address or mobile phone number.

2. Despite my longstanding policy of avoiding flow charts in NetBanker, here's a schematic of how Aliaswire's mPay works. mPay is the service that WaMu has private-branded as WaMu Send Direct. 

3. The Terms & Conditions states that the payment is considered a "purchase," which sounds like it would qualify for an interest-free grace period on accounts not currently revolving; however, the terms did not specifically say that.

It's not often that bank collection techniques make the business press, and when they do, it's usually not a good story. But last week's WSJ article by personal finance writer Jane Kim featured a relatively positive spin on how banks are working harder to collect revolving credit debt.

She cited two examples of Web-based self-service applications trying to turn early collection efforts into a non-confrontational, positive experience including:

• WaMu's self-service website, <wamucanhelp.com>
• The Virtual Collection Agent powered by Online Resources that is being rolled out by three of the top-10 card issuers. The system was first shown to the public at last year's Finovate conference (video here)

You can only look at the WaMu collection site if you have a WaMu credit card (screenshot below), but in perusing domain-ownership records, it appears to be hosted by Online Resources, so it likely resembles the screenshot below, a generic mockup from the Online Resources website.

Note the settlement offer listed at the bottom of the page. This offer can be produced dynamically based on input from the user as they use the self-service site.

What's innovative?
While it won't work for everyone, collecting past-due debts is one of the trickier areas of bank operations. Financial institutions have to be careful not to be too aggressive early on so they don't appear heavy-handed and end up driving away an otherwise profitable customer, not to mention that customer's friends and family.

That's why a gentle email/text reminder with a link to a self-service support area makes so much sense. Not only can you speed repayments from delinquent borrowers, but also garner valuable goodwill by offering a positive experience via a collaborative online tool. Given the current environment, Web-based collection efforts could maintain precious account relationships.

Virtual collection agent from online resources (19 Sep 2008) 

 
WaMu's Web-based collection website <wamucanhelp.com> requires a WaMu card number for login  (19 Sept 2008)

After returning from some R&R in Iowa and Kansas, I logged into my banking and credit card accounts to see what I'd forgotten to attend to before leaving town. Luckily, everything seemed in order this time.

Always on the lookout for online marketing examples, I thought it would be  interesting to compare and contrast the marketing messages presented to users as they logged in and logged out of five major banking sites. 

• Bank of America (business and personal credit cards): BofA typically has a marketing message at login and logoff.
  Login  The bank's brokerage division is pitching free Morningstar mutual fund research. I haven't seen this one before, and it seems a bit wordy, so it may be the first time for this offer (see screenshot #1 below)
  Logout  A pitch for a cash-back business credit card. It's a good offer, but perplexing, given that I already have a business and personal card with BofA. Not sure why they want me to have three (screenshot #2).
• PayPal (verified account): PayPal has used log-in splash-screens almost since it began in 1999 with a mix of marketing and service messages. But they don't overuse the technique, so it's noticeable when they have a new splash-screen running.
  Login  No marketing, just direct entry to main screen
  Logout  No marketing, just a landing at the usual PayPal merchant emporium (screenshot #3)
• US Bank (multiple accounts): I don't think I've ever seen a marketing message from US Bank at login or logoff. I believe I've seen a service message at login a few times over the years, but it's extremely rare.
  Login  No marketing, just dropped on main account page as usual
  Logout  No marketing, just a brief "you've been logged out" message
• WaMu (business checking): I've had the account only a few months, but WaMu has frequently posted marketing messages at login, and they've been relatively creative, as you'd expect.
  Login  Pitching its WaMu Live concert promotion which provides exclusive access to summer events to WaMu credit and debit card holders (screenshot #4). 
  Logout  No marketing, just a solid recap of security precautions, a good message to leave with online banking users (screenshot #5).
• Wells Fargo (credit card): Wells uses marketing messages frequently at both login and logout.
  Login  Electronic statement (paper turnoff), something I've not done yet (screenshot #6).
  Logoff  Home equity loans (screenshot #7)

What's Innovative?
There wasn't anything particularly enlightening in these examples. The WaMu Live pitch was the only truly unique message. For the most part, they were typical, well-crafted marketing messages you'd expect from these major players. That's fine now, since most customers don't yet have "banner fatigue" at their online banking site. But going forward, the messages will need to be more targeted and more interesting to get attention and action from jaded online users.

The other issue is frequency. You'll figure this out through testing, but there's a line you don't want to cross where a splash-screen message presented at every login ceases to be effective and is just plain annoying.

Finally, for financial institutions, such as US Bank, still not using this login real estate for sales messages, your customers thank you; however, quick-loading, targeted messaging, used with discretion, should benefit your bottom line.   

