ESRI Financial Services SIG

Mapping The Vast Indoors

2011-11-29T17:41:00.005-08:00

A few years ago, my old friend Brad McCallum (who is now at APOS integrating BI and GIS) and I were doing a trade show for ESRI when Brad had a thought. All of this trade show should be in a GIS, not just in a paper map. And you should be able to use it to find what you want and navigate the show.

To which I said, all space can be mapped, including indoor spaces - and not just malls and airports and bus and train terminals, but casinos and libraries and you name it. Including the space between your ears. This is where GIS and CAD show their common parentage.

Another good friend and colleague and GIS developer extraordinaire Kurt Gunther did just this - with hospital beds, in his great eBeds software that manages hospital beds, and the folks in them and serving them, just like they were GIS features.

Today, Google made it real for the average person. "Google Maps 6.0 for Android brings the freestanding map directory to the palm of your hands," announced today on the Google blogs. These detailed floor plans automatically appear when you’re viewing a map and zoom in on a building where indoor map data is available.

For now, the data is limited - Ikea, a few Macy's, the Mall of America, a few major airports. But we all know where we're going. Where Brad said we would, more than ten years ago. And the possibilities, for those of us in GIS land in general, and in ESRI and APOS land in particular, are infinite.

Bank of America Backs Down On $5 Monthly Debit Card Fee

2011-11-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Graphic: Joe Lackow

As it turns out, it was a short wait before Bank of America decided to cancel the $5 monthly debit card fee, wherein the customer is explicitly charged for accessing their own money with a card instead of a paper check. Wasn't the whole idea to use the cheaper, greener card payment? Nuh uh. I guess.

Anyway, the bank announced today that they are backing down. And the statement came directly from the COO, who is probably livid with his PR people right about now. The official statement, from David Darnell, the Bank's Co-COO, which is probably just how Dave feels today.

"In response to customer concerns and the changing competitive marketplace, Bank of America no longer intends to implement a debit usage fee. We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee, Our customers’ voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so."

In other words, we invited regulatory, governmental and public scrutiny, we misinterpreted our original customer research, we were cynical about the stickiness of electronic banking and its weight on customer inertia, we failed to gauge the social climate about as badly as we misjudged the competitive climate - and our major competitors became so upset that we upset consumers so much, they cut and ran and left us twisting in the wind, alone.

I know that Pete Hart, who I worked for at First Interstate and who later became President of MasterCard and Cirrus and knows as much about how people like to use payment cards as anyone ever has, is bemused right now. The industry got a black eye, and the COO had to step in, because they just don't have solid marketing people and strategic planners like Pete Hart and Dick Rosenberg at the helms of these big banks anymore.

Leading a balanced life with Richard M. Rosenberg, former CEO of Bank of America from Jewish Community Federation on Vimeo
Pete has retired, but Dick - who once ran Bank of America, and when he did, said that the assets of the bank walk out the door and go home every night - will still tell you how to live a balanced life.

Wells, Chase, Others Back Down on Debit Card Fees

2011-10-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out.

Wells Fargo announced on Friday that the 5 state test of debit card fees started on October 14 will be canceled. TD Bank, the Canadian bank that acquired Commerce Bank last year, followed suit.

And, word is leaking out of Chase, accoding to the AP, that they will stop charging their $3-per-month fees when the current Wisconsin and Georgia pilots end next month.

Bank of America had news on Friday, too. As with Chase, an unidentified source told the AP that B of A will offer ways for its customers to avoid debit card fees through using direct deposit, maintaining minimum balances and/or using their Bank of America credit cards.

Citibank, where debit card fees are already implicitly reflected in fees as high as $20 a month for the underlying checking account, is going to town talking about their never did, never will policy towards debit card fees.

Countering that, at least one credit union - Bethpage FCU in New York - is offering Free Checking for Life for new members of the Credit Union. With commercial banks (like Chase) offering bounties of $100 or more to acquire a new customer, that might be pretty sharp marketing - communicating peace of mind and value, and spreading the bounty out over a longer period of time.

One thing is for sure.

The Waiting is the hardest part. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, THANK YOU for supporting KCSN and playing our beautiful little Plaza del Sol theater at Cal State Northridge on Saturday night. We will never forget you.

Relative Strengths of Banks v. Credit Unions

2011-10-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of weeks, we've seen a lot of anti-bank sentiment in response to the announcement of debit card fees, in the wake of reduced interchange income for the banks. It has been salt in the wound of a huge bailout and the role of banks in the foreclosure crisis, followed directly by bonuses and record profit.

