From The Australian:
AUSTRALIA'S newspaper industry will position itself as the most trusted media and the one with the greatest attention of its users, following the release of ground-breaking research. The Newspaper Works, the industry body created 15 months ago by Australia's major newspaper publishers, today releases the first major report to clearly define newspapers' role, relevance and impact in the changing media landscape. The study, conducted by Celsius Research and The Leading Edge late last year, shows that Australians are most likely to engage with newspapers as they are "absorbing, dynamic and reputable". "no other medium can offer the reputation, the involvement and the dynamic nature that newspapers have in the one medium, so we think it's a powerful position for newspapers to be able to adopt." Newspaper Works CEO Tony Hale said. "Ninety per cent of people pay full attention when they're reading a newspaper, compared with 50 per cent for TV."
Article continues...
Showing posts with label multi-channel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multi-channel. Show all posts
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
ABA offers a range of stats
The ABA site offers a range of high level industry stats on accessability (a good one), community involvement, competition, fees, profits, and a section called New Ways of Banking which details electronic banking and other new forms to interact with your finance. Another page of interest is titled ABA's Accessiblity of Electronic Banking - a set of industry standards that includes action plans. A good resource for all your business cases out there.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Generations clash over bank channel preferences
From Finextra:
"US bank customers under the age of 34 prefer the anonymity of banking by laptop to the in-person branch banking experience, according to a survey conducted by the American Bankers Association.
The annual survey of 1000 consumers, conducted for the ABA by Ipsos-Reid asked questions designed to take a snapshot of current consumer trends. When consumers were asked what banking method they use most often, respondents put branches out in front at 36%, followed by the online channel at 23% and ATMs at 21%, with telephone (five percent), and mail (eight percent) bringing up the rear.
However, the survey found strong generational differences in consumer preferences. While banking at a local branch was the clear favourite of nearly half of those over the age of 55, only a quarter of under-34s used the branch on a regular basis. In fact, younger customers ranked branches behind online banking (30%), while older customers rated the branch (47%) and ATM (17%) far ahead of banking by PC (13%).
Edward Yingling, ABA president and CEO, comments: "We are continuing to find that while our younger consumers feel comfortable banking from their laptops, traditional services are still preferred by many. This is why banks are trying to offer a variety of banking options in order to meet all of their customers' needs."
"US bank customers under the age of 34 prefer the anonymity of banking by laptop to the in-person branch banking experience, according to a survey conducted by the American Bankers Association.
The annual survey of 1000 consumers, conducted for the ABA by Ipsos-Reid asked questions designed to take a snapshot of current consumer trends. When consumers were asked what banking method they use most often, respondents put branches out in front at 36%, followed by the online channel at 23% and ATMs at 21%, with telephone (five percent), and mail (eight percent) bringing up the rear.
However, the survey found strong generational differences in consumer preferences. While banking at a local branch was the clear favourite of nearly half of those over the age of 55, only a quarter of under-34s used the branch on a regular basis. In fact, younger customers ranked branches behind online banking (30%), while older customers rated the branch (47%) and ATM (17%) far ahead of banking by PC (13%).
Edward Yingling, ABA president and CEO, comments: "We are continuing to find that while our younger consumers feel comfortable banking from their laptops, traditional services are still preferred by many. This is why banks are trying to offer a variety of banking options in order to meet all of their customers' needs."
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
UK banks providing second rate online customer services
From Finextra:
"Despite the millions invested by banks in the Internet channel, clients still find it quicker to call contact centres for basic information, according to a UK study conducted by Cambridge-based Transversal.
The annual research measures customer service by searching for answers to ten common sector-specific questions on the Web sites, via e-mail and contact centres of ten major UK banks.
The study found that bank sites could only provide answers for 50% of routine questions asked online, with the majority relying on static and complex FAQ pages rather than interacting with customers to deliver the right answers through the right channel.
Around a third (30%) of sites struggled to answer more than two out of ten product and service questions - while only one scored top marks.
Customer service was even worse for those trying to get answers from banks via e-mail, says Transversal, with a almost third (30%) of the banks surveyed still not offering the facility to e-mail questions. Of those that did, the average reply time to an e-mail was 30 hours - and even then only three out of ten satisfactorily answered the question, so customers would still need to contact a call centre for the information.
In contrast, the study found that 60% of customer service calls to a contact centre were answered within three minutes, with the shortest wait times being just a few seconds. During the busiest time in the evening, some longer wait times of between six and 15 minutes were experienced, but overall answer times were less than four minutes."