1. Bank of America login screen for business-credit-card only account (1 Aug 2008)

2. Bank of America logoff screen (1 Aug 2008)

3. PayPal logout (1 Aug 2008)

4. WaMu login screen (31 July 2008) 

5. WaMu logout screen (1 August 2008)

6. Wells Fargo login splash screen (1 Aug 2008)

7. Wells Fargo logoff screen (1 Aug 2008)

With consumer confidence diving, the banking industry reeling, and even Starbucks closing 600 stores, what we need is a national holiday! Well, happy Fourth of July to U.S. readers, and happy Friday to everyone else.

What are the big banks doing to celebrate the holiday online? Not much it seems. We are 25 hours away from the birthday, and of the 30 largest banks, only ING Direct and WaMu (in the Seattle area at least) are showing the red, white and blue.

Anyone else know of a financial institution with an Independence Day theme on its homepage? Drop it in the comments. Enjoy!

ING Direct's homepage features a fireworks animation (2 July 2008)

WaMu trumpets its July 4 Seattle fireworks sponsorship (2 July 2008)

WaMu just launched its first foray into mobile banking, a text-message-based (SMS) service believed to be powered by New Zealand's M-Com (previous post here). Thanks to Brandon McGee, blogging from his vacation via iPhone, for the tip (here).

The free service provides text-based access to balance and history of checking and savings accounts. To use the mobile services, WaMu customers must first register through online banking to activate their phone. Up to five phones can be registered through a single online banking account.  

Chase is the other U.S. top-10 bank using a primarily text-based approach for mobile delivery. See our Online Banking Report on Mobile Banking for more information on the growing market, including a 10-year adoption forecast.

More info at the WaMu website:

• FAQ
• Landing page
• Mobile services agreement

Change Sciences, publishing under the moniker of its new Kantuit research service, just released its latest financial services website evaluation. The report uses proprietary user-experience modeling to rate, rank and compare 18 leading banking sites on how easy it is to find, select, and open a new deposit account online (see Table 1, inset).

Citibank and WaMu were ranked one and two and scored significantly better than the others. Wachovia was third, scoring about 20% higher (the lower the score, the better). Bank of America, Fifth Third and BB&T were in the next tier, finishing about 50% higher. Among mega-banks, U.S. Bank had the worst score, more than double the leaders. 

The Change Science score includes various components that show how a consumer may struggle with various aspects of the application process. These individual scores are totaled to come up with the final composite score shown in Table 1 right.

For example, Figure 1 below illustrates the scores for "Effort (expended) finding and learning about deposit accounts" with Fifth Third leading the way with a 0.1 score, compared to Peoples United Bank, the worst of the sample, scoring 19x higher at 1.9

Download an abstract of the research results here (registration required). The full report runs $4,000; a significant investment yes, but you could make that up with just a handful of additional good deposit accounts. 

As a marketer you have to love WaMu. They are bold, quirky, and not afraid to poke fun at conventional wisdom. I haven't liked all their advertising campaigns, but that doesn't matter as long as the bank is reaching its target markets and delivering results.

While the bank has its challenges cleaning up the mortgage mess, its marketing department and ad agency are still producing good work. Case in point: WaMu's new Facebook page (below).

I realize that all banking pages in Facebook will appear lame to just about every 20-something that happens to stumble across them (see previous coverage here). But 20-somethings do still need checking accounts, debit/credit cards, vehicle loans, and so forth. So they will buy banking services. And what brand will they choose? The one that is at least making an effort to meet them on their turf with Facebook pages, text messaging, and humorous advertising, such as the talking banner campaign shown below.  

WaMu's Facebook page, which looks like it was posted April 17, contains videos, a crossword game, a branch finder, a checking account application form, a fan area and a communications app (note 1) that can be added to your Facebook profile. Take a look yourself here.

Excellent work: A

WaMu Facebook Page (23 April 2008) (note 2)

Notes:
1. Even though I added it to my profile, I'm not sure what the WaMu Facebook application does. It appears to be a way to communicate with friends on Facebook and has 49 daily users.

2. The bar across the middle of the page is unrelated to the WaMu page; it's the new Facebook chat feature, that appears along the bottom of all screens, and messes up my screenshot. It does show you where the "fold" exists on a 13.3 high resolution laptop screen.

 WaMu Welcome to Online Business Banking
I recently opened a business checking account at WaMu and logged onto online banking for the first time yesterday (see note 1). The 4-step process was done completely online, which, while user friendly, may not be the best idea security-wise. Anyone with enough detail about my business would have been able to log in and abscond with my $100 opening deposit. That's a topic for another day.

I was impressed how well the process worked and that the bank sent an immediate message to my email address welcoming me to online banking. It's a good message, presenting nine bullet-pointed account benefits and encouraging me to sign up for Business Bill Pay with another four bullet points.

The only thing that could be improved is the bare-bones signature area. It would be much better if my business banker and/or branch manager signed it, with an actual signature if possible. However, I'd accept someone from the central customer service area if they used an actual name and provided contact info within the letter.

