ABA Bank Marketing articles from January 2003

ABA Bank Marketing archives from January 2003

Concord EFS Inc. (Service Providers).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Bond R. Isaacson has been appointed executive vice president of Concord EFS Inc. Previously he was payments executive for Bank of America Corp. At Concord, Isaacson reports to Edward A. Labry III, president.

Circles. (Service Providers).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Paula DiDonato was named executive vice president of marketing at Circles, a provider of loyalty management solutions. The company is based in Boston. Before joining Circles, DiDonato was vice president of card platform strategy for consumer...

Market Line Associates. (Service Providers).(executive appointment at Market Line Associates)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Market Line Associates hired Sven Huynink as manager of business development, based in Amsterdam, where he wilt be responsible for new business development in Europe. Huynink came to Market Line from ABN AMRO, where he was senior project...

Advanced Financial Solutions Inc, and SynTel LLC. (Alliances).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Advanced Financial Solutions Inc, and SynTel LLC have joined in a cooperative marketing venture to offer a new mail automation system, AutoMail Pro, which is designed to reduce postage expense.

Cyota. (Alliances).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... New York-based Cyota has joined with nCypher PLC to collaborate on e-payment product development. Cyota produces Cyota SecureSuite, which supports a variety of secure payment systems, including Verified by Visa and MasterCard SPA. Ncipher,...

RewardsNOW. (Alliances).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A new debit card program is being rolled out by an alliance of RewardsNOW of Dover, N.H., and Affinitas an Omaha, Nebraska-based direct marketing and communications firm. The providers promise a flexible, low-cost product with a higher reward...

Banknorth Group Inc. (Mergers & Acquisitions).(Banknorth Group Inc. acquires American Financial Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Banknorth Group Inc., a New England bank holding company, agreed to acquire American Financial Holdings Inc., parent of American Savings Bank and American Bank of Connecticut Banknorth, based in Portland, Maine, is a $21.3 billion banking and...

The First Indiana Corp. (Mergers & Acquisitions).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The First Indiana Corp., holding company for First Indiana Bank, agreed to acquire MetroBanCorp for about $40 million. Both companies are based in Indianapolis. Closing is anticipated for first quarter, 2003. MetroBanCorp is the holding company...

Second Bancorp Inc. (Mergers & Acquisitions).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Second Bancorp Inc. of Warren, Ohio, agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Stouffer-Herzog Insurance Agency Inc. and Stouffer-Herzog Financial Services Agency Inc., a second-generation full-service insurance agency in a stock-for-stock...

Wachovia Corp. (Mergers & Acquisitions).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Wachovia Corp. acquired E-Risk Services of New Jersey, a move that will permit the bank to sell management liability insurance to privately held organizations.

Bank of the West. (Mergers & Acquisitions).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Bank of the West in San Francisco has taken over United California Bank, which gives Bank of the West 70 additional branch offices in Southern California in addition to 45 new branches in Northern California and the Central Valley. Bank of the...

Progeny Marketing Innovations. (Name Changes).(Madison Financial Corp. changes name to Progeny Marketing Innovations)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... FISI-Madison Financial, the Nashville, Tenn., firm providing marketing strategies, products and services to financial institutions, has changed its name to Progeny Marketing Innovations as part of a rebranding effort to more effectively...

Salem Five. (Name Changes).(Salem Five Cents Savings Bank)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Salem Five Cents Savings Bank, in Salem, Mass., changed its name and its logo. The bank, which has operated in the suburban Boston seaport town, now is known as Salem Five. A new blue-and-gold logo has been designed and is being implemented on...

Nebraska Bank ATM gives away random extra cash. (Ideas that Work).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... "Bank Error in Your Favor." Except that it isn't an error. American National Bank in Omaha, Neb., rigged its automatic teller machine to award a special "road warrior" bonus to customers occasionally--a few $50 bills stuck in with the $20s, and...

Trust in tough times. (Marketing News).
January 1, 2003... Your trust department, perhaps more than any other aspect of your business, is vulnerable to outside pressures. How do you keep it profitable when the world and the economy seem to be conspiring against it? John Muell and John Hurlock,...

