Pearrari FastBlog

Online Banking Software 2010 Random Prognostications

2009-12-16T18:48:00Z

Non-strategic move down market. FIs that think of internet banking solutions as non-strategic will even more actively adopt cheapest-of-breed solutions without regard to available up-side because the price difference between the cheap solutions and the good solutions will continue to widen. Some of these FIs are in this place because they don’t have a vision for the up-side available to their institution, but some are moving into this category because they feel they are unlikely to be able to capture the available up-side in a best of breed solution (for example, because they aren’t staffed to attend to that). They’re moving down-market and are likely to shrink or be merged.

Simple things that matter will attract end users. Retail consumers will start to see internet banking features be offered that are meaningful to them (not just commodity services) and might be willing to switch FIs to get them. Such features include product offerings or discounts beyond FI rewards programs that save them meaningful amounts of money.

Online statements will continue to worth spending time on for FIs. Penetration will be most successful where the FI is up front about the benefits to the FI as well as clear about options available to the end user.

Big Four in Bill Pay continues moving toward Big Three. Price pressure will continue to erode Bill Pay pricing. Vendors will continue to battle for FIs more and more on price. Fiserv, FIS and iPay will continue to take business from ORCC unless their late 2009 solutions prove very stable and dramatically better than legacy solutions. ORCC may wind up selling and solution consolidation would be a likely outcome. Fiserv and FIS will continue to restructure and churn their acquisitions and continue to provide an opening for iPay

Social media will struggle in Online Banking. Social media will be invested in by some and will largely struggle to prove value and be adopted as regards direct ties to online banking.

Social & security components will succeed in selling the reticent. Online banking and bill pay will continue to be adopted by late adopters. Testimonials, more openly shared information on active use in the relevant community will help bring along the late adopters. Non-transactional solutions will be attractive as a safe toe-in-the-water solution (like online account summary, balance, statements, and alerts) that could warm up some of these users to a richer use of online banking downstream.

Randall Pearson
2009 © Pearrari Solutions, Inc.
Financial Institution Consulting
Sponsors of FISolutionsWiki

U. S. Credit Unions MIA in Wikipedia

2008-01-08T04:42:00Z

Over 250 banks have wikipedia articles, many are well constructed, substantial and of significant marketing value. Where are the credit unions? Only a handful have articles at all, and most of these are in poor to mediocre condition. Canadian and other nations have a better showing.

So What?

Wikipedia is the eighth most visited site on the internet.
Google gives wikipedia articles very high priority! So your current and future members have a higher likelihood of finding you if you have a wikipedia article listing your member services. Remarkably, few credit union articles that have managed to be set up and persist in Wikipedia even mention the products and services offered by the credit union.
Major banks, and a growing number of community banks and credit unions have articles. Some of these organizations compete directly with you.

FastWrap
Credit Unions have just as much reason to be building and defending articles in wikipedia. Wikipedia is relevant. Time for U. S. Credit Unions to git ‘er done!

Randall Pearson
2008 © Pearrari Solutions, Inc.
Credit Union Consulting
Sponsors of FISolutionsWiki

The History of Online Commerce Prophesy

2007-12-10T01:21:00Z

Check out this delightful (and amazingly accurate) 1967-vintage prophesy about what online shopping and banking would be like in 1999 (from Snopes.com).

It's surprisingly accurate, if you get past the culture/society du jour differences. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of the core processors I know used this video in the design phase of their home banking systems.

FastWrap

When was the last time you stopped to predict the future? When all the web 2.0 stuff shakes out, what's up next? What lies out there 5, 10, and 15 years?

Randall S. Pearson

Buyer's Guide Quality Problems - Case In Point

2007-12-10T00:41:00Z

Just one little example of the value of a "name brand" online buyer's guide...

You'd expect good quality from a publisher, right? Oh of course, there are fly by night publishers, but Bank Systems & Technology isn't one of them. Nonetheless, have a gander at this delightful entry. Try to follow the hyperlink to the website of the listed business, Hipbone.

