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S1 Customer Feedback: Denise Burris Talks about First Northern Bank of Dixon's Experience with S1's Self-Service Banking Solutions
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Q: How did you approach your upgrade to the self-service banking solutions?
A: We started the due diligence process two years ago and took a hard look at moving to our core as we thought that was the direction we needed to go. We even bought and tested the solution in-house for a period of time. However, after testing it, we found that the solution was not as user friendly, particularly on the business side. |
We decided to stay with S1 because it was in our customers' best interest and moving to the self-service banking (SSB) solutions would have minimal impact on them with the ease of use that was being maintained in the new solution. We knew that the greater impact would be on us, from a core integration standpoint, but a win for our customers as they really like the S1 solutions.
Once the decision was made, we decided to convert everyone from S1 IBS Retail and IBS Business Internet Banking to the new S1 Consumer Online Banking and S1 Business Online Banking solutions at the same time. We felt it would be much more difficult to do a staged approach and operate two separate systems for our retail and business solutions versus making the switch all at once. By moving everyone over at the same time, we were also able to reduce communication issues with customers on pending changes.
Q: Was this approach successful for your bank?
A: It worked really well for us. Anytime you go through a conversion, there will be difficulties, but there were no major surprises with this move. One of the things we were really pleased with is how easily our business customers made the transition. You can't realistically test for every possible scenario or know exactly what the system will do until normal transaction volume is running. However, because of the way the S1 Business Online Banking solution is structured and because S1 maintained the ease of use that was available with IBS Business Internet Banking, we incurred minimal hand-holding with our business customers and definitely not to the level we expected. Our customers were really able to just use it and go.
Q: How many customers did you convert to the new platform?
A: We converted all 10,000 of our retail customers and all 1,000 of our business customers.
Q: What are some of the features of the new platform that have had the greatest impact on your institution?
A: Some of the highlights for us are the new back-office features of the S1 Banking Portal and how much more you can do now. For example, the assist feature is great. We are now able to provide our customers with better technical support; we can see exactly what they are looking at, which greatly improves our ability to quickly answer their questions.
There is also so much more information at the customer level. We can see all transactions in one place. And there are many more audit trails provided. The solution is so robust and has so many layers of information.
Overall we are in a much better position, particularly with clearance. The clearance is much nicer in the new solution and we have more control of ACHs coming through. This also helps us in combating fraud. Because of the interim ACH report, we're able to look at a transaction more quickly and balance that against what our customers say they are doing. This has enabled us to catch things we may not have been able to in the past. The S1 Banking Portal definitely enables us to use our time more effectively.
Q: What feedback have you received from your customers on the new solution?
A: Our customers really like the branding—we celebrated our hundred-year anniversary last year and were able to easily and consistently brand that message across the new solution. We are also better able to communicate, on a per screen basis, with more targeted messaging and service offers. Plus, our business customers are now able to do a lot more in cash management, particularly with user rights and the resetting of passwords, MFA, cookies, and so on.
Q: You are a member of the S1 User Group. Are you seeing the feedback you've provided as part of that group demonstrated in the new product?
A: You can honestly tell that a lot of what was put into the new product was based on direct feedback from our organization and other S1 customers. I have confidence that when I provide feedback on future enhancements those will be addressed. We are seeing a much quicker turnaround with the product than we did with IBS. There appears to be much more flexibility with this product.
With this conversion, we also decided to move to the real-time solution. We realize we were a bit behind the times with that, but our customers really like having up-to-date information now, particularly on the weekends.
Q: Do you have plans for deploying any new self-service banking solutions in 2011?
A: We plan to roll out S1 Mobile in the second quarter of this year. We are in the process of testing it now.
Q: Any final comments you'd like to share?
A: Yes, one final comment, S1 customers need to understand that this is a conversion process and that they should be prepared to commit the time to making it work for them. Everyone on the S1 side that we worked with was very committed to making this work, and it was all well worth the effort to move to the new solution! |
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S1 to Host Three Roadshows in 2011
For many financial services organizations, 2010 was a year filled with careful deliberation and purposeful shifts toward streamlining operations and dialing down expenditures. As the economy stabilizes and we look ahead, the focus for financial services in 2011 will be on completing the necessary transformation to run your business as efficiently and profitably as possible.
And while the financial services industry continues to evolve, S1 remains committed to delivering the self-service solutions and services that keep your community financial institution competitive and in step with changing regulatory and security requirements.
To ensure you have the latest information to help you make the right decisions about your business, we are once again bringing together your peers, industry leaders, and the S1 community financial management team to a location near you.
