ABA Webcast:
Next Generation Financial Sites
Cathy Graeber
Senior Analyst
Online Financial Services
Forrester Research
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Agenda
 What do consumers think of today’s financial sites?
 Why do financial sites fall short?
 Why is this a problem?
 What will next generation financial sites look like?
 What are the specialized roles for financial firms?
 How will successful banks partner to fill in the
gaps?
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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The voice of the customer
 Survey of 5,500 consumers with online access to
their banking or brokerage accounts
 Ranked 20 banks and 15 brokerages
 Measures degree to which sites meet consumer
expectations on 12 -14 attributes in 3 categories:
1) Tools and advice
2) Transactions
3) Customer support
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Support and tools barely meet
expectations
Average score of top 20 banks
Transactions ……...Transaction accuracy
Support………..
Helpfulness of phone reps
Transaction ….
Timeliness of account info
Transactions ……………..
Ease of applying
3.46
3.40
3.33
3.25
Support ...
Responsiveness of phone reps
3.19
Tools ……….Range of products available
3.18
Transactions …...Synchronization of info
3.15
Support ……….Responsiveness to email
3.15
Support ...
Helpfulness of email responses
3.08
Tools …………..….. Depth of product info
3.05
Tools ……….
Usefulness of financial tools
3.03
Tools …...
Relevance of recommendations
3.03
1
2
Much worse
Based on responses from 5,500 consumers surveyed than expected
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Meets
expectations
4
5
Much better
than expected
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Why sites fall short: The user experience is
broken
1. Sites don't help users choose tools
and content
2. Tools don’t integrate customer data
XYZBank.com
Whoa! 50 articles
about buying a
first home, and 3
different mortgage
calculators!
Home-buying
center
3. Account access interfaces are
isolated from the rest of the site
Mortgage
calculator
Hmm…how
much do I
have in my
savings?
4. Online service is weak, driving users
to more expensive channels
XYZBank.com
Balance
information
$43,000
OK, I found how
much I have -- how
do I get back to the
calculator
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
Enter estimated
down payment
Mortgage
Pre-approval
What's the
difference between a
fixed and variable
rate? I need to call
customer service
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How did sites get in this predicament?
 Misguided priorities
 Mismatched goals and metrics
 Misaligned organizations
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Priorities are misguided
How well does your site meet
customer expectations?
What are your top priorities for your
site?
Customer service
37% ……..…… 3.5
Usability
33% ………….…... 3.8
Personalization
27% ……………….….... 2.5
Channel integration
17%
Site redesign
17%
13% …………………….…………... 3.5
Content
Measurement
Account aggregation
10%
7%
Interactive tools
7% ……...………………...……………... 3.1
Online advice
3% ………………………….………………... 2.4
Percentage of 30 financial firms responding
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
1 = Much worse than expected, 5 = Much better
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Goals and metrics are mismatched
What are the business goals for your site?
Enrich existing customers
53%
Acquire new customers
40%
Offer wide variety of products
30%
Retain customers
30%
Improve customer satisfaction
23%
Offer an easy to use site
23%
Integrate multiple channels
Cut costs
Generate traffic
Percentage of 30 financial firms responding
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
20%
13%
10%
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Goals and metrics are mismatched
How do you measure the success of your site?
Site traffic
67%
Usability testing
60%
Focus groups
60%
Third party feedback
57%
Customer surveys
50%
Customer feedback
33%
Acquisition rate
33%
Revenue generated
Retention rate
20%
10%
Percentage of 30 financial firms responding
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Organizations are misaligned
What are the greatest challenges for your site?
Channel integration
33%
Lack of resources
27%
23%
Understanding customer needs
20%
Setting the right priorities
Making the site easy to use
17%
Keeping up with business change
13%
Acquiring customers
13%
Keeping up with new technology
10%
Balancing growth with profitability
10%
Being innovative
10%
Percentage of 30 financial firms responding
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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A formula for customer dissatisfaction
 Misguided priorities +
 Mismatched goals & metrics +
 Misaligned organizations =
A broken user experience
Why is this a problem?
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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The pain of serving new online
consumers
 The early adopters were much more forgiving
 The mainstream need easy to use sites and
synchronized channels
 The affluent require objective advice online
 Young consumers want a seamless process
What will next generation sites have to accomplish?
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Next generation financial sites
Guide users through
decisions with clear
language and
Contextualized actionable
guidance
recommendations
Preemptive
support
Anticipate problems
and service needs
before they arise
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
Intelligent
transactions
Incorporate
customer profiles,
data, and
preferences
when transactions are
initiated
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The next generation user experience
1. Contextual guidance
XYZBank
Home
Buying
Center
Welcome back! Last
time you filled out a
financial goal
planner you
indicated you were
looking for a house.