Article continues...
This interesting report on Web 2.0 also comes from Traversal:
Web 2.0 Powers Revolution In Customer ServiceInteraction and personalisation creates new communication channels, but also potential pitfalls, believes Transversal.
The advent of Web 2.0 technologies provides organisations with the ability to radically change how they interact with their customers, dramatically improving service levels and consequently increasing sales. This is the view of web self-service leader Transversal (www.transversal.com), which has created a top 10 guide to help companies embrace areas such as two way interaction, personalisation, RSS feeds and blogs to get closer to customers.
Web 2.0 is the umbrella term for new technologies and techniques that enable users to drive greater personalisation and interaction with web sites. Examples include social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace, blogging and wikis. The challenge for organisations is selecting and implementing the right Web 2.0 techniques to positively enhance their brand and sales.
"The advent of Web 2.0 opens up communication between organisations and their customers, enabling unprecedented personalisation as users drive how they interact with brands of all sizes," commented Dee Roche, head of marketing, Transversal. "This is the perfect opportunity to increase customer satisfaction and interaction. Customer service departments should be at the forefront of adopting Web 2.0 techniques and use them to build stronger relationships based on listening to customers and responding to their needs."
Article continues...
And this one on Record numbers of customers moving to self-service:
Record Numbers of consumers turn Web self-service for answers
The web is becoming a primary customer service channel for businesses as more consumers shop and access information online, according to Transversal.
Transversal's Web Self-Service Index has highlighted a sharp increase in the number of consumers asking questions through web self-service systems to obtain customer service information. In the quest to avoid calling or emailing contact centres, the amount of customers turning to this channel for faster responses to questions has risen 224 per cent from 2004 to 2006.
Article continues...
Slight conundrum there - customers are moving fast to web self-service, but not getting the right answers and having to call contact centre.
"Despite the millions invested by banks in the Internet channel, clients still find it quicker to call contact centres for basic information, according to a UK study conducted by Cambridge-based Transversal.
The annual research measures customer service by searching for answers to ten common sector-specific questions on the Web sites, via e-mail and contact centres of ten major UK banks.
The study found that bank sites could only provide answers for 50% of routine questions asked online, with the majority relying on static and complex FAQ pages rather than interacting with customers to deliver the right answers through the right channel.
Around a third (30%) of sites struggled to answer more than two out of ten product and service questions - while only one scored top marks.
Customer service was even worse for those trying to get answers from banks via e-mail, says Transversal, with a almost third (30%) of the banks surveyed still not offering the facility to e-mail questions. Of those that did, the average reply time to an e-mail was 30 hours - and even then only three out of ten satisfactorily answered the question, so customers would still need to contact a call centre for the information.
In contrast, the study found that 60% of customer service calls to a contact centre were answered within three minutes, with the shortest wait times being just a few seconds. During the busiest time in the evening, some longer wait times of between six and 15 minutes were experienced, but overall answer times were less than four minutes."
Article continues...
This interesting report on Web 2.0 also comes from Traversal:
Web 2.0 Powers Revolution In Customer ServiceInteraction and personalisation creates new communication channels, but also potential pitfalls, believes Transversal.
The advent of Web 2.0 technologies provides organisations with the ability to radically change how they interact with their customers, dramatically improving service levels and consequently increasing sales. This is the view of web self-service leader Transversal (www.transversal.com), which has created a top 10 guide to help companies embrace areas such as two way interaction, personalisation, RSS feeds and blogs to get closer to customers.
Web 2.0 is the umbrella term for new technologies and techniques that enable users to drive greater personalisation and interaction with web sites. Examples include social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace, blogging and wikis. The challenge for organisations is selecting and implementing the right Web 2.0 techniques to positively enhance their brand and sales.
"The advent of Web 2.0 opens up communication between organisations and their customers, enabling unprecedented personalisation as users drive how they interact with brands of all sizes," commented Dee Roche, head of marketing, Transversal. "This is the perfect opportunity to increase customer satisfaction and interaction. Customer service departments should be at the forefront of adopting Web 2.0 techniques and use them to build stronger relationships based on listening to customers and responding to their needs."
Article continues...
And this one on Record numbers of customers moving to self-service:
Record Numbers of consumers turn Web self-service for answers
The web is becoming a primary customer service channel for businesses as more consumers shop and access information online, according to Transversal.
