Our most recent credit card statement from Bank of America contained an interesting insert that was most coveted around the Corporate Insight headquarters – coupons for free McDonalds! With the coupons, customers can pick up a free Southern Style Chicken Biscuit for breakfast, and a free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich for lunch or dinner with no purchase necessary at participating locations.

While we commonly see exclusive deals with partners in statement inserts, we couldn’t find any corporate connection between Bank of America and McDonalds and the coupons do not mention any restrictions limiting the offer to B of A customers only. Customers can use the coupons at any time until they expire at the end of June.

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If you haven’t seen it yet, check out today’s A section of the Wall St. Journal. Starting on page A9, Schwab ran a huge 4-page ad with the main tag-line "It’s not just money. It’s people’s money."

What is interesting about the ad is that it positions Schwab as focusing on three main areas:

• Self-directed investing
• Supporting RIAs
• Servicing employers through the Retirement Plan Services group

Over the couple of years since Chuck Schwab himself came back to run the firm, we’ve witnessed it getting back to its roots. This is the first ad we’ve seen that essentially spells out the firm’s three-pillar client strategy. (Interestingly, this ad was highlighted in the firm’s April 2008 Business Update presentation to analysts).

I was reviewing the recently released ICI 2008 Fact Book and came across a chart that should strike fear into the hearts of 401(k) providers while at the same time make retail financial services providers salivate:

What this says is that given the choice, 57% of plan participants will opt to take their 401(k) assets in one lump sum. The report goes on to say that of those, only 14% spent all the proceeds while the rest rolled over into an IRA or some other investment account. Given the pending wave of retirement from our Boomer friends, the challenges to financial services firms in responding to this statistic are many:

How can firms that provide the 401(k) participant platform utilize it to encourage participants to roll money to retail accounts provided by the same firm? (e.g. a Fidelity 401(k) to a Fidelity IRA)

• How can firms utilize their call centers at the time of rollover to capture these same assets?
• How do firms that don’t manage 401(k) assets take advantage of the opportunity to capture the shifting assets?

In some of our consulting work, we’ve seen that 401(k) providers are starting to tackle the first issue using their participant websites to get the word out about rollover IRAs. During actual rollovers, we’ve also witnessed how some call center reps talk up their firms’ non-401(k) accounts. In fact, later this year we plan to increase our research into the 401(k) space and look forward watching how the industry tackles these issues.

There is tremendous opportunity here for those firms that do a few things right. They need to make it easy to do an in-coming rollover via multiple channels – Web, phone and branch. They need to offer support during the on-boarding process, to ensure the TOA happens; a hands-off approach leads to accounts that are opened and never funded. Finally, firms that offer products like target date mutual funds and in-retirement income funds will also have an edge as they can serve Boomers throughout all stages of pre- and in-retirement life.

Shortly after the Bear Stearns crisis in March 2008, many financial services firms sprung to action to calm the nerves of justifiably nervous investors. Take, for example, Ameriprise Financial and Charles Schwab.

Ameriprise Chairman and CEO James Cracchiolo discussed “Current Market Conditions and Your Financial Goals” in an email to customers. And Charles Schwab posted his “Perspectives on the Financial Markets and Your Financial Security at Schwab” to the firm’s website.

The messages from these firms were strikingly similar. “We operate the firm conservatively to avoid the kind of investment risks that have troubled other securities firms recently,” Schwab wrote. “Because we maintain a conservative risk profile… we have been able to avoid the significant losses and other issues that have affected many financial services institutions,” Cracchiolo said.

While we appreciated the sentiment expressed by Schwab and Cracchiolo, their communication didn’t do much to differentiate them from one another or the rest of the marketplace. For that reason, we found TIAA-CREF’s letter to its clients to be refreshing in its candor and depth.

On March 17, 2008, the firm issued a three-page letter outlining the macroeconomic issues facing the country. The firm discussed its own exposure to specific types of risky investments recently, including sub-prime mortgages, SIV-Issued Commercial paper and monoline bond insurers. The letter is also posted to the firm’s website and is worth a look.

TIAA-CREF devotes a few paragraphs to each investment type, giving background information and describing in impressive detail the firm’s exposure to it. This informative letter shows TIAA-CREF’s understanding of its core client-base (well-educated professionals and academics), a group that would both expect and appreciate a more comprehensive explanation of market conditions. The piece reflects a genuine attempt to explain problems rather than disclaim them and shows respect for its audience..

It’s hard to read the news lately and not hear something about Citigroup’s recent struggles. CEO Vikram Pandit has been widely covered recently in Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek and by CNBC. With calls from some quarters for Citi’s breakup, the firm’s customers are likely wondering what the future holds for their bank.

Well, it seems that Citi has gone on the offensive in trying to placate any concerns that may exist. In our email inbox this morning we found this:

On the one hand, we laud Citi for sending this email. It shows that they are still committed to their customers. On the other hand, however, it strikes us as being a bit light on substance. Given that Citi just concluded an investor day on Friday, we would think that more details about how the firm is going to deliver “outstanding value and service” would be available. Even better, in this age of YouTube, why not film an address by Mr. Pandit to Citi clients that this email would link to? That would be a much more personal touch and let clients see that there is, in fact, someone at the top leading a major change effort.

We recently received a large postcard from Fidelity, reminding us that it is time for our annual Portfolio Review check-in. Printed on thick, glossy cardstock, the postcard stated that it has been a year since we looked over our Portfolio Review (the firm’s asset allocation tool) analysis and included the URL for the tool. The back of the postcard was attention-grabbing – stating that our annual financial check-in was as important a day to remember as a birthday or anniversary.

Fidelity does a great job integrating mailed communications with online tools. We have mentioned on numerous occasions the importance of using mailed items to drive clients to the website. This type of postcard is a very effective way to get clients to the website and hopefully access the tool. The size, colors and language are certainly attention-grabbing.

CNBC has posted a number of videos discussing Citi’s plans to turnaround the company. This first one summarizes some of the steps and has initial reactions.

In this video, Maria Bartaromo interviews two portfolio managers both of whom feel it’s decent but does not go far enough (they advocate breaking up the company).

There was an article in today’s Ignites (subscription required) that really speaks to the importance of monitoring your competitors’ Internet efforts. In a speech to the Investment Company Institute yesterday, Google’s chief Internet evangelist said that the Internet revolution has only just begun and “although this revolution may not be televised, it will be broadcast to the hips, pocketbooks and laptops of an increasingly mobile and connected community.”

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As we mentioned in this week’s Credit Card Monitor Update (CCM subscription required), American Express launched a new online community called Members Know: Travel. The new feature serves as a travel discussion board for card members who wish to comment or read about places to visit, dine and stay. Card members also have access to recommendations from writers at Travel + Leisure.

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With more people accessing the Internet via hand-held devices, website developers are being challenged to create online environments that are compatible with a wide range of hardware, from cell phones to widescreen monitors. A recent Business Week technology article highlights the problems this may cause for companies like Google. The search engine giant and other firms that generate revenue from ads must address the fact that there is less ad inventory available on the small screens of hand-held devices.

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