Forrester Research: Forrester Retail Insights Financial Services First Look: Research & Event Highlights From Forrester

 30 June 2004
By The Numbers
53: Percent of US consumers who disagree with the statement, "My financial provider would do what's right for me, even if not regulated."
32: Percent of US households that now do most of their shopping with a debit card and not a credit card.
9: Percent of US households that applied for life insurance in 2003, up threefold from 2000.


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Know someone with keen insight into technology's impact on the wealth management industry? We're looking for an inspired industry observer with direct experience with advisor-facing technology to join our research team. Check out the job description, and contact Jill Hamilton if you've got a suggestion for us.


Hot Off The Presses
Memo To Banks: Leapfrog Check 21 Mandate With Image Exchange by Penny Gillespie
Banking Real Time Equals IT Near Time by Jost Hopperman
Predictive Analytics To Cross-Sell Finance by Charlotte Hamilton Clark
What Satisfies Financial Services Consumers by Bill Doyle
The Bank Branch User Paradox by Benjamin Ensor
Life Insurers' Best Prospects Research Online by Ron Shevlin


Forrester's New Credit Card Benchmark
For the past three years, Forrester's Online Financial Services Benchmark has enabled banks to measure their retail and small business online banking success. Now Forrester has applied the same benchmarking to the credit card space. To learn more, please email edavis@forrester.com.


How Do Consumers Pick Their Primary Credit Card?
Low APRs top the list. Gain deep insight based on actual transaction data into how consumers use their credit cards and bank accounts. Forrester's Ultimate Consumer Panel tracks 8,000 credit cards and 3,000 bank accounts on a daily basis. Learn more about Ultimate.


Major Threats To IT Security In Companies With Revenues Greater Than $1 Billion
Major Threats To IT Security In Companies With Revenues Greater Than $1 Billion

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Making The Case For More Investment In The Online Channel

You've spent millions of dollars during the past few years to build a new channel for customers and prospects. Now senior management wants to know: Why make additional investments in the online channel?

Ron Shevlin makes the argument for you in "Getting Exec Buy-In For Online Initiatives." For starters, customers who use your Web site are more likely to:

(link:doc id:34431)

  • Consider you for their future product purchases. At the top 10 banks, customers who use their bank's Web site are more than twice as likely to consider the bank for their next banking purchase (see the figure to the right).


  • Stay with you. At Wells Fargo, online banking customers are half as likely to switch banks as other customers are. And online bill payers are 80% less likely to leave.



    • Canadian Adoption Continues To Outpace The US

    Canadian banks continue to have more success in migrating their customers to the Web than US banks. In her "Canadian Online Banking And Bill Pay Forecast," Catherine Graeber projects that more than two-thirds of online Canadians will bank online by 2009. What's the secret? Canadian banks:
  • Began right-channeling customers more than a decade ago.

  • Offer online bill payment for free.

  • Don't compete with billers for online payments.

    • Affluent Investors Place A High Value On The Net

    Affluent investors were some of the earliest adopters of the Internet: By the end of 1998, nearly a quarter were actively tracking their investments online. Today, 20% more millionaires track their investments online, and twice as many execute trades online as did five years ago, as we show in "How Affluent Investors Use The Internet."

    Interestingly, affluent investors with advisors are more likely to track their investments and trade online than unadvised affluent investors. And email has a stronger association with fees paid to advisors than face-to-face and phone interactions, as we show in "How Affluent Investors Use Advisors."

    Gone Phishin'

    Of course, email is not without peril today. Jonathan Penn explores the threat posed by phishing -- identity theft perpetrated through legitimate-looking email sent by thieves -- in "Is Your Brand Phishing Bait?."

    We believe phishing will grow and remain a problem for at least several years. How can financial services firms reduce their exposure? In "Defending Against Phishing Attacks," Penn lays out a number of concrete recommendations, including:

  • Any email validation solution backed by a major ISP.

  • Stronger customer authentication on your Web site.

  • Uniformity in your email and Web business personae.


    • Got feedback?

    As always, we're eager to hear from you. Do you have topics to recommend, data you need, or technologies you want assessed? Drop me a line with your input at billdoyle@forrester.com.


    Bill Doyle
    Financial Services Research Director


    Research Referenced In This Issue

    Banking Real Time Equals IT Near Time (34755)
    Canadian Online Banking And Bill Pay Forecast: Robust Growth Continues (34290)
    Combating Fraud In Financial Services (34150)
    Defending Against Phishing Attacks (34448)
    Fear Of Debt Drives Debit Card Usage (34396)
    Getting Exec Buy-In For Online Initiatives (34431)
    How Affluent Investors Use Advisors (34414)   
    How Affluent Investors Use The Internet (33903)   
    Is Your Brand Phishing Bait? (34447)
    Life Insurers' Best Prospects Research Online (34485)
    Memo To Banks: Leapfrog Check 21 Mandate With Image Exchange (34732)
    Predictive Analytics To Cross-Sell Finance (33923)
    The Bank Branch User Paradox (33919)
    What Satisfies Financial Services Consumers (33981)   

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