Ohio, US-based lender Huntington Bancshares has introduced a
free current account as part of its Fair Play banking strategy.

Huntington’s so-called Asterisk-Free Checking account incurs no
opening fees and neither does the bank charge for maintenance.

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Characteristics of the free account include:

  • No minimum balance;
  • No requirement to use cheques or a debit card;
  • No debit card fees;
  • Free ID Theft Resolution Service;
  • 24-hour grace period to cover overdrafts, and
  • Free text alerts.

Huntington’s CEO, Steve Steinour, said:

“We asked our customers what they wanted, we listened to their
input and responded with a simpler, more straight-forward approach
we call Fair Play banking.”

 “Instead of taking away benefits and adding fees, we have
introduced a new free checking account that gives our customers
more,” Steinour said.

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Simplicity, fairness, value, transparency

“Consumers are looking for simplicity, fairness, value and
transparency.  Asterisk-Free Checking delivers all four.
 And while we’re forgoing some fee income with this new
checking account and 24-Hour Grace, doing the right thing for our
customers is doing the right thing for our business,” he added.

Last year, the top 20-lender introduced a 24-hour grace period
to give customers extra time to pay off overdrafts.

Huntington said that the introduction of the Asterisk-Free
Checking account represented the bank’s break from typical banking
approaches.

The bank initiated a marketing campaign using print, online and
television as well as direct email on 9 May to promote the new
product.

Huntington operates more than 600 traditional branches as well
as additional branches at retailers and retirement centres and has
a 1,300-unit strong ATM network.

 

revenue – CRM balance a challenge


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.

According to the latest JD Power survey, US consumer sentiment
toward retail banks has increasedfor the first time since 2007.

The
latest survey by Ernst & Young found that Customers in the
US (along with those in Canada, China, India and Brazil) are the
most satisfied with their banks.

A survey by the American Bankers Association found that

  • 81 percent of banks planned to increase checking account
    maintenance fees;
  • 77 percent planned to impose or increase fees on other
    programmes, and
  • 66 percent would abolish free checking altogether.