Finally, the bank is missing an opportunity here to see if my initial experience has been positive. There should be a line that says something like "Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns about your new account" (note 2). Even better would be a short survey to provide feedback on the account-opening process.

Overall, I give it an A-.

Valentine's Day from Virgin Money
While I don't think Valentine's Day represents a particularly strong marketing opportunity for banks, at least one financial services company marked the date with an email to its customers (see note 3). Virgin Money sent this simple message to its customers yesterday morning (7:01 AM Pacific).  

Notes:

1. I opened the checking account in the branch because it was a corporate account with multiple signers. The business banker offered to set up online banking for me, but I declined so that I could see how the process worked.

2. In fact, I did have trouble ordering paper checks for the new account, something the bank could easily fix if they realized they had the problem. A feedback mechanism in the welcome letter would provide plenty of good ideas from new customers, and the occasional headache, of course. 

3. I purchased a $99 loan package from Virgin Money in December (see Online Banking Report #150 for more info). Sadly, only four Valentines greetings made it through my spam filters yesterday. My wife (thanks, honey), HP Logoworks, the alumni association from Iowa State University, and Virgin Money. An interesting mix.

A full-page ad in the front section (page A8) in yesterday's Seattle Sunday Times/PI alerted me to WaMu's latest offering called Savings for Success (see note 1).  

It's not a new invention, essentially a 1-year CD funded with automatic monthly deposits instead of a one-time deposit (see note 3), but WaMu uses its marketing prowess to dress it up like a super-high-yield savings account with an attractive 5.5% yield. It also delivers the ultimate marketing coup: turning what is normally a negative, not being able to get your money out for a year, into an account FEATURE, saying that the savings is "out of sight and out of mind" for the one-year CD term.

According to the Bank Deals blog, the savings account has been made available in select markets as far back as July. At that time the rate was higher, 7% in Illinois and Texas and 6% in Washington and Georgia (note 1).

It's great marketing that plays right into the new year's resolution mindset this time of year. Surprisingly, the account is not mentioned on the bank's website, even though the call to action (below) includes the bank's Web address. Also, WaMu has not used search marketing to support the print ad. Google searches do not lead to the the bank and a site search at wamu.com leads nowhere. 

This is a great product and a good fit for online banking users. Assuming it pencils out in the four test markets, look for the account to debut nationwide in 2008.  
 

Notes:

1. Apparently, the same ad has also run in the Houston Chronicle, but with a 6.5% APY. In the disclosures on that ad (reprinted here), the offer was said to be available in Illinois, Georgia, and Texas. The Seattle Times/PI ad says the offer is only available in Washington.

2. Here's the text in the main paragraph of the ad above:

Your checking and savings needs are officially over. To complement our WaMu Free Checking account, we've created Savings for Success. It's simple. You choose the amount you'd like to save each month - by automatically transferring as little as $25 and up to $500 from your WaMu Free Checking account to your Savings for Success account. There it is kept out of sight and out of mind, earning big interest, and helping you save without even having to think about it. After one year, it's yours to access when we sweep the savings into any savings account you choose. So save like never before and still get free checks for life, free ATM cash withdrawals, and all of the other features of our WaMu Free Checking account. It's banking bliss. To learn more stop by a WaMu near you, call 1-866-808-1396 or visit wamu.com.

3. Update Jan 8: The product, with the 6.5% rate, has also been advertised in The Dallas Morning News (link to the ad here). Also, I neglected to mention that the account can ONLY be funded with automatic debits with a miniumum of $25 per month to a maximum of $500 per month, so it's not an account aimed at large depositers. 

Just like a fluctuating body temperature is an indicator of your underlying health, your credit score is a similar measure of your financial well being. Yet, in a recent poll of Facebook users age 18-24, we found that fewer than 20% had seen their credit report or credit score within the past year (see note 1, 2).

Furthermore, today's tightened credit market has put a premium on having a good credit score, even in the upper end "prime segment." Here's the tease from the top of the Personal Journal section of today's Wall Street Journal, "Lending squeeze raises the bar on credit scores." (article here, see note 3).

Clearly there is a need here. Most U.S adults, especially younger ones, should track their credit score at least quarterly. However, fewer than 10% of adults subscribe to credit monitoring services, partly because of their cost and partly because of the hassle (see note 2).

Banks, credit unions and card issuers are ideally suited to fill this gap. At a minimum, low-cost one-click access to their credit score would provide customers with an important early warning system to stave off potentially debilitating personal finance woes (note 4).

Notes:

1. Be aware that this is a completely unscientific online poll of 200 Facebook users who say they are age 18-24 in their Facebook profile. The results should NOT be projected to the larger population. It was conducted on July 23, 2007 by Online Banking Report (see note 2).

