Image Capture Adoption 'Nearly Ubiquitous'
BOSTON-Branch image capture adoption is nearly ubiquitous, so with less urgency, banks are now determining their end game, according to new research.
Image ATMs now represent 43% of deposit-taking ATMs, according to a new report, "Imaging in the Retail Channel 2011: Seventh Inning Stretch," from Celent.
Key findings of the report include:
* In the past few years, distributed capture has moved from being an item processing phenomenon to being in the mainstream of retail banking, taking a prominent spot in both branch and ATM channels. Over the past year, just under 900 financial institutions installed some form of branch capture, less than half the rate of previous years.
* 89% of U.S. financial institutions now have branch capture solutions completed or in progress. Celent expects that 98% of U.S. financial institutions will have implemented branch or teller capture solutions across some or all branches within the next three years.
* Smaller financial institutions are overwhelmingly choosing enterprisewide approaches offering consistent consumer experiences and operating procedures among branches and ATMs. Larger U.S. banks-particularly the Top 50 or so-are choosing incremental approaches in an attempt to manage cost and complexity in an ever-changing check processing environment.
For info: www.celent.com
Mobile E-Mail Viewership Gaining Ground
NEW YORK-More people are opening their e-mails on mobile devices, according to new research by Return Path, an e-mail certification and reputation monitoring company.
Return Path said second global report on the impact mobile is having on e-mail viewership, entitled, "Mobile, Webmail, Desktops: Where Are We Viewing E-Mail Now?" shows a pattern of increasing usage that is hard to ignore as e-mail opened on mobile devices grew by 34% compared with the previous six-month period. While webmail maintains its status as the most popular platform for reading e-mail, mobile is showing huge growth rates whereas the relative number of opens on webmail and desktop decreased by 11% and nearly 9.5%, respectively.
With the slick e-mail interface of the iPad making it easy for e-mail consumption on the go, use of iPads skyrocketed with an increase of 73% in e-mail views on iPad devices between April and September of 2011. E-mail views on the iPad jumped by 12% between March, with the launch of the iPad 2, and April, continuing to steadily climb upward.
Where e-mail is viewed is heavily influenced by when it is viewed, with desktop ruling the weekdays and mobile spiking on the weekends. Return Path's research found a steep drop in desktop usage over the weekend, with a corresponding rise in mobile and webmail use. Monday is equally strong for both webmail and desktop but the worst day of the week for mobile e-mail.
Outlook maintains its leadership position of installed software for use on the desktop at 63% of e-mail opens, with no change in the desktop landscape since the previous six months. Apple Mail is the only other software platform to even come close to Outlook with about 31% of the viewership. The next closest is Thunderbird and AOL Desktop with about 3% of e-mail views respectively.
For info: www.returnpath.net
Consumers Trust Banks More For Mortgages
NORWALK, Conn.-Consumers put the most trust in banks, slightly more than credit unions, when seeking a mortgage, according to a new study.
FreeScore.com survey found 33.44% of respondents trusted banks the most, while 30.65% trusted CUs most. Mortgage bankers and GSEs were least trusted by consumers, with less than one in 10 survey respondents showing preference for these lender types. Of course, a majority of banks and CUs ultimately sell most, if not all, of their loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Most consumers, however, are unaware of this, and tend to view whichever entity took their initial loan application as the actual lender.
FreeScore.com said one "telling" statistic was that slightly more than 20% of respondents selected "none of the above" when asked to choose which entity they preferred to deal with for a loan. The company said this sentiment could reflect the negative public opinion that remains following the well-publicized housing and credit market collapse, and the subsequent spate of defaults and foreclosures that have since been plaguing consumers.
For info: www.freescore.com
Mobile Banking Marketing Lagging
BOSTON-Banks are not adequately promoting their mobile banking offerings, according to ath Power Consulting, a provider of financial services research and customer experience strategy development.
