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Ask HN: How can banks use the Internet to better serve their customers?
I work for a bank and recently submitted an idea which landed on the desk of someone fairly high up the organisation. To my surprise he now wants to meet me and discuss how the bank can use the internet in a better way to serve its customers.
I am keen to go to him with some ideas of my own but also would love to hear what the community thinks. I would imagine you all have bank accounts and everyone here is certainly passionate about the internet. How can the two marry in a better way? What would you like to see your bank implement that would be of benefit to you?
Thanks in advance for the comments.
- stonemetal 16y agoThe internet is good for one thing information. Providing tools to make that information available and easy to understand is pretty much the best you can do. There are several businesses in the make sense of my bank's information category aping them might be a first step(mint and the like.) Budgeting and getting alerts when certain budget limits are met say a text when 90% of my monthly entertainment budget is gone, or better yet be able to check my entertainment budget balance by web enabled phone so I can decide if I really need that new gizmo.
- sw1205 16y agoThat's a great idea. My housemates all use a notepad and pen to write their weekly/monthly budget out and like you say they seperate that into different categories. Their bank should provide a form for them to write in their budget and then like you say they should then get alerted when they are about to go over their budget. This is partiuclarly the case when someone approaches their overdraft limit. In England if you go past this limit you get charged £38 even if you a few pence past the limit. This has been heavily in the news over here and banks should help customers by alerting them when they get near to that limit.
- ErrantX 16y agoYes, absolutely this. And add in the ability to add various types of payments, track direct debits and other regular payments. I just moved into my own place and keeping track of budget/bills is a nightmare :) it would be excellent to replace my current manual spreadsheet with a more automated online system.
- KoZeN 16y agoI've lived & worked in Ireland, New Zealand and the UK and I can categorically say that the UK online banking system is by far the worst. My biggest issue is the time delay between making a purchase and that purchase reflecting on your account. The EFTPOS system in NZ is incredible. Almost all transactions are reflected within an hour on your account. I think a lot of my issues are probably specific to my current bank so forgive me if this doesn't apply to the company you work for but one thing that really winds me up is that I have to physically attend a branch if I want to print of an official statement. On my online account I can print off a list of transactions but only after the transactions have been exported to an excel worksheet. How hard is it to pop up a PDF document with the banks header & footer and my transactions in between that I can print off on the spot? /rant
- sw1205 16y agoIt is the same over here - I can print off Statements but they are not 'official' instead they are a list of transactions with the bank logo but they can not be used as a means of identification which is sometimes needed. I used to work in a call centre and this greatly frustrated people.
- zaphar 16y agothere are two things that immediately come to mind: 1. APIs. 2. Authorization/Authentication I should be able to get my data out and do things with it. I should be able to do so without fear. My current banks online security its mostly theatre and the API is a csv download. Must banks I know just need to catch up.
- TamDenholm 16y agoFor a long time i've wanted to disrupt[1] the UK banking industry and i even came up with a rough plan on what i'd do. While searching around i came across banksimple.com which are pretty much doing a similar thing but in the US, i know a good few people on HN are aware of them. Unfortunately its highly unlikely i'll ever get to do what i'd like to because i'm simply not in a position to do it, nor have any experience in the banking industry. It'll have to be one of those dreams that never happens. To me the number one benefit of internet banking is the convenience and less bureaucracy but even then the actual banking industry itself imposes limits on internet banking because of this and stifles innovation. I'd like to see API's for banks and i believe theres ways to do it safely and securely but i really cant see something like that happening in the next 10 years because of the industry behind the online fascia. [1] i detest using that word in this context
- mping 16y agoI don't know from where you are typing, but there's an excellent service here in Portugal called mbnet. It allows you to create a "virtual credit card" where you define a limit and the bank generates a credit card number for you with the amount you specify and with the validity of one month. I wouldn't make so much online purchases if it wasn't for this service. Another service that would be great would be something like mint. I imagine it shouldn't be hard for a bank to at least categorize the expenses so clients could have a better picture on how they spend their money.
- sw1205 16y agoA really simple thing that banks could add is that in Englan when I login to my banks website and I then have a question, I have to pick up the phone, go through 100s of security questions and then I get to speak to someone and I get to ask my question. For the life of me I don't understand why there is not a live web chat on the page. I have already gone through security, I should be able to ping a question to someone online who then responds instantly. It would save an awful lot of hassle.
- nodata 16y agoSome websites give you a security code that is valid for 15 minutes when you want to call them. The code allows you to skip telephone verification.
- jgv 16y agoI may be biased as a designer and front end engineer, but almost every banking website I've seen is designed horribly. Now I know this isn't directly answering your question, although it is addressing how banks can better serve their customers. Look at Mint. My bank could offer what Mint does, since Mint is pulling in info from my bank– but they dont. A lot of what Mint is doing seems to be making the information easy to understand. Their UI is beautiful and their UX is intuitive. For me its hard to even understand why certain design decisions were made by my bank. Beyond that, I would say to invest in mobile experiences. A lot of my interaction with my bank happens on the go as well. And while my banks iphone app is a better experience than the website, it is a little bit crippled. You should checkout companies like Venmo and Square, who are really innovating in the area of mobile payments.
