The Problem: For Financial Institutions
Customer Retention
Customer Acquisition

The prevailence of a financial institutions brand correlates directly with the level of trust a consumer has in their institution. The greater the trust in the institution, or so the theory goes, the more a given consumer will consolidate his finances into that institution. It is very important to financial institutions to boldly display their brand on all their products to further this trust and revenue stream. In addition, financial institutions make most of their profit from the top 5% of their customers, most of whom are in their prime earning years or retired. One way these institutions are trying to retain customers until they reach those years by focusing on trust and branding.
The most popular PC based home banking products work against the bank in this regard. Essentially all banks look the same throught these products, and bankers do not like being considered a commoditiy. They hope to remove the middle-man and ship branded product directly to the consumer. Paradoxically, the banks have had bad luck in the past with the business of manufacturing and distributing software, so they don't want to be in that business. They would be much happier slapping their brand on a deserveing financial application.
Banks hope to use their branded software to attract new customers and reduce costs. They hope to attract clients by offering new services to the electonic commerce market and to reduce costs by offering their own payment mechanisms.

Return to Tracks