Security fears are still hindering the growth of online payments. (In Brief).(Jupiter Research survey of online shopping)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A survey conducted by Jupiter Research found that 34 percent of online nonbuyers were unlikely ever to buy online. And 58 percent said they worried about unauthorized persons gaining access to information stored in the merchant's database....

Insurance fee income grew in 2001. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... According to Michael White's Bank Insurance & Investment Fee Income Report, half of all U.S. banks reported insurance fee income totaling $2.98 billion. Banks with more than $10 billion in assets accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total.

Image consciousness whatever happened to imaging? (Marketing News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Remember imaging? It led the vanguard of the paperless office brigade a few years back, but it fell by the wayside when it couldn't keep up with expectations. Far from cutting the costs of paper-handling, it often cost so much to implement and...

Bank of America markets card security for customers. (Marketing News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C., recently launched a $26 million national advertising campaign to promote its new security protection program for card customers. The program, called Total Security Protection, is intended to provide...

Lifestyle packaging. (Marketing News).(marketing services offered by Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania to the banking industry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... People change, and banks must change with them. This is not, perhaps, breaking news to you. Still, it's interesting to see how others in the financial services industry adapt to these changes. Univest Corp., which does business in Bucks and...

Ask, Listen, Solve. (Marketing News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... What was it about the mom and pop grocery store on the corner that makes us all nostalgic for the good old days? It wasn't the store, certainly. There was no air conditioning, not much product selection and the produce often suffered from...

The top 10 ways to motivate your employees: this is the last in a three-part series. (Rewarding Employees).
January 1, 2003... In my previous two columns, I talked about how money is not the best way to motivate employees. So, what are some effective nonmonetary ways to do the job? Consider what these companies are doing: Each Monday morning at Wachovia Bank,...

The passing of the 'aggressive' era. (Marketing Solutions).
January 1, 2003... "Every road has its say." -singer/songwriter Josh Gohan As we start afresh after a tumultuous business year, it is a good idea to look at what we learned and how it might be applied this year. The year 2002 brought to an end an era of...

The rich and confused: spooked by the economy's twists and turns, an emerging mass market of newly affluent customers is desperately seeking wealth management services. Savvy bank marketers are responding. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
January 1, 2003... First, there was the meltdown in the technology sector. Next, an across-the-board slide in the stock market Now, consumers are panicked and uncertain as to where to invest. What reads like a recipe for disaster may actually turn out to be a...

Their number is always: dynamic marketing boosts financial ratios and profitability. For confirmation, look at one of the nation's best-performing community banks, First Premier Bank, Sioux Falls, S.D. (Feature).
January 1, 2003... There's a correlation between vigorous marketing and healthy financials. That's the view of Dana Dykhouse, president and CEO of First Premier Bank in Sioux Falls, S.D., a community bank with the nation's most outstanding financial ratios in...

Talking point: A former bank marketer picked up the telephone and sampled how well local banks serviced her when she called as an ordinary customer. The revealing answer: not as well as many institutions claim. (Feature).
January 1, 2003... Recently I went shopping by telephone for a reasonably liquid place to invest a significant (to me) amount of money. I hoped to earn a return higher than the 1.5 percent I was making on a money-market account. The experience taught me a lesson...

Tune in to better radio ads: too many banks are content to broadcast mediocre commercials on the AM/FM dial. We asked experts for advice on how marketers can juice up advertising done over the airwaves. (Feature).
January 1, 2003... At the time, it sounded like a great idea. A financial institution (that shall remain nameless) had a successful print advertising campaign that it wanted to convert to radio. The ads featured images of diamonds, symbolizing the bank's strength...

ABA Contact Center Conference: Accelerate the path to profitability through world-class practices.
January 1, 2003... * Maximize your investment in people and technology * Stretch from service to sales and thrive in any economy * Network with your peers to learn practical and profitable techniques * Participate in a FREE bonus workshop. ABA...

Sales culture: instill--don't install; advice on starting and sustaining a program to make your bank more sales-oriented. (Fundamentals).
January 1, 2003... If your financial institution--particularly if it is a community bank--is typical, your management is struggling with two sales-culture issues. One is how to get a program off the ground; the other is, once it's started, how to keep it charged...