- sw1205 16y agoExcellent, thanks. I will check out those companies that you mention. As you say I think all bank website desginers must have gone to the same college and been taught by a flawed professer. I think the biggest challenge for banks is to provide the enormous amounts of information that they hold on us in a clearer way. People get lost at the moment, as soon as banks can deliver information in a more straight forward way the sooner they will convert the traditionalists who insist on doing things at the branch. I am convinced people still feel they have to bank in a branch because the internet solution that banks have provided is just not good enough.
- jgv 16y agoYour last point is interesting and I agree. I wonder when the tipping point for most people will be banking in a browser as opposed to a physical location. I definitely do not envy those who have to design for banks because their work is surely cut out for them. Such a large dataset and support for everything down to IE6 (even futher?) must be a serious challenge. Also checkout BankSimple, they're gearing up to change online banking as we know it– so says the hype machine.
- sw1205 16y ago
- NZ_Matt 16y agoRecently my local bank (Kiwibank in NZ) launched a free online financial management service that I've been very impressed with. It automatically categories all my expenses and makes it easy to see where my money is going and set a budget. It also has an intuitive interface which is rare for a bank. This page gives an overview of its features: http://www.heaps.co.nz http://www.heaps.co.nz Aside from that banks should be aiming to make as many of their services as possible available online. Little things like setting up a new account should not require me go in to the bank just to fill out a form when the same process could be done online in only a few simple steps.
- nodata 16y agoHow does the categorisation work? Say I spend 1000 dollars at Walmart on a TV, what category does it show up as?
- maushu 16y agoEntertainment, I would guess.
- NZ_Matt 16y agoIt sets the category based on the name of the company that it recognises. For example if I buy a tv it would recogise the name of the electronics store and put it under the Computers and Electronics category. It's simple to manually categorise purchases from companies that is doesn't recognise and it remembers the category the next time.
- moxiemk1 16y agoEasy ways to open and close new accounts using the web interface. Operations like closing out an old savings account, opening a new one, etc. are simple to describe operationally, but aren't possible/are very hard online. Also, detailed explanations of bank-initiated charges in the transaction list. I'd like to know why my account has started charging me $4 a month, and "Maintenance Fee" isn't very descriptive. Especially since it seems to be new.
- Retric 16y agoPredict spending. If I pay my rent, student loans, etc. every month I should be able to flag that as an expected expense and see what’s left over. Basically show current both the current account balance and how much I can probably spend before I overdraw the account. Also you are not limited to showing numbers there are plenty of ways to show account information graphically. A line chart of account balance that allows you to hover over and find transactions is innovative (for a bank) if minimally useful. How about a chart of how much money you had in your account on this day over the past year. etc. PS: The bank may might lose out on fees but they can gain a lot of customer loyalty and some good publicity.
- soci 16y agoI do work for moneyStrands and we do banking stuff in a similar way Mint does. We also license our technology to banks because they lack a modern and graphical way to digest their customers financial data. eg: how much did I spend on restaurants in the latest 6 months? And if it's too much and I want to save, why not setup a budget that allows me to know when I reached it ? Or setting up alerts depending on configurable parameters in an easy way.
- sambeau 16y agoI would like to be able to split my account into virtual ones with set budgets and then issue myself cards (and limits) for each: savings, food, bills, fun etc.
- nhebb 16y agoFor U.S. banks, add better protection for wire transfers. I had to set up a separate account to accept wire transfers from international customers. After the wire transfer is complete, I shift the money to my main account to ensure no unauthorized withdrawals are made. I would like a provision that all outbound wire transfers must be authorized by the account holder (me). I don't currently do outbound wire transfers, but if I did, the bank could send out an email notification when one was requested. I could then log onto my account and approve/disapprove it.
- henry81 16y agoI've lost faith in banks. Part of why I'm even here is because I love the internet and how it gives "power to the people" Me, I want to see modernized banks (inspired by P2P-lending like Prosper and LendingClub) that give people more control and risk/reward. Ideally, a better cut of the profits. In my opinion much of this subprime lending crap could've been avoided if it's people putting their own money at risk vs bankers putting it at risk for us. Maybe I'm dreaming.
- eru 16y agoApropos pipedreams: If there was no deposit insurance, people would watch their banks much closer, and banks would be more conserative and open, because they need to convince deposit holders you that they won't go bust.
- cperciva 16y agoAllow me to transfer money between bank accounts via online banking without crazy fees. I currently transfer money between bank accounts by writing myself checks, because my bank allows me to do that for free but electronic transfers cost money. This wastes my time and waste my bank's money since it results in needless paper shuffling.
- eru 16y agoAre all banks in your country that crazy? Have you considered switching?
- cperciva 16y agoYes, they're all that crazy.
- infinite8s 16y agoA lot of banks (I'm assuming you are in the US) don't charge for initiating pull requests (or receiving them from another institution). While it seems a bit counterintuitive, I've always moved money between banks by setting up the transfer from the receiving end.