Bank Systems & Technology Online Buyer's Guide

Riiiiight. This is because Hipbone was acquired by Kana... in early 2004. Waaaaait, let me see if I have enough fingers, yep... that's nearly four years ago.

KMWorld Press release

FastWrap

There's a better way!

Randall S. Pearson

What good is a software buyer’s guide?

2007-12-02T21:18:00Z

Well of course, buyer’s guides take me to all the vendors I should consider when I want to buy a new solution or replace an old one, right?!... Well, right???? I mean, I can trust Callahan, Mortgage Technology (or whoever) to have my best interests in mind as they create these buyer’s guides. We must feel they’re of some value, right… because our industry consultants and media persist in creating them, telling us about them, etc… and, of course, we use them.

Market Efficiency & Information Access
Ready access to good quality information is a key determinant of market efficiency, an essential component of the free market economy. How useful are buyer’s guides in helping us efficiently source complex software solutions?

Can’t I just search?
Are buyer’s guides more efficient than search engines? Back in the day (you know, before the ubiquitous internet and capable search engines) finding all the relevant vendors was a real problem. But in today’s world, can’t I just use a search engine? Aren’t they as efficient as or more efficient than buyer’s guides? Probably not! Consider:

Do you believe that how Search Engine Optimized a given vendor web site is positively correlates to how good a fit their products/solutions are for your need?
Those darned search engines are getting paid by someone. Oh right!... Advertisers!
How good are you at using the search engine(s) you use? Yes, two comparably capable people using the same tools for the same duration will get different quality results if they have differing degrees of searching skill.

Okay, so how about… use the search engines

To find the buyer’s guides
As a buyer’s guide… but consider it no more complete than the others

Buyer’s guide inefficiency
Buyer’s guides may actually decrease market efficiency inasmuch as:

They generally provide access to only a subset of relevant vendors, so you can’t use just one – it’s hard to tell when you’re done. Not every vendor will pay to be listed in every buyer’s guide. Some won’t pay to be in any of them; especially true of the 4-year old company that’s got the latest awesome solution but not much of a marketing department.
Advertiser directories, but rarely provide any help in identifying whether the listed vendor has a relevant offering or good fit with your particular need.
They may introduce large numbers of low quality leads which, if followed, slow down the research process.
Sometimes you can’t directly link to the listed vendors from the guide. You have to go through the directory publisher, which generally means, you use a search engine.
Some of the guide contents are very out of date.
Buyer’s guides offer no pretext of neutrality. All the vendors listed in a buyer’s guide are amazing and awesome.

FastWrap
So buyer’s guides are a great way to find industry leaders and tired old established vendors with established marketing relationships (budgets and staff) and out-of-date products, but you might not find all the best solutions there.

There’s a better way!

Randall S. Pearson

Why would a Financial Institution want a wiki?

2007-11-24T03:19:00Z

Are there any public (external) applications of a wiki for a financial institution? Possibly… but I can’t think of one right off hand. Today, you could buy a knowledgebase product for your call center, which may contain a public component (essentially a FAQ for your end users). It seems likely that most FIs would not want the headache of managing a public wiki for such a purpose, especially since the content can get out of control.

There are certainly some appropriate internal applications of a wiki for financial institutions. Rather than pay for a knowledgebase product from Liveperson or some other provider, your internal staff may well benefit from a wiki to store SOPs and other content in a readily accessible, collaborative, tracable medium. That’s a good wiki application.

There are a number of opensource wiki applications available. So which one should you get? Ah! Now that’s a very good question. While I can’t cover it in one page, let’s say… what’s easy to use? What’s going to be around for a long time with good support? What free wiki is “winning”? I think the answer is obvious, but decide for yourself!

See http://s23.org/ for wiki stats.

FastWrap
Well, I may not have raised more questions than I answered, but sometimes it’s good to just be thought-provoking.

Randall S. Pearson

The thin file of vibrancy

2007-11-19T15:09:00Z

by Randall Pearson
Pearrari Solutions, Inc.