The power of positioning. (Customer Satisfaction).
January 1, 2003... Results from the ongoing ABA Financial Client Satisfaction Index continue to demonstrate the importance of the human side of banking. Not only is customer service of vital importance to banks' clients, it is something that banks are in the best...

Using demographic data. (Database Marketing).
January 1, 2003... Really good marketers (which of course includes you since you are reading this column) are naturally a curious bunch. One thing they are curious about is the answer to the question: "Who are our customers?" Sure, you can get answers to the four...

Marketing to business prospects. (Direct Mail Essentials).
January 1, 2003... Selling financial services to business prospects is always best done face-to-face. But it's not practical to have your calling officers sell every service in person. Here's where direct mail can be a great investment. A sales letter will...

Your bank can offer a multipurpose gift card. (New Products).
January 1, 2003... Oh sure, you can buy gift certificates at Barnes & Noble, or Sam Goody or Hollywood Video, and many recipients will be happy. But what about those friends who don't read, or listen to music or watch videos? For hard-to-please loved ones, you...

Gather disjointed service information in one central spot. (New Products).(services offered the banking industry by Bancography)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... It isn't really a library, but it works in more or less the same fashion. The Library is a centralized database from Bancography, the Alabama-based consulting firm. It serves as a central repository of branch and market information that can be...

A credit card with an interactive alert system. (New Products).(new talking bank card from First Data Corp.)
January 1, 2003... Now here's a new idea: a credit card that talks back. First Data Corp.'s new First Data Xpedite service comes equipped with an interactive alert system that can be used by card issuers to notify cardholders immediately about suspected fraud or...

Pocket premium. (New Products).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... This pocket reference book can be imprinted with your bank's name and given to customers as a premium. The book will help customers keep track of their most important financial documents. Small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, it can list...

Ad-Link, a Web-based product from Market Rates Insight. (Product File).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Ad-Link, a Web-based product from Market Rates Insight, permits you to track your competitors' product offerings (in print advertising) online and in real time. The service can also answer questions about the size and frequency of competitors'...

Trilegiant Loyalty Solutions of Norwalk, Conn. (Product File).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Cell Insure. As Long as banks can sell insurance and people use cell phones, it makes sense for banks to sell insurance to protect cell phones. Cell Insure from Trilegiant Loyalty Solutions of Norwalk, Conn., offers banks a product to protect...

Managing sales in the Wealth Management Market: using time wisely. (ABA Resources).
January 1, 2003... Sales success or failure in wealth management can be traced, in many instances, to the effectiveness of sales management, says William F. Ottinger, president, Ottinger Sales Resources, Chicago. "One reason for failure is the absence of...

77 bank marketers receive new CFMP designation. (ABA Resources).(Certified Financial Marketing Professionals )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Seventy-seven bank marketers have been designated as Certified Financial Marketing Professionals (CFMP). The new designation was given by the Institute of Certified Bankers (ICB) to those marketers who, on the basis of experience and education,...

ABA Marketing Network launches online membership directory. (ABA Resources).(American Bankers Association (ABA))(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Members of the ABA MARKETING NETWORK (ABAMN) recently should have received a Letter and e-mail announcing the launching of the network's first online membership directory. The communications contained the member's login name and password...

Calendar.(Calendar)
January 1, 2003... Calendar 2003 Feb. 9-12 ABA National Conference for Community Bankers The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa Hollywood, Fla. Feb. 26-28 ABA Trust, Wealth Management and Marketing Conference Tampa Marriott Waterside ...

Services Directory.(bank marketing )
January 1, 2003... This Services Directory contains listings of firms and organizations that serve the financial services community. ABA Bank Marketing does not endorse or make recommendations in regard to the companies supplying their services. For further...

Tracking the bank's best customers. (Figuratively Speaking).
January 1, 2003... (Figuratively Speaking) John MacIntyre Percentage of community banks that 41 currently use some sort of tracking system to identify their most valuable customers: Percentage who expect to track 79 their most...