2. For more information, see the latest Online Banking Report on Credit Monitoring.

 3. And over at another Dow Jones effort, the FiLife blog, the writers have been on a bit of a mission to pressure banks and card issuers to make credit scores freely available to customers (see post here). FiLife is a joint effort between Dow Jones and IAC, the parent of Lending Tree and GetSmart.  

4. According to the FiLife article cited above, among top-10 banks, only WaMu currently provides free access to credit scores for its credit card customers (see inset).

In response to my post last week about online archives (here and here), I heard from Citibank and WaMu, who both support online requests for statements going back seven years (see note 1). The statements are delivered online, free of charge, and in WaMu's case, generally within five minutes. The customer receives an email notification when the statement is available. That's slightly less convenient than real-time access, but it still provides 98% of the value (see note 2), which is quite acceptable.

But the new winner, with the longest online archives, is San Jose-based Technology CU which provides free online access to statements going back to 1993. That's 14 years and counting. Tech CU also requires an online request for the back statements, but with the archives hosted in-house, they are readable within seconds. In response to my question, SVP Michael Luckin timed the query for me, and was able to login, request and receive an older statement, and logout in 20 seconds. That ought to satisfy most members.    

Notes:

1. The Citibank archives were included in our previous summer 2005 report, but at that time we did not know of WaMu's expanded archives which became available in March 2005, but were evidently not discussed on its website when we did our research.

2. None of the statement archive systems mentioned here allow the customer to search for specific transactions or to manipulate/download the actual data. Only Whitney Bank offers seven years of searchable online data.  

The folks at BAI, using research by Raddon Financial, ran the numbers on new checking account sales per branch and found that Bank of America is opening 31 new checking accounts per branch per month, or just about one per day (article here). WaMu did better with 39 per month or 1.3/day. The article said community banks typically get only about one-fifth that,  just 2 new checking accounts per week per branch.

I'm not sure exactly what those numbers mean, but someday in a meeting when you are trying to make a case for new investment in your website, you can counter the, "but customers love the branches" with, "sure they do, but even BofA, who spends more than $200 million/year advertising, only manages to sell one checking account per day per branch" (see top 2005 advertisers here). It still might not mean anything, but it makes it sound like you've done your homework.

The problem with comparing branch-account openings to online-account openings is they are not separate ecosystems. Would the account have been opened online without a nearby branch? Or did that account, opened at the branch, come as a result of research conducted online by the customer? In the U.S., you need both channels for the foreseeable future, unless you sell a financial product that doesn't need physical support, like a savings account (see note 1).

Another wild card: How do you gauge the impact of increasingly prominent website offers like this one currently running on the checking account page at <bankofamerica.com> (see note 2)? Naturally, to get the $50 you have to open the account online.

Notes:

1. For more information on the future of the online channel vs. branch, see our report, The Demise of the Branch, published spring 2006 in Online Banking Report (OBR 128).

2. The offer was presented to a non-customer browsing the main Bank of America site from a Seattle IP address and indicating their state of residence was Nevada.

As we reported Aug. 16, Washington Mutual Bank is looking to win back some of the high-yield deposit business from ING Direct, HSBC, and Citibank. The bank is now bidding aggressively on Google with its "5.00% APY" landing it in fifth place for "savings accounts" (placing it second on the right-side list) and eighth for "high-yield savings" (see inset, search conducted 21 Sep, 1 pm PDT, from Seattle IP).

After clicking through the ad, potential customers are delivered to a well-designed landing page further emphasizing the "5.00% APY Statement Savings" rate (see screenshot below, click for larger view). Wamu continues its year-long effort to lampoon bankers with the three-piece suited icon "complaining" about the high rate paid on savings (see also, 28 April).

A new Wamu checking account (opened after 11 March 2006) is required to take advantage of the special rate. That important fact is downplayed on the landing page but is obvious once the user clicks through to the application (see screenshot by clicking the continuation link below). Furthermore, both accounts must be opened online. However, deposits can be made in the branch.

Wamu landing page from Google ads on "savings accounts" (see continuation link to see full page with fine print)

Full landing page (with fine print)

Full application

Two data points:

1. A front-page story in today's Seattle Times reveals Washington Mutual's decision to change their brand name to WaMu.
2. Monday's American Banker told of Alhambra, CA-based InterBusiness Bank name change to Tomato Bank.   

Two name changes among 8,000 U.S. banks is hardly a trend. But as the Internet becomes more and more important to your new account acquisition (see Online Banking Report 128, "The Demise of the Branch"), you must consider how your name works online. First National Bank and Trust looks good on a main-street signpost, but when translated to cyberspace it loses much, if not all, of its appeal. The problems?

• Not memorable: Too many generic words strung together make a name difficult to recall when potential customers return to their computers.
• Not searchable: Again, too many generic words makes it hard to even find in a search engine.
• No domain name available: The domain names containing first, national, and bank have long been snatched up by early adopters in 1995 and 1996. Many banks have had to resort to hard-to-remember domains such as <ibankfnb.com> from First National Bank of Hudson. 
• Not a modern brand: While it's nice to have your name create a feeling of trust and security, generic names reinforce the impression that the bank is not modern and technologically savvy, not good positioning for attracting customers online.