Transversal's Web Self-Service Index has highlighted a sharp increase in the number of consumers asking questions through web self-service systems to obtain customer service information. In the quest to avoid calling or emailing contact centres, the amount of customers turning to this channel for faster responses to questions has risen 224 per cent from 2004 to 2006.
Article continues...
Slight conundrum there - customers are moving fast to web self-service, but not getting the right answers and having to call contact centre.
McKinsey - Bank branches that meet customer needs
McKinsey Quarterly have produced this report - Bank branches that meet customer needs -
"Banks in Europe and elsewhere agree that branch networks will long remain the cornerstone of their retail distribution strategy. Yet many seem disenchanted by the payback on their efforts to breathe new life into brick-and-mortar outlets. Few can demonstrate that these investments are yielding tangible economic benefits.
The problem arises when banks adopt an intuitive design approach that emphasizes aesthetics and expensive format changes, overlooking the customer’s needs.
Instead, banks should put utility before appearances, favor lower-budget tactical adjustments, and use branch formats to manage customer visits actively. "
For Premium Members.
"Banks in Europe and elsewhere agree that branch networks will long remain the cornerstone of their retail distribution strategy. Yet many seem disenchanted by the payback on their efforts to breathe new life into brick-and-mortar outlets. Few can demonstrate that these investments are yielding tangible economic benefits.
The problem arises when banks adopt an intuitive design approach that emphasizes aesthetics and expensive format changes, overlooking the customer’s needs.
Instead, banks should put utility before appearances, favor lower-budget tactical adjustments, and use branch formats to manage customer visits actively. "
For Premium Members.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Asia Pacific under multichannel pressure: report
From CallCentres.net:
"Asia Pacific organisations are facing increased pressure to integrate the internet with their contact centres, but few have fully leveraged multiple channels, according to new research.
According to a newly released Genesys' report, Managing Web Interactions in the Contact Centre, Asia Pacific contact centres have made only moderate progress in engaging customers via the Web, with only one in four respondents supporting live help on the internet. The report examines how contact centre managers are addressing the growing consumer demand and business impact of Web-based communication channels, such as agent Web-chat, click-to-call, click-for-call back, and email.
The report found that 82% of organisations offer some level of Web self-service, including viewing account information, making online payments and making purchases or orders online. Only 27 percent of companies offer live help or assistance to customers browsing their Web sites. More than 60 percent of organisations using proactive Web chat say it has increased sales revenue, and almost 50 percent note a drop in Web abandonment rates. The report surveyed companies in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand."
"Asia Pacific organisations are facing increased pressure to integrate the internet with their contact centres, but few have fully leveraged multiple channels, according to new research.
According to a newly released Genesys' report, Managing Web Interactions in the Contact Centre, Asia Pacific contact centres have made only moderate progress in engaging customers via the Web, with only one in four respondents supporting live help on the internet. The report examines how contact centre managers are addressing the growing consumer demand and business impact of Web-based communication channels, such as agent Web-chat, click-to-call, click-for-call back, and email.
The report found that 82% of organisations offer some level of Web self-service, including viewing account information, making online payments and making purchases or orders online. Only 27 percent of companies offer live help or assistance to customers browsing their Web sites. More than 60 percent of organisations using proactive Web chat say it has increased sales revenue, and almost 50 percent note a drop in Web abandonment rates. The report surveyed companies in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand."
CBA plans CommSec Bank
CommSecs brokerage business is so strong, they're extending their brand into a full service offering - the distinct customer base they have is niche enough to warrant it.
From Financial Standard:
"Commonwealth Bank is reviewing plans for the transformation of CommSec, its equity and funds brokerage business, into a full service financial institution.
CommSec is one of the jewels in the crown at CBA, a point underlined by its strong contribution to the bank’s earnings for the year to June, reported yesterday.
CommSec’s monthly trading volumes were up 70 per cent, it processed a record 1.1 million trades in June and it drove a 40 per cent increase in margin loans, which now total more than $8 billion.
It has started to make its presence felt in the market for IPOs and other primary equity issues. According to Thomson Financial its ranking in equity issuance has jumped from 28th to seventh over the past year.
According to a source, the view within the bank is that CommSec’s one million plus customer base is sufficiently different from the bank’s to warrant the creation of a separate product portfolio that would include lending and deposit products."
