India’s Term Deposit Interest War

Customers have never had it so good recently, as banks are at war, wooing them with ever increasing interest rates on term deposits. Indian Overseas Bank tops the list of high return rates with a whopping 10.25% interest for senior citizens, on a 42 month deposit period. Centurion Bank too is topping the 10% mark, with a 10.05% return. Other banks in the 10% range are Canara Bank, IndusInd Bank (for a mere 100 day deposit) ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India. While the 10% + options are reserved for Senior Citizens, even the average depositor could get as much as 9.5% on deposits with little or no minimum. City Union Bank expects you to deposit just Rs 100. What makes all this such a winning proposition for customers is the fact that some of the banks are throwing in every thing from free ATM cards, access to internet banking and premium banking features like financial planning to people who make these deposits. Read more.

Bullish on Online Banking

Forrester is not normally known to make conservative estimates, so it was a bit surprising that it is so bullish on the penetration of Online banking in the US. Their latest report says that the U.S. market will grow to 72 million online banking households in less than 5 years, a 55% increase from Forrester’s current estimate of 46 million. If that happens, penetration would be 63% of all households, or 76% of all online households. It is estimated that 10% to 15% of households don’t even have a bank account. If you subtract those from the total, Forrester is saying that more than 70% of U.S. households with bank accounts, will be using online banking less than five years from now. Some experts however are wondering if this is a bit too aggressive. In India, IMAI estimated in 2006 that there are 4.5 million people who use online banking, this number is slated to grow to 16 million by 2008. The real potential in India will however come from mobile banking, as it is a nation with over a 100 million active mobile phones.

Middle Age, Money Age

Batsmen are said to peak in their early thirties. Chess players in their mid-30s. Theoretical economists in their mid-40s. So what is the age that most people make the right financial decisions? 53 years, according to this report from Social Science Research Network, (you can download the report as reported here) by David Wessel in The Wall Street Journal. The sophistication of financial decisions varies with age: middle-aged adults borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees compared to both younger and older adults. Four researchers, two from the Federal Reserve, one from MIT and another from Harvard, looked at data from ten financial markets and discovered that sophistication of financial choices peaks at about age 53.

Skype Gets Into Money Transfer

A few days ago, Skype said that users of its Internet telephone service will soon be able to transfer money to each other using PayPal. Both Skype, the Voip phone service and online financial transaction service, PayPal, are owned by Internet auction firm eBay. PayPal already allows people to transfer funds online using email. With Skype, who has over 150 million users worldwide, it will be possible to transfer money between Skype users via their online phone service. The plan is to roll out the service globally sometime towards the end of April this year.

Brands in Beta

Brands of the future need to get over the “we are the brand, we know” attitude and cede control to consumers. As Influx Insights reports: What’s interesting about brands being in beta, is that they are openly acknowledging to consumers that they are not quite ready. They are showing vulnerability and in so doing, their humanity. Like what Ing Bank is doing with Virtual Holland in Second Life, we talked about it here a few weeks ago. A few links on the home page have been left empty, suggesting that the experience is still evolving and that the brand is willing to listen to whoever has a good idea. On similar vein, O&M Bangalore planner Mohammed Iqbal, talks about The Long Tail of Brand Communication, where he outlines eight points that could help brands take advantage of the Long Tail, they include, trade control over influence, employ recognition for world-of-mouth for your brand building efforts. Brilliant!

Differentiation the Virgin way

“We’re small, with only 40 planes,” says Paul Dickinson, sales and marketing director of Virgin Atlantic, “the only chance we’ve got is to be better.” So how does Virgin build differentiation and thereby loyalty? The strategy is to stay flexible to customer needs by giving them choices. If customers have choices, then they feel as if they can own the experience, which builds satisfaction and loyalty. This culture of choice has netted Virgin Atlantic some impressive results. Ninety-five percent of upper class customers say they have received good or excellent service, and 96 percent would fly Virgin Atlantic again. Additionally, 95 percent would recommend the service to others. Helping Virgin achieve cult status in customer delight is its highly engaged workforce. Eighty-six percent of the staff is “very proud” to work for Virgin,” Dickinson said “and the other 14 percent is “quite proud.” A “Virgin person” is someone who will listen to the customer, has passion for new ideas, stays calm under pressure, and hates standing still, he said. It’s a culture that is instilled in the DNA of all Virgin businesses, and a reason the Virgin brand can stretch across industries as diverse as transportation, music, telecom, and even biotech.

Patriot Games

Chrysler’s Jeep has created an intense online experience as part of its 2007 campaign for Jeep Patriot. Imagined by digital agency Organic, this truly engaging experience gives the viewer complete control to navigate through the film. The story begins around a campfire with our group of friends, Gary, Srini, and Jodi, and a story of a legendary treasure that starts the adventure.  Next watch a video and then decide your fate by choosing the next path.  A total of 44 scenes including, dead ends (which you can actually get out of) and four user-customizable scenes make this a truly unique interactive experience. Go visit the Way-Beyond Trail for a new kind of fun and be sure to fill out the permit with as much info as possible – the payoff is priceless. Here’s what AdAge has to say about the online adventure.

s little or no differentiation.

Power of Dance

Going out in a hip and trendy club and still be responsible. This idea forms the base for the Sustainable Dance Club, a concept that combines contemporary lifestyle with the latest ideas on sustainability. Dreamed up by the hipsters at Enviu – innovators in sustainability – and Döll – studio for the art of building, this clubbing concept helps turn fancy footwork into kilowatts of power using a specially created dance floor. In HongKong, California Fitness has built a gym fueled by manpower, in which energy burned off by exercisers is diverted and converted to power lighting fixtures, while excess energy is stored in a battery. The gym’s 13 step, cycling and cross-training machines in the “Powered by YOU” program it’s a great way to build conversation about a service that has little or no differentiation.

Bill Pay

Pew Research Centre has another detailed Social Research paper on how America pays bills. This fascinating study shows how the bill paying habits of a nation has changed in just one generation. While over half of those interviewed still use cheques to pay their bills, about the third of Americans use online payment methods to pay bills. Cable and satellite TV bill top the bill pay list, followed by house rent or loan repayment, followed by cell phone and Internet bill. In fact three of the top four items are recent additions to an American’s pay out list. There’s a lot you can glean from this study on how things are changing in the average American home. Read the 26 page report, here.

Beautiful Change

Creative Review Magazine is running a feature on commemorative coins from Britain and how the Royal Mint has been using the 50p coin as their design canvas. In fact, looking at the range of commemorative coins is like taking a history tour of the nation. From the nation’s entry into the European Union in 1977 to the Centenary of the Foundation of the Scouting Movement in 2007, there are some stunning pieces on show on the Royal Mint site. For those with an interest in Numismatics, here’s World Coins. Earlier in the CR Blog: The Money Maker.