A name change is one of the biggest decisions a company will make, so we won't presume to give you advice on that point. However, you must consider the effectiveness of your brand online, both in recall, search, and overall company image.

--JB

Reports first surfaced Saturday (Aug. 12) that Washington Mutual was offering 4.75% on a no-minimum deposit savings account. But don't try to find it on their website. The offer is only visible after you begin the application process for one of the highly promoted free checking accounts (see NB July 20).

We searched the WAMU website using a variety of states and did not see any mention of the high rate. However, the bank could be using cookies or other methods to serve the banners to select customers (see Citibank, NB May 10). In our tests (from a Seattle IP address), users are first introduced to the savings offer on the first page of the online checking account application (click on screenshot below for a closeup).

Like Citibank's e-Savings Account, Washington Mutual is requiring a checking account to take advantage of the offer. However, WAMU's checking account is completely fee-free regardless of balance and with no direct-deposit requirement. Current WAMU customers can take advantage of the high rate, which is 12 times higher than the current 0.4% rate, only by opening a new checking account.

Analysis
WAMU is attempting to minimize deposit cannibalization by keeping the offer off the website. They are attempting to leverage their free checking campaign by upselling new customers at the point of sale. For a bank with a major branch presence, that's not a bad approach; however, it's not going to bring in deposits at the same rate as Citi or HSBC.

It will also be interesting to see how the bank deals with the inherent channel conflicts. If the high-rate deposits are credited to the Internet channel only, branches will be up in arms over the 12x rate advantage offered online. But if branches do get credit for the deposits, they will be converting their biggest customers into the new accounts as fast as possible (unless WAMU rewards branches by account profitability).

--JB

Washington Mutual, one of the more creative offline promoters, is beginning to apply its talent to online promotions. We're still not particularly fond of the "trapped bankers" creative (see NB April 28), but we like the bank's new "more than free checking" campaign.

We first ran across the promotion July 7 in a skyscraper-animated banner (175 x 500 pixel) on the right side of Rotten Tomatoes <rottentomatoes.com>, the popular film review aggregator (see inset).

The banner was good, but what we really liked was the landing page (see below). The design was clean and fresh (not so hard to do), and the copy was original and user-friendly, with just the right dose of humor (not so easy to do).

Our only criticism is the crucial final step. Users clicking the "Get Started" button are delivered to a much different and more bank-like screen to begin the application. The relatively dull look (see below) is a real letdown after the originality of the landing page. It's so different, it may cause users to stop and rethink their decision to apply.   

The bank would likely convert more prospects if they continued the landing page theme through the first page of the application. Overall, we'll score the effort an A-.

--JB

David vs. Goliath has been a popular theme for a few millenia. Everyone likes the underdog. And when the established player is also seen as stodgy and clueless, the advertising opportunities multiply.

Credit unions and community banks have taken market share for decades using a variety of similar themes: local vs. outsiders, small vs. big, member concerns vs. shareholder profits, and so on. It was only a matter of time before this tried-and-true strategy went online.

Campaign #1: HomeStreet's My Bank Doesn't Get It
The first campaign to catch our eye was from Seattle's HomeStreet Bank, which sent teaser postcards to local businesses in mid-April. The cards featured an image of a face and an intriguing URL, <mybankdoesntgetit.com> (see right). We've also seen the campaign running on the side of city buses.

After logging in to the unbranded site, users were encouraged to post a rant about something they disliked about their bank (see screenshots below).

#1    #2   #3

The site is about as soft-sell as you can get; users aren't even asked for their email address. The only sales message is an unbranded, lower-left link prompting users to click to go to a bank that does "get it" (see inset upper left and screenshots above).

Users clicking on the link are taken to a HomeStreet landing page that reinforces the "get it" theme (see screenshot right). First, users see a welcome page that reveals the name of the with-it bank. Then users move to a more traditional product page with subtle reinforcement of the "gets it" theme (see screenshot below).

However, once at the bank site, the sales momentum rapidly loses steam, and there's little in the way of compelling benefits to convince a business owner to go to the next step. Obviously, the bank's branding agency gets it, but not necessarily the website designers.

For viral marketing, HomeStreet includes an email-to-a-friend link. But what's missing is an email-capture device for visitors making the online rants. All the bank needs to do is add an inexpensive prize to the pitch, such as a free iPod Nano, and they'd have hundreds, if not thousands, of opt-in emails to market to.

Campaign #2: Washington Mutual's Trapped Bankers
Surprisingly, the second campaign is not from an up-and-coming community bank or credit union, but from behemoth Washington Mutual. The company has a long history of anti-banker advertising going back to the days when it actually WAS the underdog and not the sixth-largest retail bank in the country.