From Financial Standard:
"Commonwealth Bank is reviewing plans for the transformation of CommSec, its equity and funds brokerage business, into a full service financial institution.
CommSec is one of the jewels in the crown at CBA, a point underlined by its strong contribution to the bank’s earnings for the year to June, reported yesterday.
CommSec’s monthly trading volumes were up 70 per cent, it processed a record 1.1 million trades in June and it drove a 40 per cent increase in margin loans, which now total more than $8 billion.
It has started to make its presence felt in the market for IPOs and other primary equity issues. According to Thomson Financial its ranking in equity issuance has jumped from 28th to seventh over the past year.
According to a source, the view within the bank is that CommSec’s one million plus customer base is sufficiently different from the bank’s to warrant the creation of a separate product portfolio that would include lending and deposit products."
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Interesting Celent reports on Multi-channel banking
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
The Relative Importance of Communicating Image And Delivering Value By Touchpoint
From Forresters report on How Brands Succeed Online. Note the transition, left to right, from brand campaigns to self-service / direct channel outlets. They value delivery increases as the touchpoint becomes more tactical and personalised. Look at email - more a brand exercise than value deliverer. And look at the web - bang in the middle.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Celent measures young adults banking usage
Interesting comparison of preferred and actual methods used by US banking customers, as reported in eMarketer and the brilliant team at Celent."College-bound consumers born between 1982 and 2000 like using the Web to access financial services, according to Celent Communications' "The Millennnials, Financial Services and the Web" report.
These consumers will be the next mass affluent group. The report's authors suggest that offering them financial services through their preferred delivery channels now will establish their loyalty, and pay off as the group's wealth grows.
The group also used debit cards more frequently than other payment methods — and for lower dollar values — than did older consumers.
Dan Schatt of Celent said, "GenM is the first generation to grow up online and to grow up without the need for a landline phone. Given the ubiquity of mobile handset adoption and Internet usage among college students, banks that want to tap into this demographic will have to invest heavily in the mobile and Web channels, the number one preferred way for this segment to communicate and obtain information about financial providers."
Young consumers' preference for accessing financial services online was also detailed in an American Bankers Association/Ipsos-Reid study. That July 2006 study stated that a third of 18-to-34-year-olds used online banking, which was a much higher rate than other age groups."
Monday, July 16, 2007
How banking tech messes with your mind
From ZDNet:
"The financial services industry has discovered that introducing self-service technology in bank branches can not only cut waiting times, it can actually alter consumers' perceptions for the better.
US banking group First Citizens Bank has implemented self-service "intelligent" kiosks from vendor NCR in two of its branches and plans to deploy them across 40 before the end of next year.
The machines allow consumers to start a number of typical banking tasks, such as cheque or cash deposit, which are then validated by a member of banking staff once complete -- allowing tellers to deal with more customers and speeding up the average waiting time. "
Friday, July 13, 2007
Bankwest on the expand - will their direct channels come too
HBOS' Australian arm Bankwest are due to expand heavily into the eastern states of Australia, opening over 120 new branches in Qld, NSW, VIC and elsewhere. A new campaign and mini site titled Banking Refreshed implies a new way of doing banking not just more branches - the proof will be in the pudding. The Bankwest site has been developed well over the years, and offers some very competitive products for personal and busines customers. Their online banking, particularly for business, seems quite comprehensive.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Banking on Self-Service
This article from eMarketer last week looks interesting -"More than three-quarters of US and Canadian consumers polled said they were more likely to trade with organizations that offer self-service, according to a study conducted by BuzzBack Market Research for NCR Corporation. Over nine in 10 also said it would be valuable to combine mobile devices with the Internet and self-service kiosks or ATMs.
...
An Ipsos-Reid survey of US consumers commissioned by the American Bankers Association (ABA) found that 35% of respondents ages 18 to 34 banked online more often than they visited a bank branch. Another 33% said they mostly used ATMs.
By contrast, people ages 35 to 54 preferred bank branches to online banking, as did 47% of people older than 55. Just 13% of that age group preferred online banking. Retired people overwhelmingly preferred to visit a bank branch.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
ING Direct's Man on a Mission
"Arkadi Kuhlmann is annoyed by banks. He thinks that it's ridiculous for customers to pay so many fees. That it isn't too much to ask for a real person to pick up the phone when you call the 800 number. That you shouldn't have to jump through hoops to keep your personal information from being sold to other companies. But unlike your typical bellyacher, Kuhlmann is able to change things, since he's running a bank--one the rest of the industry is scrambling to copy."Read the rest here at Time.
