Mobile payments: What will it take for beacons to take the next step?

From Computer World –

“Beacons — those little ad-beaming mechanisms littering storefronts today — have been heralded as the ultimate mobile app partner for retailers. But as they exist today, they do little more than make Madison Avenue come-ons, teasing shoppers with discounts and offers that the beacons (and even the beacons in conjunction with mobile apps) can't deliver. How can this loop be closed? Can beacons directly process payments? Unlikely, but indirect payments are all but a certainty, although that's at least a couple of years away.”

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The real brilliance of Apple Pay – the iPhone 6 gets free marketing from major banks

Digital Transformation in Banking Starts With Consumer Needs

From The Financial Brand

‘'Going digital' is much more than a marketing strategy – it’s a fundamental change in how banks and credit unions learn about, interact with and satisfy consumers. Successful digital transformation begins with an understanding of digital consumer behavior, preferences and choices. It then leads to major consumer-centric changes within the organization that address these needs.’

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GoBank Adds Friction to Its Account-Opening Process

From Bank Innovation

“While other banks and fintech startups are working to remove friction from the account-opening process, GoBank is adding friction. Yes, you read that right.

The mobile-first bank account from Green Dot Corp. announced the following Wednesday:

You’ll now need a GoBank starter kit to open a GoBank account, which is only available at a few stores in the moment. Don’t have one yet? Stay tuned for updates on how to get one!

The starter kit appears to contain a “starter debit card,” the information from which is required to begin the account-opening process online. In June 2013, GoBank introduced mobile account opening. That is now gone.

So while Moven and Simple have made it easier to open accounts, GoBank just made it harder, and is forcing new users to visit retail partners such as 7-Eleven or Walgreens in the same way traditional banks force users to go to branches.”

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The mass affluent: Opportunities for financial institutions

From PwC - Banking and Capital Markets

PwC Banking & Capital Markets Co-Leader Dave Hoffman explains how financial institutions can best serve the mass affluent market.

Facebook Advertising and the Future of Financial Marketing

From The Financial Brand

“Banks and credit unions have fallen all over themselves trying to build a Facebook fan base… with little success, and even less ROI. But Facebook has an advertising platform with mind-numbing potential. You had better get ready, because this is a game-changer.

Neil Hiltz has seen the future of advertising in the financial industry, and it is Facebook. Granted, Hiltz may be a bit biased. He is, after all, the head of global marketing for financial services at Facebook. But as Hiltz spoke to nearly 500 banking professionals at the ABA Bank Marketing Conference in San Antonio, he laid out a compelling argument — an extremely powerful, persuasive case outlining what bank and credit union marketers can accomplish if they advertised on Facebook.”

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2013 Tech Trends Social Reengineering

From “Deloitte CIO Journal”

“The strategies, practices and technologies of social business are maturing. No longer viewed as a fad or a distraction, different parts of many organizations are already realizing the potential. Marketing and public relations have established listening posts to track consumer sentiment in the public social sphere. Sales and customer service are integrating customer contacts across channels and connecting with R&D, manufacturing and fulfillment. CIOs have initiatives underway to give employees social tools for collaboration, finding and mining the knowledge of the enterprise, and creating new intellectual property assets with a more enlightened, user-centric approach to knowledge management.

The real potential of social business involves breaking down barriers that limit human potential and business performance. But it requires fundamentally rethinking how work gets done and how value is created in the Postdigital era - social reengineering of the business.”

Mobile Banking on the 7:15 – NatWest’s “Busiest Branch”

For a successful mobile banking launch, Monitise recommends leveraging all available media channels to deliver clear, benefit-oriented marketing messages.

Here is one example of a benefits-led proposition and execution of a successful television advertising campaign, from Monitise customer NatWest:

Improving Bank Onboarding, Cross-Selling and Retention With Personalized Video

“At a time when self-service banking models are replacing one-to-one interaction, personalized videos can provide a highly engaging and relevant communication option that can improve engagement, increase sales and reduce churn. Combining real-time data with highly customized content, marketers can turn big data insights into differentiated 'wow' experiences.” 

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