Earlier today I ran across this post on the Bank Technology News website - “Will banks abandon full-service mobile banking?” In short, while I disagree with some of the ancillary comments made by the respondents I certainly agree that mobile banking will not be abandoned. In fact, I would urge any institution that is not currently working towards a solution to do so quickly; otherwise, you risk the chance of being at a serious competitive disadvantage.
Now, in the current environment there are very few clients that will leave your institution because you do not have mobile banking. However, client retention is only one-half of the “organic growth” equation. If an institution wants to truly grow they must also acquire new clients, and to attract new business you must have a complete product offering.
Still not sure?
Lets use FREE checking as an example. A few years ago I worked for Union Federal Bank ($4 Billion Assets / #3 in Indianapolis Market). At the time we were experiencing solid growth and consistently achieved our revenue goals. Then one day we were introduced to the concept of FREE checking. At the time, I remember being dumb-founded that we would pay a consultant to help us implement FREE checking. Yet, one year after launch we had doubled our previous years’ sales performance and the strategy made complete sense. Where did those accounts come from? We didn’t open 40 new branches and the population in the state of Indiana did not double over night. The answer is that we TOOK the accounts from our competitors.
On second thought please disregard my previous recommendation. It’s probably best to stay out of the mobile banking arena.
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