We will host three roadshows across the United States in partnership with several of our valued community financial institution customers and business partners. The roadshows' theme for this year will be focused on helping you "Retool and Refuel" with new strategies for a multi-channel approach to self-service and security. Make plans now to join us for one or all of these great learning and networking opportunities.
This year's events are planned for the following dates:
Midwest Roadshow: Columbus, OH, April 12–13, 2011, hosted by Heartland Bank
Send me updates
West Roadshow: Location TBD, June 14–15, 2011
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East Roadshow: Location TBD, September 13–14, 2011
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Look for registration and additional information in the coming weeks. Click any of the links above to join the mailing lists for each of these events. |
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Boosting Online Banking and Bill Pay Usage Can Save Your Institution Money
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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S1 Security Alerts
To ensure that our customers are aware of emerging security threats, we offer ongoing security alerts providing insight into recent incidents in the industry, as well as suggested best practice recommendations. These are intended to help your customers reduce the likelihood of attack while improving your organization's ability to prevent fraud as well as detect and respond to incidents quickly and thoroughly.
Click here to download our recent alert. This alert is also available to our customers via the MyS1 portal.
Stay on top of the latest trends! Attend our security webinar "2011 Global Cyber Security Threat Trends and How to Make Your Best Defense" on February 23, 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT. Click here to register today. |
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Transaction Growth on the Rise with Anza Money Transfer Service
Anza has successfully implemented bank customer and prepaid debit card programs with money transfer capability and has experienced transaction growth to China, Mexico and the Caribbean. This payment-as-a-service offering easily integrates with S1's Consumer Online Banking solution to provide bank customers with the ability to perform domestic and international money transfers. The solution is already live with clients using both S1's IBS and self-service banking solutions. Anza has also implemented the use of lower cost money transfer networks that include the US Federal Reserve Bank's International ACH Transaction (IAT) network.
"Transaction growth has proven we have a viable solution that can be easily implemented by banks in order to compete with existing third-party providers and large financial institutions implementing universal money movement solutions," says Randy Gutierrez, President and CEO of Anza.
Anza Money Transfer Service is a turn-key service enabling financial institutions to offer a competitive, revenue-generating person-to-person payments service to consumers through the convenient, trusted online banking channel. The service was designed with the needs of community and regional banks and credit unions in mind, removing key risk, operations, and compliance hurdles faced by smaller institutions. The service is offered by Anza International in conjunction with national bank partner, Central National Bank, and S1.
Benefits to financial institutions:
- Respond to consumer demand for money transfer capability and consolidate customer financial activity at your institution
- Service emerging and specialty segment needs (affluent, remittance, GenY, etc.)
- Earn revenue share per transaction
- Turn-key service model (divest operations, risk, compliance, settlement, customer service)
- No set-up or systems interface costs (integrates with S1 and core banking environment)
- Financial institution-defined operations procedures with automated program and risk controls
Benefits to consumers:
- Send money to virtually anyone, anywhere from a bank account
- Accessed through the convenient and trusted online banking channel
- Significantly lower rates than traditional money transfer
- Straightforward pricing and multiple delivery options
"Anza Money Transfer has been architected to provide seamless integration with banking web sites", says John Lee, Chief Technology Officer of Anza. "We offer flexible settlement options and the ability to easily add new remittance delivery endpoints as we expand our remittance network."
To learn more about Anza Money Transfer Service, contact your account executive or e-mail us at S1CommunityBanks@s1.com. |
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Information, Education, Events and More!
Stay on top of the latest technology, industry information, training, and more with S1 Corporation.
S1 Security Webinar Series—Part III
"2011 Global Cyber Security Threat Trends and How to Make Your Best Defense"
February 23, 2011, 12:00PM ET / 9:00AM PT
Register today!
ProfitStars / iPay Conference
Chicago, IL
March 9-10, 2011
More info
Independent Community Bankers Association Convention
San Diego, CA
March 20 – 24, 2011
More info
Ask Billy G Webinar
March 29, 2011, 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT
Bank Info-Security Group BIG Show 2011
Fort Lauderdale, FL
April 4-6, 2011
Mark Wood, Senior Product Manager to present “The Increasing Importance of Taking a Multi-channel Approach to Online Banking and Security”
S1 Midwest Roadshow
Columbus, OH
April 12-13, 2011
Send me updates
S1 West Roadshow
June 14-15, 2011
Location TBA
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S1 East Roadshow
September 12-13, 2011
Location TBA
Send me updates
Did you miss the Quarterly Community Financial Call and Ask Billy G Webinar in November?
E-mail us at S1CommunityBanks@s1.com to receive a copy of the recording. |
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All other registered or unregistered trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. |
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