Why banks should rethink their fee models
If free checking accounts aren’t already a thing of the past, perhaps they should be, now that consumers are demonstrating that if something is valuable to them, they’ll pay for it.
Historically, banks have made most of their money on gotcha fees that can be crippling for low-value customers: overdraft fees, out-of-network ATM fees, fees for not maintaining a certain minimum balance. The lack of transparency around these extra charges only hurts their reputation for being companies that make money by taking money and it’s why it was so unsurprising when Bank of America announced this week that it’s yanking its free eBanking program and moving those customers to a standard checking account carrying a monthly $12 fee — which outraged the Twittersphere. Many people jumped to the defense of the bank’s poorer customers and ripped into the company for handing out bonuses at their expense (banks are used to this). There’s even a Change.org petition with at least 102,000 signatures opposing the move.
But banks have been reporting flat fee income for the past six quarters. Service charges on deposit accounts have hardly moved in several years and banks are changing their overdraft programs to improve customer relationships, which eats into that fee income. At the same time, companies like Amazon offering service bundles like Prime are showing the world that people are willing to pay a fee up front in exchange for something valuable to them. Fintech startups — which have better technology and cooler ideas than banks, but lack their resources and scale — are also showing customers they’re more transparent than your average financial institution both in their products and their messaging.
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CMO Strategies: How marketers’ social platform budgets stack up — from Instagram to TikTok
Digiday+ Research has analyzed strategies and challenges across leading marketing channels to identify key trends and best practices in our CMO Strategies series. First up: social media usage and budgets.
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Culture Brands’ Eunique Jones Gibson wants to help brands uplift, empower stories for African Americans
When Eunique Jones Gibson, founder of the Black-owned marketing agency Culture Brands, launched her agency in 2017, the 39-year-old business leader wanted to demonstrate that she could ignite conversation, introspection and social change in the industry.
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Danone’s Light + Fit brand invests in digital video ad spend, but won’t let go of linear TV
Danone-owned yogurt brand Light + Fit is doubling down on its streaming ad strategy, including investing in Netflix for the first time.
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SponsoredWhat the measurement and currency discussion really means to TV advertisers
Ali Mack, head of TV and agency, Experian Major streaming video providers have recently made headlines by adopting new currencies for ad measurement, threatening Nielsen’s long-standing TV ratings monopoly. NBCUniversal, for example, has certified iSpot and VideoAmp as currencies for advanced audiences and formed the Joint Industry Committee with Paramount, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery. […]
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The ANA parts ways with PwC in its ongoing ad tech transparency project
Sources claim the trade organization ended the relationship amid frustration with developments.
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Marketing Briefing: Why marketers are seeking deeper partnerships with artists to remix songs, offer experiences
By working with musicians and celebrities, brands can potentially generate more attention and become a part of culture, according to agency execs, who say that brands are looking for anything that can help them connect to culture more deeply.
