Kristin R. MoyerStessa Cohen here. The other day, I read somewhere (I think it was on Twitter, but who could find that post now?) that through the Credit Union Service Centers, credit unions offer their members the ability to download Credit Union Service Centers location data into their GPS devices.
Some banks have more branches than the 3,444 total number of service centers involved in this US-based shared branch network. But it’s not numbers or shared branches that caught my eye. It has to do with customer-focused services.
I field a lot of questions from banks around the world who are concerned about upgrading their online banking capabilities. The ability to download ATM and branch locations into a car GPS is all about service. And service is what differentiates. But, are consumers, bank customers, really interested in this service now offered by credit unions? Are banks missing yet another opportunity by thinking in terms of channels and products?
Though I just published a note about what consumers think about mobile banking, multichannel integration and web 2.0, I had no data about what consumers might think about downloading branch locations into their GPS. So, I went off in search of some consumers and data. I surveyed a non-random group of my fellow analysts, who are located in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Hong Kong. Fifteen of my Financial Services colleagues responded. Of the analysts who responded, 10 analysts are based in the US, 2 in the UK, 1 in Canada, 1 in Germany, and 1 in Hong Kong.
In response to the question “does your car have a Global Positioning System (GPS)” Out of 15 responses, 7 analysts (46.7%) reported that they did have a GPS and 7 (46.7%) reported that they did not. One analyst responded that he or she did not have a car.
One hundred percent of the analysts who reported that they had a car with a GPS responded that their bank did not offer the ability to download ATM and branch locations into their car GPS. This meant that not a single analyst was able to respond “Yes” to the question, “Have you ever downloaded ATM and branch location information into your GPS?”
Those analysts with car-based GPS were asked, “Would you be interested in downloading ATM and branch location information into your GPS? ” Here were the responses, with the overwhelming response being “No:”
Yes – 42.9%
No – 57.1%
In this small and select sample, size, 57% express no current interest in downloading bank location information, 43% percent are interested in downloading the information to their GPS. However, 43% of the respondents still expressed a need – just not one not shared by the majority of respondents.
This small survey reveals that US credit unions may be on to something: In a time when technology can enable companies, banks, to meet the needs of more niche segments of their customers, perhaps the credit union GPS download is a good idea. Even if most members aren’t going to download the data, the availability puts bank location information where customers want it: on the dashboard of their car.
Of course, I realize I can’t get too excited about this “data.” This was a short, incomplete 6-question survey with 15 respondents. For example:
- I asked only about GPS devices in cars and I didn’t include mobile GPS devices in my survey. So that is yet another opportunity or prospect.
- I didn’t let those analysts who did not have a GPS answer questions about whether they too would like to download bank location information into a GPS or if the availability of such data would motivate them to buy a GPS for their car or to buy a mobile GPS.
- My sample size is way too small and limited.
But, what it perhaps the responses point out the fork in the road. Banks can choose to focus on the 57% that would not download the information – or on the 43% who would.
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Category: Uncategorized Tags: banking and investment services, credit unions, gps, multi-channel integration
