[1] BTN: Citi has focused heavily on the iPad. Are other tablets in your plans?
Weber: We started with the iPad because it's the tablet for which there is the greatest market share. As new devices become more popular, it will be important to have capabilities for customers wherever they are and for whatever they are using.
[2] How will tablets change the way consumers use payment cards?
The card data that you look at on the tablet is the same as in other venues, like mobile or the website. But on a tablet it's displayed in a way that's visually rich and makes you see the story inherent in the data.
[3] What have you found to be the difference between tablets and the website in terms of how they're being used, and how you respond with your content strategy?
When people come onto the website, they are looking to pay bills and do other chores, and often, when they are on the website, they don't have time to engage on broader content or read an article about finance. When people are using the tablet app, they may do a payment or two, but the content on the tablet is more educational and more appropriate to how the device is being used as an interactive information tool. So it's not as if this [information and interactive education] isn't available on the website, it's just not as prominent as it is on the tablet.
[4] What excites you personally about tablets?
The sharing aspect that tablets provide is big. You can see that in the games. My daughter and I play Scrabble on tablets all the time. There's an interesting opportunity in this for financial services to leverage that ability of the tablet to easily connect you with someone else for financial purposes. Also, there are a lot of capabilities of the tablet that aren't being fully leveraged. There's the visual richness of the interface and the broader navigation gestures.
[5] Does the advanced user interface of the tablet make personal financial management apps pop?
The immersive aspect of the tablet is big. The fact the people use it when they have more time lends itself well to personal financial management, as opposed to the Internet, which is more traditional. The time that you are thinking about your spending and planning, those are the times when you are likely to be on a tablet. You can use the web for that kind of immersion, but the content is not quite as rich.