Monday, June 18, 2007
2007 Multi-Channel Merchant Award Winners
Include a multitude of SME and retail businesses, which perhaps we can learn from.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
More conferences - Melbourne and Sydney
Lets get these organised. Calendars ready?
AIMIA is hosting The Future of Online Video this Friday May 25 in Melbourne with Vividas, Hyro, Hothouse and Portable Content all speaking.
Charis and the team over OnlineBankingReview are putting on an interesting conference on 31 May (Sydney) and June 7 (Melbourne) called "Successfully integrating branch, web and contact centre technology to deliver a seamless customer experience". Every major bank is represented, and sessions revolve around branch, web, contact centre and integration. Sign up today, it looks excellent. Read more about it here.
FEN are putting on a Web 2.0 conference on June 6 in Sydney. Have a look.
Microsoft are hosting ReMix 07, a web design and development conference in Melbourne on June 25/26.
FEN is also hosting the Future of Media Summit is taking place in Sydney on July 19, with Ian Smith from Yahoo7, Damian Smith from Channel Ten Digital and Wendy Hogan from Cnet amongst the speakers.
AIMIA is hosting The Future of Online Video this Friday May 25 in Melbourne with Vividas, Hyro, Hothouse and Portable Content all speaking.
Charis and the team over OnlineBankingReview are putting on an interesting conference on 31 May (Sydney) and June 7 (Melbourne) called "Successfully integrating branch, web and contact centre technology to deliver a seamless customer experience". Every major bank is represented, and sessions revolve around branch, web, contact centre and integration. Sign up today, it looks excellent. Read more about it here.
FEN are putting on a Web 2.0 conference on June 6 in Sydney. Have a look.
Microsoft are hosting ReMix 07, a web design and development conference in Melbourne on June 25/26.
FEN is also hosting the Future of Media Summit is taking place in Sydney on July 19, with Ian Smith from Yahoo7, Damian Smith from Channel Ten Digital and Wendy Hogan from Cnet amongst the speakers.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Net.Finance 2007, Scottsdale AZ
This looks like an interesting conference in mid-April on online channels in banking with representations from large retail banks (BoA, HSBC), direct banks (Key Bank, GE Money, ING Direct) and broking organisations (Charles Schwab). 'Non-banks' are represented by Prosper.com it seems. Conference pitch says:
'Net.Finance 2007 is a great venue for all of you focused on marketing and e-Commerce to talk about how you can provide a better experience for your customers. Understand how you can effectively keep your current customers happy. Examine how you can better reach out to the customers you want to serve. Discover marketing strategies that work best for your target market. Adopt innovative online finance services that appeal to your customers and make them want to bank with you more.'
'Net.Finance 2007 is a great venue for all of you focused on marketing and e-Commerce to talk about how you can provide a better experience for your customers. Understand how you can effectively keep your current customers happy. Examine how you can better reach out to the customers you want to serve. Discover marketing strategies that work best for your target market. Adopt innovative online finance services that appeal to your customers and make them want to bank with you more.'
Can Multi-Channel be a reality?
Susan over at the brilliant Customer Experience Crossroads asks us what are the real barriers to creating an integrated multi-channel experience for customers. She also refers to this interesting piece from Jupiter Research where financial expert Asaf Buchner contributes. We all want to create it for customers, but do we want it for the business? Internal hurdles are very real, and integrating data and technology capabilities (see Telstras Single Bill achievement as significant) is a mammoth task, such that once its complete, perhaps the customer dynamic and demand will have evolved again. Banks need to adopt a fast, flexible crm model that can then feed the development of channels - customers want to interact with anywhere from 1 to all channels should they desire it.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Bricks 'n' clicks
An interesting article from the Economist on the consolidation of clicks n mortar banking, and the possible demise of sole internet banking as a channel/business model
"Now Citi is at it again. Its decision on January 29th to buy Egg, a struggling internet bank owned by Prudential, a British insurer, puts another nail in the coffin of standalone internet banking."
It also rightly talks about how this channel evolves in a multi-channel offering, and the risk of cannibalisation.
"Now Citi is at it again. Its decision on January 29th to buy Egg, a struggling internet bank owned by Prudential, a British insurer, puts another nail in the coffin of standalone internet banking."
It also rightly talks about how this channel evolves in a multi-channel offering, and the risk of cannibalisation.
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