All articles by Charles Davis
Charles Davis
Pricing, rewards carousel to accelerate
Achieving that critical balance between a viable revenue level and a satisfied customer base is about to get much more difficult for US banks, who are introducing new fees, ending rewards programmes and substituting new perks in one of the most frenetic periods of product change in recent history. The aftershocks of the US government’s crackdown last year on debit card overdraft fees, coupled with new current account regulations instituted by the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, has resulted in fewer large US banks sticking with free checking. According to the latest data from economic research firm, Moebs $ervices, only about half of Wall Street banks are now offering free checking to new customers, a decline of 13.6% in just six months.
Tough ads for tough times
Current bank advertising in the US reflects conditions underfoot: for every bank scrambling to reassure shaken customers, another touts its relative strength Charles Davis and Douglas Blakey report.The extraordinary ongoing global economic dislocation makes bank marketing a delicate art these days, but the boldest among the survivors are beginning to make themselves heard