Convenience As Financial ServicesPriority

NEW YORK - (01/06/06) – Banks must focus on customerconvenience, value and service in order to distinguish themselvesin the increasingly competitive marketplace, according to a newstudy by Deloitte Consulting. “Particularly in majormetropolitan markets, many banks are competing for the same groupof customers,” said Toby Kilgore, principal with DeloitteConsulting LLP. “To be successful, banks must differentiatethemselves from the pack by providing a distinctive customerexperience that captures customers’ hearts and minds.Convenience will help attract new customers, but banks need toprovide service and value in order to build loyalty, mittigateattrition and achieve significant top-line growth.” Almosthald the respondents to a consumer survey cited location/access asthe primary reason they chose their bank, and slightly more thanhalf continue to interact mainly with the branch, despite theindustry’s investments in other channels. Four out fiverespondents (80%) said they visit their branch at least once amonth and 43 % do so once a week. Twenty-percent said their mainchannel of use is the Internet and another 20% said theATM.