Quicken: The Devil's in the Details

I just had an interesting meeting with a member. It was interesting mainly because I was meeting with a member. I talk to members on the phone all the time but I don't often meet them face to face. It was also interesting to see the level of involvement some members have with their personal finances. Jim, the member I talked to, is having trouble getting our online banking and Quicken to work together. We sat down with numerous screen shots, brought up his Quicken with GoToMyPC, and browsed Quicken's support pages. We weren't able to get to the bottom of the problem but we made a little headway and, I'm hoping, he's got what he needs to get the problem solved. The humbling part of the meeting was Jim's obvious technical knowledge and passion for getting things to work. If I had a nickel for every time I've started and stopped using Quicken or Money, I'd have...well, I don't know what I'd have because I don't use all the tools available to me to manage my money. Quicken is a fairly complicated program but there must be something there that is worth the effort if Jim, who said his only job the rest of the week is getting it to work, is willing to expend so much time and energy using it. Thanks, Jim for the kick in the pants.

Wal-Mart's New Nonbank Bank

Like the recent PayPal story, this is bad news from a competitor's perspective, but from a consumer's it is great news. Sure, Wal-Mart is in it for the extra revenue, but if this saves low income consumers from having to pay the exorbitant fees check cashing places charge, then Wal-Mart should be commended.

The Bank of PayPal

It's hard to tell from this article want kind of bank PayPal is really going to turn into, but it likely means more competition for everyone in financial services. Which is good. I see it as one more player to push online banking toward nirvana, the point where I can wander around the world unfettered by wallets, credit cards, cash and still be able to get my kids a waffle cone.

The vibe

A great local example of the elusive "vibe" that Seth Godin talks about today is the grocery store VG's. VG's employees are so bright, energetic and happy that it's infectious. Their enthusiasm doesn't seem like the put on kind either, the rote "Have a terrific day and thanks for shopping at VG's". Everyone seems to enjoy working there which, having worked at a few grocery stores, is not easily accomplished.

I'm going to suggest talking to their management to see if they have any ideas that might translate into banks.

The Bank Blitz Memo: Industry Jujitsu

This is a terrific, thorough, commentary on the future of branches and technology.

The branch’s function is similar to a post office. Like a post office, nobody is at the branch because he wants to be. Customers go to branches because that’s where they have to go to get what they need done. And they’re usually far from thrilled about it.

There are certainly many reasons customers/members go to a bank or credit union branch, but the number is dwindling every day. People who are willing to accept the reasons are dwindling every day too. There are people who will not accept "Just come on in and we'll get you set up" in response to a telephone or email inquiry. I'm not sure if this should stop institutions from building branches in the short term, but I think they should give serious thought to minimizing the expense and look for ways to make smaller, more focused, branches. Rather than building a new, stand-alone, branch that tries to emulate a Starbucks, why not just rent some space next to Starbucks and let people kill two birds with one stone on morning coffee stop.

Is Motorola Stuck in the Dip?

This Business Week article is the best synopsis I've read yet of Seth's new book and, funnily enough, it's written by Seth himself.

I saw Seth earlier this week in Ann Arbor at the Michigan Theatre. He's a good speaker and does a good job of reinforcing points with examples. He's not as magnetic as I thought he would be, I guess I'd built him up a bit in my head, but he is convincing. I liked especially how he handled questions from the audience. The questions were of the "What do I do" type where the questioner seems to be looking for impromptu consulting that will result in instant wealth and glory. Seth didn't act like he knew the answer and instead reiterated points from his book(s) about being remarkable and not settling for average. Unfortunately, if you didn't get a chance to see him, you're too late because The Dip Tour just ended.

Great Story Behind a Great Commercial

I was listening to Sound Opinions yesterday and they had the record producer, Joe Boyd, on as a guest. Joe Boyd is a legend who produced early Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Richard & Linda Thompson, and Nick Drake. He told a story about Nick Drake and the song "Pink Moon" that I thought was very interesting. He said he and Nick's family were approached about using the song for a commercial and his initial reaction and recommendation was to not let it be used. Volkswagen, though, sent him the story board for the ad and he was won over by the fact that there would be no voice over in the ad; the ad would simply contain Nick's music and a couple of sound effects.

I don't think that ad sold many Cabriolets but I think it did add some equity to the Volkswagen brand. Why don't more advertisers go for these more subtle, less jarring ads? Let's face it, 99.99% of ads are tuned out and in a lot of cases they are physically tuned out by someone lowering the volume on the TV or fast fowarding through them. Why not make ads that, at the very least, don't aurally assault people and give a quiet moment before their show starts again?

PS: This may be my favorite commercial of all time.