It was brave enough to provide a look at its new campaign at BAI's SmartTactics conference earlier this week in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I was busy with another session and missed the joint presentation from Chris Matthews, the bank's brand & advertising SVP and its agency, Leo Burnett. 

The campaign was a hit with the crowd of 30-something bank marketers, especially the television spots depicting various methods to trap bankers such as baiting a trap with a plate of steaming lobster. The campaign has a Web component at <trappedbankers.com> where users can view one of the television spots, ask questions of the bankers trapped in a basement holding pen, and review the benefits of WaMu's free checking offer. The only lead capture device is an opt-in email address required to download a screensaver (click on inset for closeup), a huge 3MB offering that incidentally wouldn't load onto our Windows XP laptop.

While the edgy advertising is likely to be popular with its younger target audience, I don't think the website is particularly appealing (click on inset left for closeup). The Flash-based presentation first required a download of version 8 to run, then used hard-to-read fonts on a black background.

There are several HTML remnants in the black background that if accidentally clicked, take you to a garbage page at <pointroll.com>, a rich media design house that must have had something to do with the WaMu site. And there is no way the site works on a dial-up, and even on broadband the use of streaming video creates some lag that makes the presentation a bit choppy. This is one of those high-tech websites likely to win design awards while turning off users.

Finally, I find the whole concept of "trapping" a bunch of fat old bankers and then teasing them in an underground holding pen to be slightly disturbing. Maybe it's that the banker profile hits too close to home, but I think they went too far. Instead of a positive, "we get it" message, there is an underlying theme of negativity, one that is borderline abusive, which turns me off. While it will generate massive traffic, I wonder what impact it will have on account growth and brand image. There must have been quite a debate in the boardroom on this one.

Even if you like the creative, as in HomeStreet's campaign, I don't think the Web designers quite "get it." The bank should have a way to capture email addresses from the hundreds of thousands, or millions of visitors, and there should be a more direct link to sign up for an account. Currently, the bank just drops you onto their default personal banking page when clicking on the tiny WaMu link at the top of the trapped banker page.

Grades
We'll give each of them an A for effort, although we prefer the simpler design of HomeStreet Bank's campaign. However, both get downgraded on execution. HomeStreet gets a B- due to its lack of sales emphasis and failure to capture email addresses. WaMu, which also fails to capture email addresses from most visitors, receives a C- due to the overly complex website, lack of a custom landing page, and lack of a good, direct-marketing design.   

--JB

For more financial interactive marketing ideas, check out the Interactive Financial Marketing Database from our sister publication, the Online Banking Report.

Providing free wi-fi is like offering a toll-free number 30 years ago—a consumer-friendly way to make you stand out from the crowd. But unlike call centers, which have grown into multi-million dollar cost centers, free wi-fi only  runs about $50 per month per location, a price that is sure to fall over the coming years.

There are two ways to jump on the wi-fi bandwagon:

1. Offering access to users in branch lobbies
2. Sponsoring free access at local gathering spots such as coffee shops, community centers, or libraries

Analysis
If you are of the branch-as-a-retail-store mindset such as Washington Mutual's Occasio concept or Umpqua Bank's plasma-TV zones (see right), then free wi-fi is a great way to bring customers into the branch and keep them there (until presumably they buy something). Even more important than the opportunity to sell checking accounts to laptop-toting visitors, is the publicity you'll receive as the first bank in your area to offer such a trendy service. Only 15 U.S. bank branches currently offer wi-fi access according to JiWire (see Appendix below).

If you are concerned that high-schoolers looking for MySpace friends will inundate your lobby, you can let the coffee shop across the street provide the seating while you sponsor free Internet access (through a service provider).

With either approach you can require users to enter a bank-branded screen first, register, and create a wi-fi access username and password for subsequent access. You can then use this information to market your online banking and other services.

-JB

Appendix: Wi-fi in U.S. bank branches
JiWire lists 110,512 wireless Internet "hot spots" worldwide in its online database <jiwire.com>. Fewer than 1,000 are at bank locations, mostly in South Korea. In the United States, only 16 bank branches—out of about 80,000—currently offer wireless Internet access to customers, at least according to JiWire (see list below), and six of those are in the San Francisco area:

US Bank - 2 branches in the SF Bay area
Citibank - 1 branch in the SF Bay area
Integra - 1 branch in Indianapolis, IN
Bank of America - 2 branches in the SF Bay area, 1 in Miami, 1 in Norwalk, CT (Fleet)
Union Bank of California - 1 branch in the SF Bay area
First National Bank - 1 branch in San Diego
First National Bank - 1 branch in Hutchinson, KS
Cass County Bank - 1 branch in Queen City, TX
Charter One Bank - 1 branch in Cleveland, OH and 1 branch in Albany, NY
Umpqua Bank - at least 1 branch in Portland (reported in the press, NOT in JiWire listing)

Judging by media reports, almost everyone in the civilized world has lost their identity to cyber-criminals. But while there has been an unending torrent of news about data breaches and related identity thefts, the damage has been much less drastic than that, says a study from Javelin Strategy & Research.

