Baar, Switzerland-based BPC Banking Technologies has launched SmartVista Host Card Emulation (HCE) solution ready to be implemented as an integrated or stand-alone module or as a service. SmartVista HCE solution is compliant to all functional and security standards set by international payment systems.
Only 39% of students correctly know that paying off a delinquent loan or credit card balance is not enough to remove it from a credit report. Sixty percent believe using checks and debit cards can help build credit.
The average out-of-network ATM fee has climbed to an eight year high, jumping 23% over the past five years. The average cost of going outside the network is now $4.35 per transaction.
uMonitor financial solution services provider for operational excellence with customer acquisition and retention has released its P2P money transfer service is now fully deployed among all of its existing financial institution clients with uTransfer Release 5.0. All new clients who deploy uTransfer – the companyâs widely recognized account-to-account funds transfer services platform – now can offer P2P service to customers and members to use via email or mobile phone. uMonitorâs P2P service enables customers to send and receive money electronically via email and mobile phone to and from any third party with a U.S. bank or credit union account.
Wells Fargo is commemorating its 15-year anniversary of online banking with enhancements to its website and more customer-friendly features. On May 18, 1995, Wells Fargo offered customers free Internet access to current balances in their checking, savings, line of credit and credit card accounts. The service showed customers’ transaction histories for checking and savings accounts. In recognition of this Wells Fargo has enhanced its “Smarter Credit Center” online resource, offering information and guidance to help customers be smarter about credit and has reduced time to complete a credit card application by 67 percent. In the early days of online banking, customers primarily used online account access to check balances and transfer money between accounts. Today, customers can pay mortgage, credit card, and other bills, to apply for student loans, to manage their budgets, and to do many other activities.
FL-based BankAtlantic will award a grand prize winner two ADT Club tickets to five summer concerts as part of the BankAtlanticâs ATM âAccess to Musicâ Sweepstakes. The Grand Prize winner will receive a special gift bag of tour merchandise for each of the five concerts at the BankAtlantic Center.
New research shows that when selecting a retail bank, 36% of a
shoppers’ selection decision is driven by the bank’s brand image, 21%
focus on branch proximity, 14% let services determine their choice,
recommendations account for 31% of the weight in a bank’s brand
awareness while positive recommendations drive 36% of a shopper’s
consideration. Additionally, one-third of customers who avoid
considering a particular bank is a result of previous poor service
experience while additional reasons for not choosing a bank include
issues with branch proximity, operating hours, poor policies or high
rates and fees. This research is thanks to the inaugural J.D. Power and
Associates “2009 Retail Bank Shopping Study,” examining the bank
shopping selection process of 7,500 consumers who shopped for a new
banking account during the past 12 months, their customer satisfaction
with the account initiation and on-boarding processes. Additional
research shows a good service experienced among 19% of respondents, such
as customer greeting and low wait time, resulted in satisfaction scores
averaging 890 on a 1,000-point scale(84 points above the industry
average) and 66% disclosing they “definitely will” reuse the bank (19%
above the industry average).
A new study has found that banks are paying more attention to their customers through direct mail and email. During 2008, banks increased direct mail offers cross-selling additional products and services to current clients by 57% (from 2007). Over the same time period, marketing direct mail offers sent by banks to lure in non-customers rose just 7%. Banks also increased current customer cross-selling efforts through email, according to Mintel Comperemedia. Cross-sell emails tracked through Mintel Comperemediaâs email panel rose from a 2% share of banking email in 2007 to a 5% share in 2008.
SaaS e-payment provider PaySimple has launched “The Small Business
Growth Center”. The Small Business Growth Center helps small
business owners find information and business tools effortlessly by
creating and compiling some of the best resources available on the web
which include “Small Business Tools”; a newsletter; Tip of the Week;
Small Business Dictionary and Electronic Payment Information. PaySimple
is releasing this Growth
Center to accompany their Learning and Support Center and blogâto
connect business owners with in-depth and valuable tools and tips.
While direct mail for credit card offers has slowed to a trickle, banks are stepping up direct mail campaigns for other products to encourage customer loyalty and provide reassurance to customers. Chicago-based Mintel Comperemedia reports that the estimated number of banking direct mail offers sent to current customers rose 42% in the third quarter, compared to the prior quarter. Banks sent approximately 53 million offers to their customers during the quarter, almost twice the number seen in the third quarter of 2007. Mintel also found that banks increased their direct mail offers to non-customers during the third quarter and that estimated banking acquisition mail volume rose 8% sequentially. Last month Mintel reported that the number credit card direct mail offers during the third quarter dropped 28% year-on-year and 13% sequentially. So far this year, credit card solicitations, via snail mail, are averaging about 1.5 billion per quarter, compared to slightly more than 2.0 billion per quarter in 2007. (CF Library 11/7/08)
Citibank has launched the “Thanks-A-Million” sweepstakes and will give away
5 million points to 16 lucky winners. Citibank will reward 16 winners with a total of 5 million Thank You
Points that includes two Grand Prizes: 1 million points each, four Second Prizes: 500,000 points each and
10 Third Prizes: 100,000 points each. New checking account holders
enrolled in the rewards program will be automatically entered for a
chance to win up to 1 million rewards points and new and existing checking
customers get an additional chance to win 1 million rewards points every time they use a
qualifying debit card and sign for purchases. New checking customers who enroll in
ThankYou Network can also get 10,000 bonus points when they perform qualifying
banking activities.
Diebold has
assisted Moscow-based Master Bank in transforming its ATM channel into a currency-exchange network.
Nearly 500 Diebold Opteva ATMs
offering automated currency-exchange operations were installed with Bulk Note Acceptor (BNA) technology
complete with coin dispensers, to offer Master Bank customers and
non-customers a streamlined, round-the-clock currency-exchange solution
that provides the precise amount of cash back. The ability to accept and
dispense three different currencies (dollars, euros or rubles) is
helping turn Master Bank’s ATM fleet into multi-function machines that
serve as virtual branches. With currency exchange one of Russia’s most popular banking features,
alongside providing exchange operations through the existing branches,
financial institutions are working under agreements with currency
exchange venues and experiencing reduced revenue generation, while
customers are receiving limited services.