This has extended to at least one representative in Congress who stood before us and told Americans to dump Bank of America to send a message about the $5 debit card fee. I don't know about you, but as much as we may find banks culpable, I don't think that is very fair, nor is it the place of government to do.

As if consumers needed to be told, anyway. They know how to vote with their feet really, really well.

And the Nightly Business Report video in the upper right of this page is but one example in a torrent of media coverage about Americans leaving B of A and other big banks in droves, and heading to their latest credit union. In fact, one of our major CU clients hung signs in their branches with a big $5, in a big red circle, with a big red slash through it. Other reports, from credit union leagues to the bar on the corner, are that there is a significant uptick in CU membership happening right now.

But whether you are a bank or a credit union or a consumer, there is something solid to be sold and to be bought, and tradeoffs to be made. As the NBR report suggests, those who value convenience and security and the latest technology might do well to stay put with their big bank, because they do those things well and provide value for those fees. And those who are value-oriented, prefer a bit more old-fashioned service, and care about credit union values like co-ownership would do well to investigate their credit union options.

Regardless, it's time to face facts, America. It costs quite a bit for a bank or credit union to do all it needs to do to provide you with a good, solid, safe checking account, and there is quite a bit of value there - despite the fact that this has been given away by so many and for so long. As always, it is a matter of understanding what one's customers and members want and demand; how one's competitors react and what they offer and charge; and the overall environment in which services are offered and consumed.

And most of all, every financial institution and every American should understand that BANKS DON'T MAKE MONEY OFF A SINGLE SERVICE CHECKING RELATIONSHIP, AND NEVER REALLY COULD. It is the broader customer relationship that is profitable, to all concerned. And to those who point to customers who generate a lot of NSFs and overdrafts, let me tell you something. Relying on the kind of marginal customer who generates enough of these fees to seem profitable in the short and medium term will jump up and bite you on the ass one day - when they go belly-up on you.

Almost everyone's financial needs extend well beyond a checking account, and it is crucial to seek out relationship, whether based on transactions, consumer credit, home oriented lending, saving, investing, insurance and most likely, a combination of these that is market segment-specific. Banks and credit unions will be most successful as they become more consultative, and move towards fee-based offerings like financial planning, retirement planning, college savings and planning, and medical savings and planning. Rather than trying to make money on a sure loser, and one that has never really been logically charged for before.

You know where I'm going with this. Where we always go. To the GIS, where all of this data is integrated in one place to support informed product, service and fee decisions.

Debit Card Fees - Betting On Inertia & Control

2011-10-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Ann Page, B of A's spokesperson, told the NY Times the other day that the Bank did do "extensive research on how (customers) would react to a new fee and whether it was fair." And that what this is really all about is that "People like online bill pay, it's convenient and safe... the lower attrition rate that came with it was simply a result of offering a valuable service." She also pointed out the value that fraud protection, overdraft protection and lots of ATMs add to the debit card and the checking account.

The suggestion is that, when you put this all together, the research showed it was worth the added five bucks a month to an awful lot of customers.

However, there is online bill paying scheduled through the bank; and then, there is online bill paying done directly with the folks who are billing you, in which you provide the merchant or service provider or other bank with your routing and account number. It is the latter that is much more prevalent. Banks don't control online bill paying, they offer the convenience of aggregating and scheduling the payments in one place. Which is valuable. But not prevalent, and not growing anywhere near as fast as online payments in total.

But, even more importantly, we have two old, old sayings in retail banking administration that are really important. One is that a legislated solution thrust on banks is the worst possible thing that could happen to everybody. And the other is that, when you do need to impose or raise fees, one does this QUIETLY.

Well, the horse is kind of out of the barn on the latter. And, on the former, there is a bill in Congress that will reduce the inertia and friction of moving a checking account to another bank when one has linked many electronic payments to that checking account. In essence, the "Freedom and Mobility in Consumer Banking Act" will make it as easy to change checking accounts online as it is today to transfer credit card balances. One will simply provide the routing and account number for their new bank to their old one.

That is why debit card charges make sense, but are a bad bet on inertia. Despite the research. Despite the the fact that online and mobile payments are making checking "stickier" and the numbers show that fewer Americans indeed are changing banks.

Then, there are the issues of context and timing. Corporate earnings are high, on the way to job creation and new investments. But so is unemployment, and people are losing patience. So much so, in fact, that the context of the debit card fee introduction is the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon. Worst, worst of all, is failing to calculate the loss of immeasurable goodwill for the Bank and the industry. When your actions fuel a fire that brings heat down on your whole industry, and protesters start looking for you at home with their demands - this, this is not good.

