Chase Card Innovation Gives More Control to Customers

Last September, Chase Bank introduced Chase Blueprint, an innovative set of features that improves the way customers can manage their credit cards with tools to pay down balances, manage spending and pay off major purchases. Available at no charge to more than 20 million consumer and small business Chase credit card customers, Blueprint is fully integrated into the account and consists of four unique features that Chase calls Full Pay, Split, Finish It, and Track It.

The components of Blueprint provide the following benefits:

• Full Pay: The customer can set aside which charges they want to pay off in full on any given month and avoid paying interest on those items (groceries)
• Split: Lets the customer select the number of payments or monthly payment amount for things like large purchases (appliance or home improvement)
• Finish It: Simply select a date that a customer wants to pay off a purchase and Chase does the math to determine the monthly payment and provides charts to show progress
• Track It: Provides the ability to see spending by category online on demand as opposed to annually like most card companies.

According to Caryn Kaiser, Senior Vice President from Chase, the Split feature has the highest levels of customer satisfaction since the introduction of the program. The Track It feature has also resonated with affluent customers who want to know where their dollars are going.

The development of Blueprint arose out of customer research that showed that consumers usually hold multiple credit cards for specific purposes. It is hoped that by offering this capability within one card, consolidation of balances will occur and retention will improve.

While other banks may try to follow Chase's lead, this integrated set of credit card benefits do not seem easy to replicate, giving Chase a 'first mover' advantage. I also expect Chase to follow-up this innovation with similar innovation on the debit card side around rewards, alerts and tracking of purchases. The timing of these changes will most likely coincide with the massive media attention around Regulation E.

SIFMA Asset Management Account Roundtable Recap

I would like to thank the people from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) as well as co-chairs Jennifer Byrd from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Steve Newcamp from Federated Investors. As always, the event was well attended and the sharing of ideas and insights from the speakers and participants was great. I would be remiss if I didn't also thank my own company, Harland Clarke for the amazing dinner at the Battery Park Gardens Restaurant where, even with the rain, the view of the Statue of Liberty was super.

Some interesting takeaways from the meeting:

• Lucy Suarez (Fiserv): The impact of mobile can not be overlooked and the demographics of mobile banking users is trending older over time. As referenced in some of my previous blogs, a majority of iPhone owners and a large percentage of smart phone owners use mobile banking monthly. She also referenced that deployment by financial institutions of all sizes is growing rapidly. The future of mobile will definitely go beyond balance inquiries and transfer of funds to include mobile deposits, person-to-person payments and the ability to sign-up for the service without online banking required.
• During the product development breakout session, it became apparent that, while a case can be made for the development of mobile banking applications for the AMA product, virtually none of the firms in attendance even have a mobile banking product in development. This may end up being a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace or a significant advantage for the two firms who have mobile capabilities today.
• One of the major advantages of a robust AMA product also seems to be a hurdle for product development. Highly customized and information laden paper statements seems to limit product innovation in the areas of rewards, household PFM and product integration. To combat this challenge, Wells Fargo Advisors provides an annual rebate of fees if a customer agrees to a more flexible online statementing option.
• Margaret Henry, Ph.D. (Scantron): Margaret discussed the significant differences between a 'satisfied' client and a client that will be loyal and will refer business to a financial institution. She compared different survey techniques and survey results in the marketplace while sharing results from some of Scantron's clients who have experienced improvements in scores as a result of a robust measurement process.

There was a great deal more learned at this program which I have been lucky enough to present at three times over the past five years. What always amazes me is the amount of sharing that is done by this rather tight knit group of organizations that serve the most desirable of clients.

Wells Fargo Promotes Online Statements

Emphasizing the potential positive impact on the environment and the reduction of risk from mail fraud and identity theft, Wells Fargo just introduced a sweepstakes program for customers who move from paper to online monthly statements.

For every personal or business statement selected to move to a paperless option, the customer will receive a sweepstakes entry with a chance to win $25,000 or one of ten $2,500 prizes.

This newest effort is consistent with what is offered by Wells Fargo Advisors, whereby clients have the opportunity to reduce their annual fees by $30/yrs. by opting for online statements.


As revenue from deposit and loan accounts continue to get squeezed and as the cost of delivering paper statements continues to increase, I expect to see more and more financial institutions incent customers to move to paperless reporting.

Cardlytics Introduces Bank Statement Innovation

At a time when banks are looking for ways to generate new revenue and increase customer loyalty, Cardlytics has developed a way for banks to leverage transaction data to deliver targeted offers to clients on their online bank statements.

Since the privately held company launched the innovative product last November, more than 100 marketing campaigns have been run, reaching half a million bank customers. According to a recent AdvertisingAge article, the company expects to have 50 to 70 financial institutions on board by the end of the summer, reaching some 10 million customers by the end of the year.

The program uses transaction data such as the date and amount of purchase, location and merchant to develop special offers by the merchant where the transaction occurred or by a competing merchant in the same category. Imagine an offer from a local restaurant appearing on your statement after a recent purchase from the same establishment. Or maybe an offer from a competing eatery.

The activation of the offer is electronic without any special processing by the bank or retail institution. When the offer is activated by clicking the area on the online statement, it is converted the next time the debit or credit card is used at the participating merchant and the purchase is processed by the bank.

The merchant pays for the online ad to Cardlytics, with a pay-for-performance model with the bank getting a piece of the action. Initial response rates for the program, according to Cardlytics has been very favorable, with the only drawback potentially being the lack of demographic data available for targeting.

This type of turn-key rewards program could expand quickly, using the same type of model and insight that is used for Google with their paid advertising. The success, however, will hinge on a combination of the banking industry's ability to embrace a push-based retailing concept and the customer's acceptance of a perceived sharing of data. As with most new online concepts, acceptance will most likely vary by segment.