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Boosting Online Banking and Bill Pay Usage Can Save Your Institution Money
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According to a recent report from Javelin Strategy & Research, "financial institutions can expect to save $167.02 in operational costs annually for each non-online banking customer that can be converted to act like a typical online banking and bill pay customer. Additionally, $8.10 per online banking customer can be saved if FIs can address half of CSR questions through online banking rather than through branches and call centers." |
As revenue opportunities continue to be impacted in the current environment, it's time to take a new look at how best to leverage the online channel to its full potential.
What can your financial institution do to convert more non-online users to become online banking and bill pay adopters and encourage current online banking customers to funnel more of their questions through the online channel? Below, we've outlined a few steps that your institution can take to help drive up online banking and bill pay usage and drive down your overall costs.
Incentivize your customers to do business with you
Years of exceptional customer service go a long way to securing loyalty, but if your competitor down the street offers your customer financial or other incentives for their 10 bill payments each month or better rates for becoming a loyal online banking customer, your customer service may not be enough to keep them banking with your institution. According to Javelin, 38 percent of online banking users would pay more bills online if they received some type of incentive, rebate, or discount to do so. Leverage your online banking and bill pay solution to offer incentives, like a free iTunes® download for every five bills paid or a rebate on ATM fees in exchange for signing up to an online banking/online bill pay package.
Package your services to meet the needs of your specific customers
As you well know, one size doesn't fit all when it comes to financial services, and online banking and bill pay are certainly not an exception. Your customers need and want different things. Use the important customer data you have to offer the types of packages and services that appeal to them. Use the administrative portal for online banking to set up service plans and entitlements for customers that build loyalty and encourage them to add more products and services when they need them.
Keep the alerts coming
Implementing alerts that enable your customers to know when an account balance is depleted or a payment delivered is a great way of giving them peace of mind and helping them to better manage their finances. And according to Javelin, "alerts recipients, or "moneyhawks," defined as consumers who received financial alerts in the past 90 days, are significantly more likely to log on to their FI website to check their balances (76%), pay bills (68%), transfer money (61%) and ask customer service questions (31%)."
Promote, promote, and promote some more
Online banking and bill pay usage has begun to plateau for many financial institutions. Without putting additional effort into your marketing, it is likely to remain at that level or even decline. Use your web site and online banking service to its full marketing potential. Run promotions on your home page and within online banking for accounts that reward customers for funneling the majority of their transactions and interactions through less costly channels like online, mobile, or voice banking; or run one-time incentive programs for activities like turning off paper statements.
Show them how you will keep their information safe
One of the primary motivators for consumers that still pay checks by mail is security and fear of fraud. These concerns typically result from a lack of information on the safety of online banking and bill pay. Educating your customers can help. For example, you might explain to them that becoming an online banking bill pay user actually helps lower their exposure to fraud and overall losses because they now have the ability to monitor their accounts in real time versus once a month, when they receive a paper statement. Become a security advocate for your customers by offering and consistently promoting the security information and tools they need to protect their financial data.
Offer personal financial management tools
The economy has forced consumers to pay more attention to their finances and financial institutions to offer more resources for monitoring consumer spend and transactions. Offering customers a way to effectively manage money across all their finances and pay bills from a single, trusted location, makes your institution the primary source for all things financial.
As your partner, S1 continues to innovate in the online channel and offer the services and tools you need to help you better serve your customers. For more information on how S1 can help you better leverage your online banking and bill pay solutions, contact your account executive today or e-mail us at S1CommunityBanks@s1.com.
1 “How to Cut $8.3 Billion in Costs Through Channel Conversion,” Javelin Strategy & Research, October 2010. |
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