Research is there to be applied, not to pass judgement. As an old boss of mine at a big research supplier used to tell our clients, senior marketing people at major corporations, "Well, if it did, we wouldn't very well need you, would we?" I also recall my COO at Great Western Bank, who once told me as his strategic planner, "You are looking out the back window. And I appreciate the view. But don't try to drive the car."

So, B of A did do their homework. They just did it wrong.

But the fact is, a good checking account costs and is worth a lot. Consumers are going to get used to understanding all these costs first, and then the value. And then, we are going to be able to have everyone pay their fair share according to how much Bank they consume.

And we'll find a much better time and a better way to tell them about it.

And, of course, GIS will play a role in creating, and communicating, the value the customer receives and why this costs so much damn money.

Don't Charge Me for Using My Own Money!

2011-10-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Bank of America's proposed $5 debit card fee is offering a virtually unprecedented treasure trove of consumer feedback. Nearly every major newspaper and financial website has content and user comments about the proposed fee.

One of the richest sources is certainly at Change.org, where nearly a quarter million citizens signed a petition to the Bank to rescind the fees.

One thing is becoming very clear. At its root, the consumer marketing question for a bank remains the same - don't charge me to use my own money. Consumers perceive that they should not be paying for accessing their checking accounts via card rather than via check at the point of sale. What also remains is the fact that consumers don't understand the costs to the bank that are involved.

At the end of the day, consider that it is far better to sink these costs into the overall cost of monthly checking, than to charge explicitly for the debit card or use of the debit card that accesses it. And there can be two kinds of Checking - one with debit, one without, priced accordingly, and perhaps differing somewhat across markets.

So, use all this consumer feedback as a departure point for engaging your own customers and prospects about this, by e-mail, on the web, in social media - and in surveys and focus groups. And analyze how their concerns differ by segment and place in your GIS. Then, you'll be in the best position to reprice and communicate.

BAI RDC Online

2011-10-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Want to act more like a retailer but can't make it to Chicago? Check out BAI Global Connect, where re-imagining the branch, and the banking role at the point of sale, are dominating the buzz.

The Most Famous $5 Ever - Bank of America's Planned Debit Card Fees

2011-10-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

Graphic: Joe Lackow

That's what CNBC called it. PIRG called it a kick in the head. Bert Ely, one of the most quoted banking consultants around and with good reason, called it an incredible marketing and PR debacle instituted without research or competitive positioning.

And, Jay Leno, on The Tonight Show, called it "B.S. of A."

I say, you didn't do your homework, Bank of America. You did not consult your GIS, you did not do your financial analysis, you did not research your customers, you probably asked your customer contact staff but then ignored them anyway. And you sure as heck didn't call RPM or Bert Ely or Dave Kerstein or Steve Reider - or anybody else - for data or focus groups or surveys or social network monitoring. And boy does it show.

Banks used to make 44 cents from a merchant debit transaction. Now they make 21 cents. So. The bank needs to recover 23 cents a transaction, and at $5 a month, that is about 22 merchant debit transactions. Some people make that many, some make even more. Most don't and quite a few make just a few. And a whole lot of folks have a debit card they didn't even ask for and don't even use - they just wanted a Checking account and an ATM card - and they are really going to be wondering what the hell this five bucks gets them.

The bank has really good GIS people, great branch networkers, I know that for a fact. But I don't think management ever asked them to look at the GIS and determine which lifestyle segments make the vast proportion of debit transactions, and where they are. Hell, they had a hard enough time getting funded for a contemporary GIS at all. It would have been a small investment to determine test markets, rationalize the pricing, find ways to cut branch costs, and communicate the changes in an information-driven way - and collect a windfall nobody would take offense with, not to mention avoid national umbrage and great annoyance expressed on late night TV.

It's even worse than that, evidently nobody ever asked Marketing or Planning either, and did a competitive matrix, and see who is charging what and where and to who and for what. And that would also have clearly shown that $5 is out of whack. $2 or $3 sounds so much nicer. More like other banks charge. And more accurately reflecting the "lost" - reduced - revenue.

Add some uncharacteristically poor PR, et voila, you're not on Letterman's Top 10 list, you ARE Dave's new Top 10 List.

It's been a rough time for the banks lately. You might want to take body armor to the BAI Retail Delivery show with you this coming week.

And B of A, your website has been down a lot, too.