“The impression in the general public is that identity fraud is spiraling out of control, but what we came away with is the contrary; the growth [in the phenomenon] has been contained,” says Rubina Johannes, the Javelin research analyst who wrote the report.

Continue reading "The Truth about ID Theft from Javelin Strategy" »

How do you make your checking account stand out from the one across the street, around the corner, or two clicks away in Internet Explorer? It's not easy if you want to maintain or increase profitability.

Several banks, including Washington Mutual (NetBanker Nov. 8, 2005) and PNC Bank, use a relatively new technique that is inexpensive and plays to the current hysteria surrounding online security: identity theft insurance.

In PNC's case, three of its core checking account options come bundled with $2500 to $5000 in insurance: Premium Plan, Choice Plan, and of course Digital Checking (click on inset right for more details). Free Checking does not include ID theft insurance.

Action Items
Before giving away identity theft insurance, look instead at creating a profit center around fraud protection services. As we discussed in a previous Online Banking Report (OBR 83/84), identity theft protection and related credit bureau-monitoring services are among the few relatively easy fee-income opportunities online.

In fact, PNC Bank sells a full suite of credit bureau services housed under Identity Theft Safeguards in the Personal Finance area. The options range from a $29.95, one-time, three-bureau report to relatively pricey $120/yr and $180/yr subscription plans powered by TransUnion's TrueCredit, an OBR Best of the Web winner in 2002 (click on inset for closeup).

--JB

Washington Mutual, the sixth largest U.S. bank ($172 billion in deposits), becomes the most high-profile financial institution to officially throw their hat in the direct banking business, looking to stem the tide of high-balance deposits headed to ING Direct, Emigrant Direct, and others.

According to yesterday's report in American Banker, the bank will begin testing a high-rate deposit product available only from its direct banking unit, WAMU Direct, in four markets: Boston, Philly, Atlanta, and Phoenix.

Apparently the bank will be using the domain name <wamudirect.com> once the transfer of the name is made from the California man who had originally registered it. The bank won rights to the domain name in an arbitration case settled Oct. 14.

--JB

Washington Mutual <wamu.com>, which has been pitching free checking in Seattle for as long as we've lived here (mid 1980s), recently added ID Theft Services to its list of free checking account enhancements.

A mid-October direct mail we received at our home touted the following benefits, along with a $75 American Express Gift Cheque, for signing up for a new checking account (italics are theirs):

• No direct deposit required
• Free Telephone Banking
• Visa Check Card
• No per-check charge
• Free Personal Online Banking
• Free Personal Bill Pay service
• Free ID Theft Services

In addition, to the above bullet points, the Free ID Theft Services had its own paragraph, one of just four total in the short sales letter:

Exclusively for Washington Mutual customers: Free ID Theft Services. If you become a victim of identity theft, we provide insurance that helps you with your legal and other identity theft expenses up to $5,000 with no deductible. This valuable service also provides professional assistance, plus access to credit reports, management tools and more.

No other information was provided in the letter or the fine print. But looking at the bank's website we find that the free services lead to a pitch for full three-bureau credit report monitoring from Intersections <intersections.com> (click on inset for partial screenshot or download the entire screenshot, links will not work). It's all explained on Washington Mutual's proprietary identity theft site, ID Theft Inspect <idtheftinspect.com>.

Analysis
With all the concerns about online safety and fraud protection, it makes perfect sense to offer identity theft protection services to customers, especially when you will be helping defrauded customers whether you make it an account benefit or not.

We like how WAMU offers certain services to all account holders, then upsells them into full credit report monitoring. However, the bank's pitch for fee-based protection could be far more effective if it:

• Offered online signup -- Currently customers must signup in branch or call a toll-free number.
• Disclosed the price -- There is no mention of a monthly fee, either in the main body of the copy, or in the detailed disclosures. This is a sure way to lose customers.
• Provided a more detailed view -- The promotional copy does a good job of explaining the benefits; however, beyond a few blurry screenshots, there is no way to preview the level of detail to be provided with the service. The bank needs an online demo, tutorial, or FLASH presentation.

Overall, we give it a B+; disclose the price and it's an A-.

--JB

When natural disasters strike, such as the Southeast Asia tsunamis or Monday's Hurricane Katrina destruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, banks should use their considerable web reach to help their customers make safe and secure donations to sanctioned relief agencies such as the Red Cross.

With all the concern about online phishing and fraud, consumers need a trusted conduit to make donations. And the sooner the link is posted, the better. As bad as it is, for much of the country, it will no longer be top-of-mind in a few days or weeks.

