E-Commerce Commission Press Kit

One-to-one MarketingToday, most banks are still equipping their Web sites with basic transactions processing and dolittle with tailored or one-to-one marketing. However, some now realize that through theInternet, a bank can get to know a customer’s banking priorities and preferences even better thanit could when banking was done in small neighborhood branches.Bank of America’s “Build Your Own Bank” provides an example of how one-to-one marketingcould work. Internet customers using this service provide the bank with basic information abouttheir place of residence, occupation, age, income and gender, whether they own or rent a home,and what types of accounts they have with the bank. They then indicate their financial interestsand priorities—whether saving and investing, home buying/improvement, building a business,retirement, economic and financial markets, electronic commerce, or simply better financialorganization and budgeting. Based on these inputs, the bank responds with Money Tips and newsitems geared to the customer’s interests, and special offers for the services the customer hasprioritized.These and similar mechanisms give banks the opportunity to cross-sell products and services.Ideally, the customer benefits from these tailored offerings, as well. At a minimum, he shouldbenefit from greater convenience. Because his account profile automatically gets called up whenthe customer logs into a personalized site, he wastes no time entering account information.Having up-to-date information about balances in each account gives the customer a snapshot ofhis holdings with the bank without having to do the math himself. The personalized tips andspecial offers may help the customer to make important financial decisions.The FutureOver the next few years, a growing number of American households are expected to do theirbanking online—whether through a dial-up connection to their bank or through the Internet.Roughly 4.5 million households were banking online in 1997. By the year 2000, as many as 16million households are expected to bank online. 75INSURANCEInsurance carriers’ Web sites typically provide customers with basic corporate and policyinformation, but refer customers to offline agents or customer service phone representatives inorder to make a purchase. A more limited number of carriers’ sites, and other sites, includingbanks, securities brokerages, real estate companies and automobile marketplaces, allow Internetcustomers to purchase term life, automobile and homeowners’ insurance online.31