For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

European Banks Should Start Adding Customer Ratings And Reviews To Their Sites

European Online Financial Researchers Want Ratings And Reviews

by Alexander Hesse, August 16, 2010

European online financial researchers look for customer ratings and reviews. They tend to trust them and find them valuable for making better buying decisions. Although a range of North American financial services firms offer customer ratings and reviews . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Polish Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Alexander Hesse, August 10, 2010

The Polish retail financial services market is characterized by strong growth and fierce competition among a large number of banks, many of them foreign-owned. With current account ownership growing from 44% to 58% and Internet adoption growing from 39% . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Polish Consumers Use The Net To Research And Buy Financial Products

Some Polish Net Users Research, But Few Buy Financial Products Online

by Alexander Hesse, June 4, 2010

Few Polish consumers turn to the Web to research or buy financial products — but their numbers are growing fast. In Q2 2005, 7% of Polish adults had researched and only 1% had bought a financial product online; these proportions grew to 10% and 2%, respectively, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

European Banks Should Consider Adding Personal Financial Management To Their Secure Sites

by Alexander Hesse, May 20, 2010

Intrigued by the success of third-party personal financial management (PFM) sites like Mint.com in the US, eBusiness professionals at European banks are considering adding similar functionality to their own sites. Our data shows that more than three out . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The State Of Mobile Banking In Europe: 2010

Mobile Banking's Time Has Finally Come

by Alexander Hesse, April 22, 2010

About one in eight European Net users with a mobile phone use mobile banking today — with SMS account alerts being the most common type. Today's users are early adopters who use mobile banking as a complement to other channels like (PC-based) online banking . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Italian Consumers Use The Net To Research And Buy Financial Products

Few Italians Have Embraced The Net To Research And Buy Financial Products

by Alexander Hesse, February 24, 2010

The Internet's role as a distribution channel for financial products is small and growing slowly in Italy. In Q2 2008, only 10% of Italian adults researched and 3% bought a financial product online. These numbers have grown to 11% and 4% in Q2 2009, respectively. . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Spanish Consumers Use The Net To Research And Buy Financial Products

The Web's Role As A Distribution Channel Is Limited But Growing

by Alexander Hesse, January 26, 2010

The Internet's role as a distribution channel for financial products is growing in Spain — but from a low base. In Q2 2007, 14% of Spanish adults researched and 3% bought a financial product online; these numbers have grown to 20% and 5%, respectively, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Swedish Consumers Use The Net To Research And Buy Financial Products

Swedes Have Embraced The Net As A Sales Channel For Financial Products

by Alexander Hesse, January 13, 2010

The Web is an important distribution channel for financial services in Sweden, which has some of the highest rates of online retail financial activity in Europe. Nearly half of Swedish consumers have researched at least one financial product online in . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Dutch Consumers Use The Net To Research And Buy Financial Products

The Web's Role As A Sales Channel Is Growing Fast In The Netherlands

by Alexander Hesse, November 20, 2009

The Internet's role as a distribution channel for financial products is growing fast in the Netherlands. Nearly half of Dutch consumers researched at least one financial product online in the past year, compared with 40% in 2007, and one in five bought . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

European Banking Customers Continue Migrating Away From The Branch

Branches Are Losing Their Role As The Heart Of The Customer Relationship

by Alexander Hesse, October 28, 2009

The number of consumers visiting branches each month is falling slowly but steadily across Europe. Branch users tend to be lower-value customers who use branches mainly for day-to-day transactions like depositing and withdrawing money. Although online . . .

For Customer Intelligence Professionals

Case Study: ING Delivers Personalized Product Offers Across Channels In Real Time

by Alexander Hesse, October 27, 2009

Dutch bank ING's marketing campaigns were losing effectiveness because many of them weren't relevant to the bank's customers. The bank's organizational structure, processes, applications, and heavy reliance on direct mail were not meeting the needs of . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

iPhone Apps Fill Mobile Banking Gaps

Forgotten Functionality Holds Clues To What Banks Should Do Next

by Emmett Higdon, Alexander Hesse, September 15, 2009

Apple's iTunes App Store now offers more than 1,000 personal finance applications from banks and third-party developers for download. While today's iPhone apps from the largest banks add little value beyond what is already delivered through online banking . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

