Community

@Matt: "Cardholders will have any remainder left on their account refunded via cheque". (my highlight)

Need I say more?

The shame is that it is limited to just using mobile phone numbers. If I could link, say, my Facebook profile, or LinkedIn profile, or Twitter, or G+, or Skype (and so on), then digital payments could be made even more accessible. Now, how do I perform my international remittance...?

Before adopting the world of LEGO, we would be first forced to adopt Duplo. It's a bit clumsier, but we're assured it can do everything we want, even though it can't. Then we make the miraculous leap over to LEGO. Now we really can do all that we want, utilising the global brick standard. But just as we are all consumed within our LEGO world, we get forced down the Meccano route. Essentially does the same, but in a slightly more complicated way. Publicly we will rave about Meccano, but privately with our confidantes we will talk about our preference for LEGO. Ultimately it is about what most satisfies our demands - our demands, not demands artificially foisted upon us, but our demands. LEGO has managed to do that over the years, from basic LEGO sets through to Technical LEGO to Robot Mindstorms LEGO. Fundamentally the same, maintaing the underlying user experience, but evolving with the times, keeping up with our demands. Which I think, Liz, is saying pretty much what you are.

"The APR never becomes relevant..."

I'm not sure the regulator would agree with that comment, especially if it is used as part of a sales-pitch.

I wonder if we get caught up in nomenclature far more than non-bankers do?

A bank ought to research its target demographic and name/brand its account appropriately. Once the brand has been applied, what you mention just become generic terms for a type of account anyway. That generic term is still useful though, in bringing some broad sense of classification to the account.

The problem that we would have in naming the type of account to completely reflect its purpose is that we would end up with somewhat ridiculous portmanteaux.

Would you like to open a debitcardonlinemobileinterestfreeoverdraftnochargeswhilstincreditwithnochequebook account?

Or would you rather a Platinum Current Account?

Ps/I have to add that I have always considered "checking" to be an erroneous term for a bank account (without even getting started on the spelling!): a "current" account is for now, a "checking" account for the past.

Martin, lots of people are already, in principle, doing what you suggest - i.e. they are updating their location via their [typically] smart phone. Allowing organisations such as banks and card providers access to your location, when you choose to allow it, can be done either directly (e.g. "Check In" via a mobile banking app or equivalent), or via "Social" (think foursquare, or Facebook Places - where you privately share your location directly). The advantage of using a social mechanism, or a standalone "location" app, is that you can potentially notify all those organisations that need to know with one single check-in (having previously approved their access to that information). If your bank was going to decline based upon your location, it could then decide to approve the transaction because it "knows" that you are currently within a suitable range of where you are trying to perform the payment. Not just in the US, but down to street-level.

If your bank does not offer this service, ask them why not!

Opt-in is key here. From the reserach that I have been involved in, consumers are happy to "check-in", but reject being "tracked". Services that wish to take advantage of context, i.e. location/activity etc need to be conscious of this. We have seen in the past how publicly people voice their concerns when something goes too far in the direction of Big Brother, such as the iOS location tracking issue from last year. Conversely, the ongoing growth in location based services driven by check-in demonstrates that people are willing to share personal information when it is of benefit to them - but not continuously (which is what mobile phone tracking would do).

Analogies are dangerous things! If we lived in a world with no power grid and no personal generators, would batteries become the new gold standard, or a universally accepted currency?

The point I'm making though is that banks are missing out on large revenue streams by not adapting to new and emerging payment networks. What %age of global workers remittance payments do the banks have a share of, as an example? They could increase this by adapting to their customers' demands: building windmills and not wind-breaks.

Agreed, and that's why I think your thoughts on flagship / satellite are well-founded. For those people and times when it has to be face to face, how can the banks service this whilst also dramatically reducing the cost per interaction/transaction.

What my example also demonstrates, I believe, is how important the experience is regardless of the channel being used. ATM's are painless to use (for the vast majority of us), self-checkout is the complete opposite. UX is therefore a key element. I am still surprised by certain online/mobile sites/apps where it is a struggle to work out how you can achieve what you want to do.

Banks should be acutely aware of this, and constantly evolve their offerings, rather than a fire-and-forget approach that I too often see. 

There is a great article on A/B testing in the current edition of Wired magazine that I can recommend to all.

Brett, you go to pay in a supermarket. There are no queues (fanciful idea, I know, but stay with me). You have the choice of going to a checkout where a member of store staff will scan your shopping, or you can go to an automated checkout ("unexpected item in the bagging area"). Which do you choose?

For me, I choose the staffed checkout everytime, even if I know it might take longer to checkout.

Sometimes, people value that human interaction. They want the service they believe they are paying for.

Flagship / satellite might be the way to go, and in those geographies that are seeing the decimation of the high-street, would allow banks to be where there customers are - perhaps we'll even start seeing popup banks. Popup banks would also allow those online organisations that offer people the ability to move and bank to have a real-world presence for customer acquisition (although when does a trade-stand become a popup bank?).