On March 28, 2003, bankrate.com posted an article titled “What is online banking”. The article opened as follows
“If you’re like most people, you’ve heard a lot about online banking but probably haven’t tried it yourself. You still pay your bills by mail and deposit checks at your bank branch, much the way your parents did”
Have things ever changed for online banking! Online banking is now mainstream, you would be hard pressed to find anyone online who has not done or heard of online banking. The benefits of online banking of course are numerous; one does not need to repeat them … Continue Reading

While opening my mail today, I found yet another envelope marked “urgent” claiming to contain “important information inside”. As you may have guessed, what I found was a credit card offer. I’m sure I’m not alone in continuing to receive these unsolicited offers, and I can’t help but wonder why this offer is so disconnected from consumer sentiment. Is the answer to rising indebtedness really more credit?

One of the strengths of great marketers is their acute awareness of the customer’s state of mind and state of affairs. What happened here? Is there a belief that the credit crunch is … Continue Reading

Macro conditions are beginning to affect day-to-day consumer spending. For years, American consumers took on growing debt loads disproportionate to their incomes and savings. Innovest’s October 2008 report, Credit Cards at a Tipping Point, describes the mortgage market collapse as only one symptom of a larger problem and that credit cards will be next. Falling house prices, higher cost of living and unemployment rates are now exacerbating the financial health of the consumer and will result in a spike in charge-offs in 2009, as well as mounting risk for banks … Continue Reading