FIS Insights - Research Papers
| The Case for Promoting Debit Cards: Why They Are Still a Growth Product February 2013 |
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While debit cards have been commonly used to make consumer retail purchases for more than a decade, many financial institutions may have placed less priority on their debit card business in wake of regulatory changes. After rapid annual growth over the past decade, growth appears to have plateaued for many institutions in the last year or two. However, debit cards remain a profitable product to promote for smaller financial institutions as demonstrated by FIS research findings and supporting case studies with a community bank and credit union outlined in this research brief.
| Accelerating Paper Check Migration July 2012 |
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Recent research conducted by FIS with 3,205 consumers reveals that migration away from paper checks to debit card, credit card, automated clearing house and other electronic payment services could be accelerated through a combination of motivators and removal of barriers especially for consumer-to-consumer payments. The demise of paper checks would represent a substantial expense reduction for financial institutions as well as revenue enhancement opportunity through shifting check volume to card payments, which generate interchange revenue. However, checks won’t disappear overnight and likely won’t decline much at all among some consumers without significant intervention.
| Financial Profiles of High-performing Community Banks July 2012 |
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Historically, economies of scale have provided larger financial institutions with the ability to generate lower efficiency ratios and, often, higher returns on assets than community banks. Despite the disadvantages of their smaller size, some community banks outperform larger banks as well as their community bank peers during both good and bad times. This research brief focuses on the financial metrics of high-performing community banks to determine the characteristics that differentiate the elite performers from the rest of the pack.
| Achieving Profitable Customer Loyalty January 2012 |
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Measuring customer loyalty to financial institutions (FIs) differs from measuring customer loyalty to most other institutions, products or services. Banks sometimes keep customers because of the perceived hassle factor associated with switching to a new FI. Slightly more than two-thirds (68 percent) of FI customers agree that “switching my primary checking account to a different financial institution is more hassle than it’s worth.” But our research with 3,000 consumers shows that customers who merely stick with their FIs due to inertia aren’t loyal and don’t keep a large share of their deposits and/or loans with their primary checking account provider. A long-term customer doesn’t necessarily equal a loyal customer. And, a loyal customer is not necessarily a profitable one.
| Creating Customer Value through Social Media October 2011 |
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As the most-popular online activity, social media represents a fundamental shift in the way people communicate with each other and with businesses. The gateway into social media conversations via corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives represents a relatively low-risk usage of social media by financial institutions. However, financial institutions are now borrowing from the pages of companies in other industries, as well as leveraging their core competencies, to accomplish objectives beyond gaining attention and brand-building that CSR initiatives address.
| Developing and Deploying a Social Media Strategy for Financial Institutions October 2011 |
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Social media has made it to the big leagues though financial institutions do not yet place a high level of importance on social media compared with other points of contact with customers. Launching and maintaining a financial institution’s social media presence is daunting but it has become imperative to converse with consumers on their terms, which increasingly include social media conversations. Building a strategic plan for developing and deploying a financial institution’s social media presence can be divided into four steps: 1) planning, 2) monitoring, 3) contributing, and 4) measuring.
| FIS Relationship Banking 2.0 October 2011 |
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The retail banking industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Originally built on a business model valuing proximity, rigid product selection and face-to-face interactions, it is rapidly evolving to a customer-centric model in which consumers can get personalized information and services on demand with a few chocks of a mouse or, increasingly, a few taps on a smartphone screen. The shift to this consumer-centric perspective is the cornerstone of the profitable relationship-driven model.
| Mobile Remote Deposit Capture: Capturing Early Adopters June 2011 |
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Mobile Remote Deposit Capture (Mobile RDC) received widespread attention over the past year with high-profile launches from J.P. Morgan Chase, U.S. Bank, USAA and others. Despite attention-getting publicity surrounding mobile RDC launches, apps had only penetrated 3 percent of the mobile phone owner population as of February 2011. Mobile RDC is in the initial part of the early adoption stage of market penetration and will require continued push from the supply side to drive widespread consumer adoption.
| A Value Proposition for U.S. Mobile Payment Adopters June 2011 |
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More than one-quarter of U.S. smartphone owners indicate they would be “extremely likely” or “very likely” to use mobile payment during the next year if new technology was available that enabled payment through a contactless reader at point-of-sale. That translates into an estimated 17 million plus consumers who are prepared to exchange their cash-and-card-laden wallets for a different payment method. Smartphone owners who are likely adopters of mobile payments differ in significant ways the general population of smartphone owners.
| Clearing the Runway for Mobile Banking Adoption May 2011 |
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Better technologies for mobile devices, proliferation of banking apps and increased consumer appetite for staying connected are converging to propel mobile banking penetration. On the technology device front, recent double-digit growth in smartphone adoption has enabled consumers to expand the activities they can perform via mobile phone connections — including banking online. One-half of smartphone owners have banked online with their mobile phones within the past 30 days vs. only 13 percent of those with conventional mobile phones with Internet access.
| Building Profitable Relationships with Multichannel Consumers December 2010 |
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Consumers want options when it comes to accessing their banking information and services. Some consumers prefer self-service banking, some prefer a more traditional in-person approach, and many actively use all delivery channels. Despite the expansion of self-service banking, consumers’ person-to-person interactions with branch staff and live phone reps remain significant. While self-service banking may be the way of the future, it’s also true that old banking channels never die — or at least they don’t die quickly.