The old B of A would have done this in a market driven, information driven manner. And the new B of A will learn heartily from this experience, and will do that. I'm calling that one right now, they'll get this horse back in the barn. And marketing tech will help drive that.

Vaya Con Buddha, Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

Every product development person alive feels sick and sad right now at the passing of Steve Jobs, the greatest new product guy since Da Vinci. Because, most of the whole world is saddened by this news, and no one in that world was not touched by this man and what he did. But most, most of all, what a terrible loss for Laurene and the kids, my very best thoughts are with you tonight.

Apple Magic - Poof?

2011-10-04T15:08:00.001-07:00

I thought the new iPhone 4s looked pretty cool at the unveiling today. It's got the iPad 2 dual core processor under the hood now, better battery, much better wi-fi connectivity, worldwide compatibility, up to 64GB storage, and a MUCH better camera.

Courtesy of InfoWorld

And, it's the first version with Siri, the voice-driven intelligent assistant that Apple acquired the technology for last year.

But it's not the awaited iPhone 5, which a lot of people were expecting today. No 4G. No bigger screen, no improved case. Etc. So, while I see a much better phone, available everywhere now except on T-Mobile and MetroPCS, with the prior iPhone 4 just 99 bucks, it seems that disappointment abounds.

And it begs the question, is the Apple magic waning, in this, the start of the post-Jobs era?

Not really.

Despite the fact that early investments in Apple (like Xerox in a prior day) have made a lot of us wealthy, the fact is that Apple has never been able to sustain steady, long term equity growth. Growth has been spectacular when it comes, but there have always been huge proportional declines. Take a look at the chart and ask yourself, how is Apple to sustain the current growth trend? Is there another iPad and iPhone to be pulled out of the hat?

Hint: it would be nice if a phone you buy today has 4G, which will be important over the total life of the phone. Unless you like having to keep upgrading. It would also be nice if someone really addressed - and emphasized - real cell phone security. An unencrypted password for the phone and a 4 digit PIN number for my e-Wallet does not make me feel very secure. Especially on an OS shot through of potential breaches. And that is why every IT person you are likely to talk to will tell you that, given their preferences, there wouldn't be ANY mobile devices to manage securely in the enterprise, but the iPhone and iPad are clearly their preference if it has to be.

Back in the day, the lack of security nearly killed Windows in the enterprise. Google would do well to take that lesson to heart with Android, and do it yesterday. It is going to be an absolute given for Wallet, their mobile payment system, and everywhere security is a concern.

Which, unfortunately, and unhappily, is one long term trend that still appears to have plenty of upside in an overwhelming, international, climate of fear.

Google Wallet - Mobile Payments Finally Arrive. Sort Of.

2011-09-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

With the Google wallet, released yesterday, mobile payments on smartphones have arrived!

Well, only on the Sprint Nexus 4G. Only with a Citibank MasterCard (or Google PrePaid, though others are coming). And, only with MasterCard Pay Pass merchants (which does include biggies like Bloomies and Macy's, megachains like Foot Locker, Radio Shack, and Toys "R" Us; big drugstores like Walgreens & CVS Pharmacy, fast food outlets like 7-Eleven, McDonald's, Jamba Juice, and Subway; and big box stores like Best Buy and Home Depot.)

Google Wallet allows users to store credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards - and to receive and redeem loyalty and sales promotions - on their mobile phone. Yes, it's kind of like your physical wallet. The big enabling technology is NFC, "near field communications" that allow secure payments by simply tapping the phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at checkout.

Experience suggests that the faster the merchant throughput, the more valuable the technology will be. For example, fast food and convenience stores (and supermarkets, and gas stations) have always led the way on innovative payment systems. But it only takes a moment's reflection to imagine what this could mean at a store like Home Depot, with its excruciatingly slow point of sale. And, the value that this offering could add to a banking customer relationship, with the right kind of customer. I am reminded of the advent of ATM machines, which were thought of as a huge cost to reach what were considered marginally profitable customers. Of course, analysis showed that early ATM users used more banking services and were highly valuable relationships, and today no bank would dream of operations today without them, as the ATM itself becomes more functional and a richer experience.

Google will add VISA and Amex in the coming months, and other Android phones will start shipping with NFC chips, and other carriers will start lining up. When the next iPhone ships next month, it's gonna have NFC. Then, let's see where Apple can drive. Like, straight to the heart of the early adopters.

So. What does this mean for you, and your bank? If you don't already know which demography and Tapestry segments are driving mobile usage - and social networks - hurry up please, it's time. Your GIS awaits.

.