Major banks fail to respond thus far
Granted its only been three days, but we were surprised to find that of the largest 50 U.S financial institutions only three, Chase (Chase.com and BankOne.com), Wachovia (Wachovia.com and Suntrust.com), and Washington Mutual (wamu.com), have posted links to the Red Cross to make online donations (see Wachovia banner above).

Seven others had hurricane-related information, but no links for donations:
- Regions, AmSouth, Navy FCU, Compass Bank, and of course New Orleans-based Hibernia all had information on branch closings
- USAA posted tips for dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane
- Commerce Bank (NJ) ran a headline ticker on the top of the homepage offering to match donations up to a total of $50,000 (which strikes us as bit stingy if you are going to blast it across your homepage)

Action Items
The best response, from a customer service and PR perspective, is to announce a corporate contribution and provide secure links to the Red Cross and other relief agencies. Contributions should also be accepted via mail or in-branch.

Wachovia does it right, with a small, but highly visible homepage link explaining its efforts and providing the important message, You Can Too (see inset above). Clicking on the link leads users to a landing page that explains Wachovia's $250,000 corporate commitment along with two important links (click on inset for a closeup look):
1. Donate Now link to a Red Cross store established on Yahoo handle Katrina donations
2. Email this page to spread the word

Even if your bank is not prepared to make a corporate contribution, it can still support fund-raising efforts with a link to the official donation site.

--JB

Although not as robust as Barclays, Washington Mutual is the only top-10 U.S. bank with prominently targeting startups. Through its partnership with StartupNation, the bank has posted several articles on its website, and also sends users to a cobranded www.StartupNation.com  website to sign on for more tools and resources including webinars, resources, and coaching. We don’t know the terms of the relationship, so we can’t judge the cost effectiveness. However, we definitely like how WAMU is positioning itself as a supporter of
small business. 

Washington Mutual testing the waters by selling CDs with eBay.

In January, Washington Mutual became the first bank to test selling certificates of deposit with eBay. The test was conducted on a standalone co-branded site, rather than being integrated with eBay. Users were required to register to participate in the CD auction. EBay credentials were not accepted nor did the certificates turn up on regular eBay searches

Although not the first to try retail CD auctions, Washington Mutual (Seattle, WA; $289 billion) is the first bank to team with eBay to add legitimacy to the unusual deposit-gathering scheme at  http://www.wamucdauction.com/  a co-branded site, hosted by eBay. The Bid Your Rate test is scheduled to run from Jan. 15 through February, with one-hundred $1000, 6-month CDs auctioned per week, for a total of 600. Apparently WAMU approached eBay with the idea and paid an undisclosed fee for the development and limited marketing to eBay users.

Auctioning CDs was tried by several banks in the late 90s, most notably by PNC Bank which ran auctions on its website for about a year beginning in Sept. 1999. Several other smaller banks, including the now-defunct USA Bancshares, gave it try but it never caught on. But that was also before eBay became a cultural icon.

How it Works

It’s much like an eBay auction but the bidding runs in reverse. The auction begins with a high interest rate and is bid down in increments of 5 basis points. In our tests we found the reserve to be 10% and proxy bidding, as is customary on eBay, was not used. Your bid was automatically entered at the lowest rate you selected.

From our observations, the bank needn’t have worried about using a 10% reserve price since all the CDs were quickly bid down to competitive levels. For example, at mid-day Feb. 9, the 12 CDs closing later that day had all been bid down to 2.05% or 2.10% rates. In comparison, that day http://www.bankrate.com/  pegged the average U.S. 6-month CD rate at 1.23%, with Stonebridge Bank offering the highest at 2%. You could also get 2% with a savings account at ING Direct. In Washington state, Washington Mutual’s website offered a 0.95% rate on 6-month CDs. That CD featured the option of adding to it at any time during the term for the same rate.

Apparently the test was promoted on a limited basis with banners and links on eBay, although we never saw one. However, there is no integration with the eBay search engine. We tested various search terms and found no mention of the WAMU CDs. Washington Mutual issued a press release on January 14, but is not widely promoting the service. We found no mention of it on the bank’s website (Feb. 9) nor did it appear in site search results.

Here’s what you see after entering a successful bid (in this case 10%) that’s met the reserve and taken the lead, at least for the moment. Final winning bid was approximately 2%.

Analysis

At this point, CD purchasing on eBay may be too small a niche for a large bank to profitably serve. However, it might be a good way to attract hot money, without repricing your current deposit base, or to create some interest in your deposit and/or online services. Long-term, we are more optimistic and expect deposit auctions to eventually become a common practice; after all retail investors already purchase T-bills directly from the U.S. government in a similar fashion.

Contacts

Doug Marshall is SVP Deposit Strategy and Product Management at WAMU; Gary Dillabough is VP Strategic Partnerships at eBay.