The firm said its "2012 ath Power Mobile Banking Study" also found remote deposit capture is the missing feature most sought by bank customers. The national study ranked customer satisfaction with today's mobile banking offerings, with USAA earning the top spot with 73% of its users claiming high satisfaction.
"The revenue potential for banks who add compelling features to their mobile offerings could be significant," noted Frank Aloi, president and CEO, ath Power. "However, it is alarming that only 10% of users were prompted to first use their bank's mobile channel by their actual bank. This indicates a clear lack of customer education, yet an obvious opportunity for banks to take initiative to promote their offerings."
Other Key Findings:
* About one in eight mobile banking customers say they'll change banks within two years compared to one in five among the general customer base.
* The quality of a mobile offering is a major factor in choice of bank among the mass affluent and small business owner segments.
* The mobile channel is set to play a big role in fraud prevention as mobile adoption improves and consumers become more familiar with alerts.
* Customer support is lacking. Only one out of five users were offered any option to customize their user interface and 40% failed to find links for technical support.
In an online survey, 1,527 mobile banking users provided information about their current banking behaviors and assessed their present mobile banking experiences on several dimensions including ease-of-use, satisfaction and problem resolution. In the hands-on audit, 350 mobile banking users sought out certain features and performed specific tasks using their mobile banking applications.
For info: www.athpower.com/home/mobilebanking.php
Subprime Originations Continue To Grow
ATLANTA-Subprime origination growth across all lending sectors continues with notable increases, according to U.S. consumer data in Equifax's March "National Consumer Credit Trends Report," a joint product of Equifax and Moody's Analytics.
The report shows origination growth across multiple vertical markets through 2011. The number of bank credit card accounts increased from December 2010 to December 2011, which the companies said was a product of lenders more aggressively seeking new customers and consumers' increasing demand for new credit.
New credit in 2011 ($782 billion) remained below pre-recession levels, but gained more than 10% over 2009 and 2010 levels ($695 and $709 billion, respectively).
Increases in credit limits also were seen in 2011, as total retail credit card limits increased 6% year over year from December 2010 to December 2011 and total bank credit card limits jumped 24% from December 2010 to December 2011. Consumer finance credit limits also saw a comparatively modest improvement of $1.2 billion from Dec. 2010 to Dec. 2011.
Total consumer debt in the U.S. currently stands at $11 trillion, a decrease of 11% from its peak in Q4 2008 at $12.4 trillion. The drop is driven by a nearly 12% drop in home financing balances. After reaching a post-recession low of $1.60 trillion in May 2011, consumer debt balances have risen about 2%.
Other notable findings include:
* Lending to sub-prime consumers showed a 41% increase from 2010 to 2011 as sub-prime borrowing hit a four-year high in Dec. 2011 with 1.1-million new bank credit cards issued.
* New sub-prime card limits grew 55% from 2010 to 2011. At $12.5 billion in 2011, bankcard limits are at their highest level since 2008 ($27.4 billion).
* Bank credit card growth continues, but is still well below pre-recession levels. In 2011 39.9 million bankcards were opened, an 18% increase from 2010 and the highest total since 2008.
* The increase in total bank credit card originations was accompanied by a 31% increase in total credit limits from 2010 to 2011. 2011 marked the first time in more than four years credit lines increased, reaching $163 billion.
For info: www.equifax.com
Cost Of Funds At Its Lowest Ever
SAN ANSELMO, Calif.-The interest expense banks are paying for retail funds is now the lowest ever, according to analysis from Market Rates Insight.
In 2011, banks paid an average of $0.16 in interest expense on deposits for every $1 they earned in interest on loans. In 2007, prior to the last recession, banks paid an average of $0.51 in interest expense on deposits for every $1 they earned as interest on loans.
MRI said total interest income from loans at FDIC-insured institutions in 2007 was $725 billion, and total interest expense paid for deposits amounted to $372 billion, which is a cost of $0.51 in interest paid for every $1 of interest earned. In 2011, total interest income was $507 billion, and total interest expense paid for deposits amounted to $84 billion, which is a cost of $0.16 in interest paid for every $1 of interest earned. The 2011 cost of $0.16 is the lowest ever since the FDIC made such figures available in 1992.
