As we mentioned in our Bank Monitor Update (Corporate Insight subscription required) last week, Citizens Bank repackaged its fee-free Student Checking account into a new $3.99-per month Student Money Bundle. The new Student Money Bundle includes a basic checking account, as well as the chance to receive coupons on popular student items by registering through an external sitelet.

The bundle consists of the following new features:

·         Discounts on items such as food, books, electronics and entertainment. Students must create a profile at a Money Savings Discount Site to receive coupons – very convenient for discounts!

·         Coverage of up to $250 in cash to cover theft or damage to a cell phone if the cell phone bill is paid by the account’s debit card.

Student Banking is a crucial topic of discussion this time of year as every parent hopes that their child is financially responsible to be on their own and to handle a credit card.  A few other firms with notable package highlights for Students are:

·         Bank of America Student Banking Accounts 

o   Bank of America Debit Card with Total Security Protection package including the Photo Security Feature

o   Free Online Banking Service with Mobile Banking

·         Chase Student Center

o    Chase offers a free checking account to college student for up to 5 years

o   Free Debit Card with Zero Liability protection

o   Free Online Banking and Bill Pay

·         Wells Fargo College Combo

o   Interest rate discount on select student and automobile loans

o   Monthly service fee waived when the account is linked to Wells Fargo PMA Package or Wells Fargo Campus ATM or Campus Debit Card

o   Minimum opening deposit

Firms have been hard at work through a blistering hot summer. A number of firms recently announced forthcoming site revamps and a number of credit card issuers revamped their rewards sites.

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Summer is finally here, and credit card firms have added some new rewards programs to help defray the flight costs of summer travel. New retirement themed marketing campaigns were also introduced this June, and Merrill Lynch introduced a new site (Merrill Edge) with a focus on self-directed investing.

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I had a call yesterday with a credit card company to activate a replacement card for one I had lost. The rep was a courteous fellow, if not bordering on obsequious, and as he was reviewing my account he said, “I see that you’ve been a member for…wow, 19 years! Just want to say thank you for your continued support.”

Besides making me feel a bit old (really? 19 years?), his comment got me thinking what happens on my 20th anniversary with them? Will I get some recognition? A card? A free cup at Starbucks? Marketers often talk about customer loyalty and how important it is. The thing is, do they acknowledge the loyal customers when they get them? It’s something to think about and it’s so easy to do. Just a simple, “Thanks for being a great customer. Have a cup of coffee on us.”

It’s all about creating a great customer experience. Experience matters.

With financial issues on the minds of many investors during tax season, firms utilized the opportunity to promote new online retirement-focused ideas. April also brought with it Earth Day, and a few firms highlighted their various environmental incentives, especially electronic document delivery. Mobile was also once again a hot topic with Apple’s iPad taking center stage with one e-Monitor firm rolling out an iPad app. Continue Reading »

March was a busy month for the Corporate Insight tracked firms. Perhaps the most notable changes this month took place in the credit card space, as every firm in our Credit Card Monitor coverage group made announcements about changes relating to the CARD Act. Every firm posted notices alerting customers that their statements had been made available online. Additionally, several firms, including American Express, HSBC and U.S. Bank, either updated or announced updates to their monthly statements. HSBC also removed its Rush Payment service, which allowed customers to post same-day payments for a fee of $15. Prior to eliminating Rush Payment, HSBC had been the only Credit Card Monitor firm to charge customers for same-day online payments. Continue Reading »

As we discussed in last week’s Credit Card Monitor, every issuer that we track recently added the ability for customers to order their card agreements through the card website. Although this is a mandated feature, our research showed there are good ways and bad ways of doing this.

In this short video, I explain why American Express demonstrates best practices in providing access to customer agreements. Continue Reading »

For nearly a year and half, most Wachovia customers have been waiting patiently to see when and how the merger with Wells Fargo would affect them. For some customers, this process has been too slow, as seen in the comments sections of the Wells Fargo – Wachovia Blog. That said, it appears that there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

Last week, Wachovia removed all its branded credit cards on the public site, and replaced them with Wells Fargo cards. As for existing card customers, on April 10, 2010, all Wachovia credit card accounts will officially be integrated into Wells Fargo, and aside from a site outage from April 9-11, service should be uninterrupted, as card numbers and rates will stay the same. It’s currently unclear if Wells Fargo will mail clients newly branded cards after the conversion, but clients can still use their old cards in the interim.  Continue Reading »

Following several months of new product releases, tools, and web promotions, the pace slowed across the industry this February. A few firms revamped their sites this month, and as the athletes took to the slopes in Vancouver, one firm promoted its 2010 Winter Olympics sponsorship online.

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