European Online Banking Holdouts Want Security Guarantees

Net Users Still Need Security Guarantees And Incentives To Bank Online

by Alexander Hesse, Lauriane Camus, August 21, 2009

More than half of Western Europeans who use the Internet regularly &mdash about 92 million &mdash bank online. Thirty-two percent of European adults could bank online but don't do so &mdash or have stopped doing so. Typically, these online . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How The iPhone Has Changed Mobile Banking

The iPhone Is A Catalyst For Mobile Banking Adoption And Innovation

by Alexander Hesse, August 4, 2009

The iPhone is a powerful catalyst for mobile banking adoption and innovation. It improves the mobile Internet browsing experience, removes uncertainty about mobile browsing costs, makes it easier to download mobile applications, and unleashes a wave of . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: BBVA's Tú Cuentas Shows What Next-Generation Online Banking Will Look Like

by Alexander Hesse, July 14, 2009

BBVA's Tú Cuentas online personal finance management service was launched in late 2008. It lets the bank's online banking customers see their account balances and transactions from different providers in one place, categorize their transactions, and benchmark . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Swedish Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Alexander Hesse, May 27, 2009

With only 12% of Swedish banking customers using branches, Sweden has the lowest branch use in Europe. Swedish banks have successfully migrated the majority of their customers to ATMs and online banking &mdash 83% and 71%, respectively. When they . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Spanish Consumers Use Banking Channels

by Alexander Hesse, April 16, 2009

Age and Internet access continue to be the strongest predictors of channel choice in Spain. Branches are used by mainstream consumers, whereas online and telephone banking attract a niche of young, high-value Net users. Online banking adoption in Spain . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Four-Fifths Of European Net Users Have Cut Their Spending In The Past Year

Net Users Have A Grim Outlook On The Economy And Their Finances

by Alexander Hesse, March 10, 2009

With the gloomy state of the economy dominating the headlines, we asked 14,230 European Net users about their expectations for the economy and their personal finances. Nearly three-fifths expect their national economy to deteriorate, and 42% expect their . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

German Online Retail And Travel Forecast, 2008 To 2014

We Expect Consumer eCommerce To Reach €44 Billion By 2014

by Alexander Hesse, March 2, 2009

German online shopping adoption is growing at double-digit rates each year. The number of online shoppers has almost doubled since 2000, with 36 million Germans regularly buying products online today, or 44% of adults. By 2014, we expect 44 million German . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Dutch Banking Customers Use Different Channels

by Alexander Hesse, February 18, 2009

The Netherlands is the leader in online banking and ATM use in Europe. A whopping 95% of Dutch consumers use ATMs, and 78% use online banking at least monthly. Although no more than 14% use branches today, the long decline in branch use has stalled. With . . .

For Market Research Professionals

How Europeans Pay For Goods And Services

by Alexander Hesse, Reineke Reitsma, December 11, 2008

No two countries are the same when it comes to retail payment habits in Europe. Unlike in the US &mdash where most firms can offer their customers a uniform set of payment options &mdash companies selling into European markets need to offer a . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Customer Advocacy 2008: How Customers Rate European Banks

by Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., Alexander Hesse, November 20, 2008

Customers who consider their main bank as a customer advocate that does what's best for them have more accounts at their main bank, are more likely to consider it for future purchases, and are more likely to recommend it to others. But only 29% of Western . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Dutch Savings Buyers Want Simplicity And Speed

The Credit Crisis Increases Competition In The Dutch Savings Market

by Alexander Hesse, Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., October 27, 2008

Almost nine out of 10 Dutch consumers have a savings or deposit account &mdash the highest penetration in Europe. Dutch savings account buyers mainly use the Net to research and buy savings products: More than half of them have either used financial . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How To Win Retail Deposits In The Credit Crisis

Fourteen Quick Things To Do To Sell More Savings Products Online

by Alexander Hesse, Benjamin Ensor, October 16, 2008

The acute worsening of the financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, has left many banks desperate for retail funding. As the business owners of a major communication channel and a primary distribution channel, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Financial Comparison Sites Are Here To Stay

eBusiness Executives Need Strategies To Address Their Rising Popularity

by Alexander Hesse, September 4, 2008

The growth of online financial product research has been accompanied by the growth of an increasingly popular personal finance comparison site sector. The reason for this popularity is simple. Comparison sites offer what many online financial researchers . . .