- cperciva 16y agoI'm in Canada. Initiating a pull request is basically what I do (for free) when I deposit a check, but there's no way to do it electronically (at least, not through the online banking website).
- mike-cardwell 16y agoThis is almost certainly a pipe dream, but I would love it if my bank started PGP signing (and encrypting if I provide my public key) all of their email correspondance with me.
- maxklein 16y ago- Send me emails when any amount arrives or is removed from the account - Based off my age, give me recommendations on how I could potentially grow the money I have, or what I should stick the money in (medical?) - Allow me check my current balance using the *<pin># code of mobile providers - Setup one-click transfers to some pre-approved accounts so I don't need to go through the security hassle with those particular accounts
- ascuttlefish 16y agoTake a look at http://www.mint.com http://www.mint.com for some ideas about providing useful account use and budgeting information to users.
- jgh- 16y agoBanks seem to encourage people to make really terrible passwords. Why does my password have to be 6 characters and only alphanumeric?
- grandalf 16y agoThe things that would get me to switch banks would be: - A system that helps me strategically save, pay off debt, etc., all integrated with the bank's online banking system. - The ability to deposit checks by submitting a photo of the front of the check via a website or iphone app. - No fees. Period. - A high interest savings account designed to get me to save more. Perhaps by adding extra interest if I reach a predefined goal and roll some of it into a CD. - A built-in line of credit to prevent overdrafts/fees and to encourage a more aggressive savings strategy. - Electronic signatures - Credit coaching. Help me take steps to get that 800 credit score. I think people value their relationship with a bank very highly, and this sort of thing would build tremendous trust/loyalty.
- joeybaker 16y ago• I require my bank to be secure, but for the love of god, stop going through ridiculous hoops to convince me that you're secure. Keep reminding me, and I get more convinced that I have something to worry about. Part of the genius of Mint was that they only reminded you about security when you needed to worry about it. • Make transferring, sending, and allotting money easy. It's my money, allow me to do things like set a minimum balance with alerts when I get near it, auto-bill pay should be simple, transferring money to a friend ought to be simpler than writing a check. • Focus on UX and not features. I'd rather have a bank website that simple to use than one that's loaded with features and is unnavigable.
- stevengg 16y agoIt has always bugged me that my world of warcraft account and poker accounts have and encourage the use of a rsa tokens and my bank doesn't even offer it
- amalcon 16y agoI would love some useful charts. Let me see a histogram of how much enters and leaves my account on a particular day of the week or a particular week of the month. Give me a visualization of how much money from my debit card goes where. Line items are not great at giving me a sense of where I could trim my budget. Give me an interactive budget "wizard" for reaching particular goals and identifying major cost centers. For an example that's almost wholly not applicable to me, "If you cancel cable and bring lunch to work every day, you can pay off your student loans two years sooner." With this sort of thing, it's easier to make the case for thrift to others.
- eru 16y agoPlease keep us on informed on HN of how your meeting went.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- sw1205 16y agoYes I definitely will. There is so much great stuff here that I can use. The quality of discussion within Hacker News never ceases to amaze me. I don't think big company execs realise this community exists, if they did and they asked the appropriate questions they could really do some great things which would then in turn benefit all it's customers (a lot of us in this community) greatly. Will report back in two weeks on how it went. Thanks again.
- sw1205 16y agoCould Twitter be of any use to banks? I have noticed that very few, if any, banks use Twitter. If they used it in a Dell like fashion to promote banks products at a reduced price or if they used it in a purely customer help way would this be of benefit?
- itcmcgrath 16y agoIn Australia, the major banks already do, such as Westpac, nab and ANZ. I'm guessing the potential to provide a public focus point for negative sentiment towards the banks could scare quite a few away from it perhaps?
- mfowler 16y agoThe difficult thing that you're going to run into is that most banks (outside of the big guys (Wells Fargo, Citi, BoA, etc) you're going to be utilizing an "off the shelf" system for all of your online banking. There's only a handfull of these vendors out there controlling the market, so little to no incentive for them to innovate and make things easier so requesting new features, updated UI/UX and so on are very slow to be added. In this space "mobile banking" still very much means SMS messages. Now "in front" of the loggin theres many ways you can utilize the web to make things better. Look at how any receptacle consumer service is using the tools available to market and communicate with their customers, general great customer service through email, twitter and so on are all good options but will require some due-diligence brought on by compliance regulations. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
- cromulent 16y agoThe local bank here has a nifty iPhone/Android app that lets you check all your balances and transfer funds to other people. I have no idea if every country has those. http://www.sampopankki.fi/fi-fi/Henkiloasiakkaat/mobiilipalvelut/iphone/Pages/default.aspx http://www.sampopankki.fi/fi-fi/Henkiloasiakkaat/mobiilipalv...
- eru 16y agoOne more thing: Please make sure that with the websites navigation doesn't have any server side state. To be more precise: After the overhaul of Deutsche Bank's online banking I can no longer, say, review my balances in one window and prepare a transfer in the next, because the bank assumes that I only have one window open and has some awful server side state that pretends to know what I am looking at. (So I can open two windows, but whatever I navigated to most recently, decides where I can go to from both windows.)