Shutting Down Interest

In Seth Godin's post, "Shutting Down Interest", he mentions a politician going from 0 to 60 when someone shows the least bit of interest in them. Here's a mortgage company example of that:

Last week I filled out a form on the Quicken Loans website to try to get some rate and closing cost information on their mortgages. [I'm not ready to apply for a mortgage. I'm just trying to narrow down my options for when I am ready.] Completing the form almost immediately resulted in 4 boilerplate emails and a call. I ignored the call and responded to one of the emails and asked for rate and closing cost info. That resulted in 3 more emails and 2 more calls, none of which answered my question. They all said pretty much the same thing: "Let's get started on that loan." I finally sent an email to the individual at Quicken Loans who was contacting me and said no more emails or calls and reiterated that I was just looking for rates and closing costs. I then got an email telling me no mortgage company in America would give me that information without first getting some information from me. Though not the answer I wanted, I finally got a real answer to my question. If I had gotten that reply to my first email, I wouldn't have crossed Quicken Loans off my list of possibles.

Lifelock! Where have you been all of my life?

Lifelock, a nifty little service that "locks" down your credit file so no one can touch it without setting off alarms, bells, and whistles, makes me wonder why this isn't just the way things work. Why don't Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion simply do this for everyone without charge? I know these companies don't really exist for consumers, but how much money and sanity could have been spared if 10 years ago the credit bureaus started contacting people to confirm their credit applications. I guess I just answered my own question, there was nothing in it for them except great expense, but everyone's been trying desperately to protect their identity or their customer's identity with everything from low tech (shredders) to high tech (multifactor authentication) and still the fraud goes on. A person's identity is only worth their assets and their credit, and I'm guessing most people's credit is worth more than the assets a fraudster can easily get their hands on, so it makes sense to put a lock on the credit spigot.

Personal FinanceWorks

I attended Digital Insight's National Conference last week and the big news there was Personal FinanceWorks, the first product that shows the promise of the Intuit/Digital Insight marriage. FinanceWorks is a basic, online version of Quicken and likely represents the future of online banking. I say "likely" because I think there is still a chance for online banking to go in the opposite direction and offer fewer features rather than more. Don't get me wrong, FinanceWorks looks great and a big step forward, but I think consumers would be better served by an open framework that would free their banking data from it's constraints and let it be pushed, pulled and mashed in myriad ways. I certainly like the idea of one of our members using our site to keep track of all of their finances but I don't see Gen Y bending to our will.

Leo Laporte says kids are moving from MySpace to Facebook and beyond

According to Leo, MySpace is passe' and most kids have moved on to the better looking Facebook. And he thinks they will very quickly move on to the even better looking Virb.

Will CU's follow these elusive, possibly lucrative, youngsters as they wend their way around the net? How desperate will a CU seem when it has an account on all 3 sites?

Save up to 73%! Really?

Sales like this DVD one at DeepDiscount, though not technically dishonest, bug me. What bugs me is how they can say 73% off of DVDs, which, as far as I can tell, have no definitive price. I know they have a list price, but DVDs are so often used as loss leaders at the big retailers that I don't think anyone really ever pays the list price. Like I said, this bugs me...not a lot. Just enough to bug you with it.

I'm Back!

[Cue thunderous applause]

I've decided to try this again, see if I can get something out of it.

My goals:

1. Find something exciting/interesting to blog about

There really isn't any reason to set loftier goals. Anything good that will come out of this has to start there, so that will have to be my focus.

What's your boss's house worth? Zillow can tell you

This article rightly points out how inaccurate/incomplete the information on this home valuator site, Zillow, is, but this site is still very valuable. It's valuable because it's created a model for how a home valuator should work. The inconsistencies will be worked out and eventually this will be the standard. It's a bit scary for people who hold on to and protect their personal financial information like their life depended on it, but transparency is coming.

This could either be the next big thing, or a failed experiment

Prosper.com is a new website/company that has gotten a fair amount of press for it's person to person lending model. First off, I think the idea is terrific. Let people looking for a lower rate loan meet people looking for higher rate of return on their savings and reap a small percentage from the exchange. It's a win, win, win, and disintermediation at its finest. Will it work? The idea, definitely. This particular version of the idea? I think so, if things go well from the start. A couple of deadbeats early on could quash the confidence of on the fence lenders. I will be keeping a close eye on this and may even try it if I come across some loose change.

It's been awhile...Part Deux

I'm going to start this up again. The industry was in the doldrums for awhile; not many new developments or products. It's starting to heat up again, though (prosper.com, zillow.com, etc.), so I'm going to give it another shot.

Stay tuned.

A Real Remedy for Phishers

Bruce Schneier, the author of this article, makes a good point about how fraud mainly hurts individuals even though FIs bear a great deal of the financial burden. FIs simply accept the loss, take a little from column A, transfer it to column 2 and they are done. A victim of identity fraud is looking at months of work and stress to clear their name.

Now, Every Keystroke Can Betray You

Good overview of the latest scary problems facing consumers and, by extension, FIs.

Review: Mobile Payment Has Growing Pains

Just stretching my legs. I have to slowly work my way back into posting.

Reasons for No Posts

I haven't posted for awhile for a few reasons:

• I haven't really seen any "new" news related to Online Banking or Bill Pay; everything lately has seemed like a rehash.


• I'm starting to question the value of blogging; there just seems to be so much out there that it's hard to see how I can add anything especially since I don't really have any time to devote to it.
  


• No one reads my posts; this is probably the biggest reason.