Would you like to try
our novice or
advanced
calculator?
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
Examples
Wells Fargo
Resource Centers put content and tools together
in groups that apply to specific customer
segments.
PNC
Learning Link groups articles and calculators by
financial topic and consumer life stage, then lets
user choose the view that works best for him.
Quicken.com
One-Click Scorecard lets users see how a stock
measures up against four investment strategies.
TD Waterhouse
Portfolio Planner recommends specific funds
based on the amount a consumer investor has on
hand, as well as her goals and investing style.
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The next generation user experience
2. Intelligent transactions
Calculator
Results
Examples
WingspanBank.com
Pre-populated online account applications with the
name, address, and phone number of existing
customers who wanted to add new products.
BankOne
Alerts customers to new bills as soon as they log
on, then lets user pay up to three bills at a time.
You’re in good
shape to buy a
house -- would you
like to start the preapproval process?
Key Bank
Lets customers pay multiple bills with one click
from one screen and shows account balances on
transfer and bill payment pages.
Ameritrade
Puts a Quote look-up box at the bottom of every
screen, letting users trade any stock in two clicks.
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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The next generation user experience
3. Preemptive support
Examples
Citibank
Mortgage
PreApproval
Uses a “Learn More About …” window on MyCiti
pages to alert users to new features and offers
tips and tricks that can eliminate problems.
Datek Online
Many customers ask
about the difference
between a fixed and
variable rate …..
“Ask Datek” lets customers search for answers
using natural language and displays questions
asked by other users.
Juniper Bank
Alerts customers via email, pager, cell phone, or
PDA when a balance runs low or a bill is due.
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Specialized Roles For Financial Firms
What they do
Who will do it
Attracter
Orchestrate the
customer experience
Banks,
Schwab,
AmEx Advisors
Matchmaker
Aggregate suppliers
and objectively match
buyers
Lending Tree,
Financial Engines,
Fidelity Funds
Transformer
Design and deliver
financial products
AmEx Blue,
Chase Mortgage,
Turbo Tax
Enabler
Design and deliver
technology products
Digital Insight,
Checkfree,
Metavante
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Specialists will partner freely
Travelers
Citi
Salomon Smith Barney
Quicken Insurance
GEICO
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
Citi Visa
Smart Money
Datek
Credit Quotes
NextCard
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Today’s Online Partnerships Don’t Work
Promise
Reality
Financial Service
Providers
Access to new
customers
Few transact finance
online
Overspend
Lower acquisition
costs
Acquisition costs
higher
Operate at arm’s
length
Reduced processing
costs
No ROI in sight
Don’t differentiate
themselves
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Plans For Partnering In Financial
Services
Will you partner more in the future, and why?
Access to new offerings
Don’t know
14%
Less
Shared costs and risks
More
80%
Partner has more expertise
Speed-to-market
Technology makes it easier
6%
Access to new markets
Percent of 50 FIs interviewed
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
38%
32%
22%
20%
16%
14%
(multiple responses accepted)
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What Data Do You Share With Your Partner?
Don’t share data
34%
Aggregated product usage data
32%
Data to complete the transaction
Customer demographic data
Product feedback and quality data
24%
14%
8%
Percent of 50 FIs interviewed
(multiple responses accepted)
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Three Keys For Successful Partnerships
Visibility
Transparency
Accountability
What is it? Partners see a single view Customers see a single
All parties work toward a
single set of objectives
What does •Shared segmentation
and promotions
it require?
• Common workflow
spanning partners
•Shared risk and reward
• Combined modeling of
customer data
• Innovative product
combinations
• Partner-friendly internal
incentives
•Integrated sales
processes
• Single point of
customer contact
•Partnerships run as
profit centers
Improved close rates on
Improved customer
Improved internal
commitment to the deal
of the customer
view of the partnership
How does promotions and cross-sells satisfaction and loyalty
it pay?
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Evaluate your customers and capabilities
Attracter
Are there specific customer segments you
excel at attracting?
Matchmaker
Do you refer customers to competitors?
Transformer
Which products have an operational
competitive advantage?
Enabler
Could back-office or technology functions be
profitable as stand-alone business units?
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Create Successful Partnerships
 Take a hands-on approach to partnerships
 Collaborate to uncover the needs of distinct
segments
 Combine predictive models to improve results
 Make partnerships transparent to the customer
 Mutual accountability builds internal commitment
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.
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Thank you
Cathy Graeber
415-848-1308
cgraeber@forrester.co
m
www.forrester.com
© 2001 Forrester Research, Inc.