For info: www.marketratesinsight.com
Money Anxiety Dips; 1st Time Since June 09
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-The Money Anxiety Index's preliminary level of 89.3 in April improved 1.3 points over March, and is the first time the level of consumer financial anxiety dipped below 90 since June of 2009.
April's improvement in the Money Anxiety Index is the 10th consecutive month of decreasing financial anxiety, which started in June of 2011 when the index peaked at 99.5. Dan Geller, Chief Research Officer at Money Anxiety Index, said the MAI was the only consumer index that detected the trend in improved consumer confidence starting in mid-2011.
For info: www.moneyanxiety.com
Financial Literacy Still Problematic
WASHINGTON-Consumers displayed a "disturbing lack of basic financial skills that are critical to building a stable financial future" according to a recent survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) and the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA).
In its sixth year, the groups said their Financial Literacy Survey annually provides data and trending around Americans' attitudes and behaviors related to personal finance. The 2012 survey found:
* More than half of U.S. adults, 56%, admit that they do not have a budget
* One-third of U.S. adults, or more than 77 million Americans, do not pay all of their bills on time
* Thirty-nine percent of adults carry credit card debt over from month-to-month
* Two in five adults indicated they are now saving less than they were one year ago, and 39% do not have any non-retirement savings
* Twenty-five percent of those who do not currently have non-retirement savings indicated that, if they did begin to save, they would keep their savings at home in cash
For the first time, the 2012 survey evaluated consumer responses related specifically to prepaid debit cards and found the following:
* More than one-in-ten adults (13%), or about 30.5 million Americans, typically use prepaid debit cards to pay for everyday transactions such as groceries, gas, dining out, paying bills and shopping online
* 78% of adults who use prepaid debit cards for everyday transactions say they use them because they are convenient
* 73% percent use prepaid cards because they feel the cards are safer than carrying cash
* 72% utilize prepaid cards because it allows them not to overspend or spend money they don't have
* 56% percent find that the cards enable them to better manage their money.
For info: www.nfcc.org or www.nbpca.org
DES MOINES, Iowa-Incomplete or nonexistent policies can trigger a sequence of serious consequences, and potentially end a profitable product or service.
That is the message from a recently published white paper authored by PolicyWorks Senior Compliance Officer Jami Weems.
"More than simply alerting examiners to a problem, insufficient policies expose a credit union to needless risk," writes Weems. "Policies exist for a reason-to provide guidance and to ensure rules are consistently followed by all credit union staff."
In an excerpt from her white paper, "In Turbulent Times, Credit Union Policies Are Life Preservers," Weems notes examiners operate under the premise that credit unions are up-to-date on all current rules and regulations; therefore, they expect a credit union's policies and procedures to be reflective of the current practices.
To be in compliance with all the current rules and regulations, Weems recommends credit unions put together a plan for updating current policy manuals. This plan, she says, needs to detail how the credit union will make policymaking and maintenance a part of the credit union's overall strategic plan. "Think of this plan as 'a policy for policies,'" suggested Weems.
The complimentary white paper can be downloaded at: www.policyworksllc.com/white-papers.cfm
ST. LOUIS-While Missourians recover from a national recession, a new statewide survey suggests that most are ill prepared for a financial emergency.
Conventional wisdom suggests every consumer should have about three months worth of savings for unexpected situations, but according to a recent survey by the Missouri CU Association that measured savings and purchasing habits, less than 30% of respondents reported having enough savings to last four months or more, and 42% reported having no savings at all.
MCUA said these numbers reflect a national trend as job loss and reduced consumer spending impact the labor force.
When asked how satisfied respondents were with their current amount of savings, 58% reported they were "not at all happy.
Almost half of all respondents set a savings goal for 2012, and most believe they will achieve it. Respondents plan to increase savings by reducing spending, using coupons and eliminating vacations.
For info: www.mcua.org