Why aren’t all (or at least most) credit unions actively pursuing the 18-24 crowd? Folks, how’s your growth been? Your loan to share ratio? Who are today and tomorrow’s most active credit consumers? What part of the community is most in need of credit coaching? What’s the difference between a bank and a credit union?

What would it take for you to become really good at capturing the first car loan and first mortgage, managing thin file risk and coaching new credit consumers to success… for them and for you?

How can you reach this market? Where do they live, work, and spend time? What kind of marketing are they likely to respond to? I'm guessing not a talking head in a blue suit.

FastWrap

Get in the gen Y game! Start with goals, of course, and with a plan. If you don’t know where to start, or need help to frame the effort, get help.

Randall S. Pearson

YouTube Federal Credit Yawn-ion

2007-11-05T01:52:00Z

Well the cat's out of the blog. Credit Unions have discovered YouTube. Sadly, the majority aren't doing much creative with that discovery. A quick, unscientific perusal found most simply posting their TV commercials featuring their 60-year-old CEO in a blue suit. They're getting 38 views...

28 credit union employees
8 competitors
2 were accidental visits

Okay, I totally made that up, but just trust me for a second on that.

If you're going to do YouTube, try to avoid this social disgrace. Don’t start your video with the proud history of your credit union… unless you’re doing so with obvious irreverence.

Face it… the people who like your TV commercials aren’t on YouTube… and the people on YouTube don’t like your commercials. If we can’t enjoy it, don’t post it because it is likely to be (at best) irrelevant, and anyone who accidentally views it is likely to have reinforced their impression that financial institutions are stodgy… oh, pardon my word choice... boooooring!

Professional polish might not be critical (and is certainly less important that being fun), but don't post something that's abysmal quality, either.

The very few who have done a good job, haven't necessarily spent a truckload of money. They just showed an awareness of the audience and context.

Stinkers
Navigant - The highlighted program is on target. The presentation fails in three ways. It's totally formal, too long, and the audio does not match the video.
UFirst - Home video of the UFirst CEO recounting the credit union history just isn't YouTube material.

Best in Show
Co-op Services - TV commercial bloopers were really quite funny! Showing the human side and presenting the credit union in a positive light.
Members- Now here's a series of videos appealing to football fans, sponsored by a credit union. It's not a one-shot deal. It's socially interesting. It isn't regionally linked, so I wonder how many potential members were reached. At the very least, it was creatively appropriate to YouTube. Nicely done!

FastWrap
Be fun. Take advantage of the whole program. Give the viewer a reason to forward it and to subscribe to your site.

Randall S. Pearson

Regarding "No"

2007-11-04T14:07:00Z

What part of, "No", don't you understand?
Apparently most of it. "No", might be the most mis-used concept in all of business. It is used indiscriminately when it should be actively avoided. It is diligently avoided when it should be used liberally.

Customer Service "No"
Unfortunately, it's often easier for the person in customer service or technical support to say, "No", than it is to say, "Yes". This is because they are often presented with the opportunity to solve for ambiguity in an environment of being measured by service level metrics. So the individual customer service or technical support person can choose to go for the quick close (which makes their metrics look good), or try to solve a customer problem that they might be able to argue isn't directly in their span of responsibility. In such a case, the best outcome for the customer and the company is some form of "Yes" and the most likely and safest approach for the customer service person is "No". This is a management problem.

I'm sorry
I can't
I don't know
We don't handle that
I'm not sure
Our policy is
That's not my job

Negotiating "No"
When negotiating a business arrangement with a customer or vendor, the context often introduces pressure for the negotiator to agree with the offer. To do so avoids conflict and added work. This is frequently ineffective for the company, and even health of the overall relationship. So when we need more, "No", how can we get it with minimal conflict?

Validate first, analyze/discuss the point of difference, counteroffer
Pressure cooker - "You'll have to do better than that."
Guilt - "I could do that, but then I'd have to polish my resume."

FastWrap
When the easiest, most stress-free approach for the person in direct contact with the customer or vendor is often the wrong approach, training and leadership are required to ensure the organization performs beyond mediocrity.

Randall S. Pearson