Announced today, July 1st, 2010, personal financial management (PFM) website Wesabe has announced that they will no longer be operational as of July 31st, 2010.  According to a notice posted on their website by CEO Marc Hedlund.

Business analytics (BA) is typically implemented to gain insights into and reveal patterns about consumers' behavior. It utilizes statistical technologies such as data mining, clustering and regression modeling to discover relationships in data that can determine the probable outcome of future events and allow for users to take preemptive actions if necessary. Often, such analytics are able to make predictions that are otherwise not apparent or too complex to be identified using core analytics software.

Interestingly, according to several recent IDC end user surveys, we found that BA is establishing rapid inroads into the Asian financial services community. Amongst the insights garnered, we discovered that three in four financial institutions have implemented a BA solution, with the bulk having opted for packaged BA solutions (a testament to the robust functionality of most vendors' off-the-shelf technology). However, almost one-third of the surveyed have issues quantifying the probable cost/benefit trade-off from BA. In addition, a core challenge in implementing BA solutions is poor data quality which limits the efficacy of analytics.

AT&T's recent announcement that they will no longer offer an unlimited data plan for new customers of smartphones, including the pending new iPhone, may in fact be the beginning of a fundamental pricing model change across numerous industries. Financial service firms may possibly be front and center to adopt similar pricing models.  How can AT&T's announcement help financial institutions capture more value-based rather than punitive non-interest income? Simple, we have to get used to paying for what we utilize.

First Apple came out with the iPhone and it changed the landscape for mobile devices. People began to see the power  of TIME (technology, information, media, and entertainment)  converging  in a device that could fit in their pocket. Developers latched onto the popularity and now there is pretty much an application that will do anything from calculating nutritional values at fast food restaurants, to applications that utilize GPS to provide walking directions to the closest ATM. Early on, most (myself included) felt that downloadable applications for financial institutions were akin to developing software for PC banking of the 90's. I for one felt that the premise of having consumers go to a site to download a specific application would be foolish when we have become so accustomed to having the browser be our gateway. I may however have been premature to think that was the case. Apple certainly changed the rules and the habits of consumers and today it is a reasonable strategy to develop online banking applications that run on the iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms. Now along comes the iPad which will require its own development efforts.  Should banks develop specific iPad applications?

The short answer is yes; it is inexpensive, it gives the financial institution publicity, and perhaps will draw in some new business. The difficulty however lies in the fact that the mere form factor of the iPad does not really make it a mobile device and perhaps downloading a banking application on it will not be necessary. Have you seen what your bank website will look like on an iPad?  Go to the site www.ipadpeek.com and take a look. Most sites on the iPad come across as pretty impressive. In fact, why not just utilize existing online banking and bill pay applications meant for access from PC's and Mac's and focus application development on the smaller form factors devices? Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) in fact recently announced that they will be dropping mobile browser based banking and instead focus on SMS and downloadable applications - primarily because of low usage.  I wonder how much the iPad played in their decision? Perhaps the writing is on the wall when it comes to offering access to financial services where a  three prong approach would be:

• Continue to develop and enhance traditional online banking for access from desktops, laptops, MacBooks,netbooks, iPads, etc.
• Develop further functionality around SMS - an extremely popular and widely accepted method of communication.
• Develop downloadable applications for the largest market share smartphones, such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Android. 

What do you think?

Remember a few years ago when the banking community was on edge that Walmart was going to get a bank charter and the pundits declared that Walmart would soon dominate the banking world? Now, some wonder if Facebook could represent a formidable challenger to the established banking community. After all, we have all seen the stats about how many people are on Facebook (it would be the 4th largest country in the world, 50% of Facebook users login at least once a day, etc.) But what about Apple? Or Google? Or here is a thought - how about nobody? Does succeeding in being a low cost leader, a leader in innovation, a social networking juggernaut or the grandaddy of the web equate to being good bankers? Do these leaders in their respective fields really have a long term strategy around entering the financial services industry? Should banks partner, isolate, or fear these industry giants?

The new Credit CARD Act went into effect yesterday with many restrictions such as universal default, double-cycle billing, and overlimit fees. Aaron McPherson has a great post on the Credit CARD Act and his thoughts on its implications. 

There were many professional opinions of how the customer will be impacted (the consensus – negatively via increased fees) and much talk about personal experiences. I’d like to look at two institutions that have generated some buzz – Citi and USAA, each at opposite ends of the spectrum.

On January 28th, I attended an event put on by the Massachusetts Bankers Association for CEO's and Senior Management. The well attended event was an opportunity for bankers of smaller institutions to discuss some of their biggest challenges and to think strategically about the road ahead. A keynote at the end by Claire Shipman of ABC News helped to frame the political landscape and the impact Washington has over the banking industry.