ESRI 2011 User Conference and Business Summit Highlights

2011-07-19T16:51:00.001-07:00

Last week's ESRI Business Summit was, for the very first time, visualized and presented as a business conference rather than a GIS conference. This reminds me of how Economy.com conferences are about business not econometrics. What is critical to my business here?

Clearly, the answer to that question, at the Business Summit, and the broader ESRI User Conference, is the power of place.

Jack Dangermond was particularly compelling and inspirational this year, opening the conference with an explosion of applications from all over the globe and all over the chart, one positive "game changer" after another after another.

Timothy and Michele Schilling astounded everyone on Monday afternoon with their tale of improving the income of Rwandan families tenfold in a decade by using GIS to process and market Rwandan coffee (broadly available under the Community Coffee brand in the U.S.) All of these presentations underscored doing good and doing well, the role of private for-profit companies in creating social as well as economic wealth.

Jacqueline McGlade of the European Environmental Agency talked about the private citizen's role in climate change, and was very moving and inspirational as well. Just One Degree = catastrophic climate change, but just one person can act. Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots, same deal.

At the Business Summit, Warner De Gooijer of Cisco (video) gave a great, clear explanation of how Cisco uses GIS as the backbone of their supply chain through which customer parts can be delivered anywhere in the world, from the closest warehouse to the needy customer, in within as little as two hours. In the same set of discussions, Nigel Davis of Willis Re (the insurance companies insurance company) talked about using crowd sourcing information from social networks like Twitter to help evaluate and manage risk and losses in a disaster. And Michelle Ellington of the University of Kentucky showed the history of facilities management at the university from paper maps to digital GIS, all the while using the process as a tool to bring stakeholders together. When I asked the panel for a model of how GIS developed in their organizations, they all agreed that find a senior manager champion, build strong GIS staff with interpersonal skills, and architect solutions as close to the heart of IT as possible were the keystones.

Earlier, Matt Mikula of Edward Jones provided a glimpse of the history of GIS usage at Edward Jones that was somewhat like Michelle's, but with the usual reticence towards fundamental systems changes at many financial institutions - where it's usually best to be second and allow someone else to be bleeding on the edge, and where IT is often tasked with wiring together different generations of technology that ends up looking like something out of the movie "Brazil". Another Matt, Matt Felton of MacKenzie Commercial RE, was as enthusiastic as anyone in recounting how he makes GIS relevant to a large number of very different people and functions in his organization. Genial Pat O'Hagan of Starbucks, who has become a fixture at this conference, was as helpful as always in explaining how Starbucks puts GIS - and business intelligence - to work.

RPM Map Gallery Entry, "Geography at Work"

RPM did its part by participating in the Map Gallery - which everybody should do, and also bring guests and family to the Reception on Monday night. And, Elio stood fondly by as our longtime friend and RPM client Scott McClymonds of ARVEST Bank won a SAG Award for Special Achievement in GIS. We began extending and enhancing the customer database using GIS with Scott in 1993.

In short, this was the best conference since the economic downturn and pone of the best ever. With 15,000 attendees, it was also the largest..

Here's Business Analyst 10 Service Pack 2

2011-07-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Fixes and improved performance await Business Analyst 10 desktop users in the BA 10 Service Pack 2. Here's a list of fixes, if you don't see yours, just holler.

ArcGIS 10 SP2 is recommended, but not required and you can install before or after BA10 SP2.

BA 10 SP2 Fixes

NIM062750 [SP2] BA 10: Changing project directory does not refresh until restarting BA.
NIM064837 [SP2] Running Market Area Gap Analysis report does not produce expected results when the option to Use all features in is selected.
NIM066107 [SP2] If a non-standard install path is selected, the following layers will have red exclamation marks and need to be resourced: Major Lakes, States labels, States border, States labels, States labels (Regional) and Countries.
NIM067407 [SP2] Store Setup - When using Store Setup on map ready data and in the Business Analyst Web.mxd the tool will fail with an error.
NIM067434 [SP2] The defined analysis extent is not always honored when running tools. The current map extent is used instead.
CQ124127 [SP2] Shopping Centers Report – Centers With Store ID 2 Show Up On Page With Store ID 1 On The Page Header
CQ158120 [SP2] BA Message Center – Recent Map Documents – Add “Business Analyst Web.mxd” To The List
CQ160494 [SP2] Trade Area Wizard - Huff Equal Probability – Incorrectly Prompts For Attraction Variable
CQ161898 [SP2] Segmentation Study reports do not have report logos
CQ167963 [SP2] If BA Is Installed, the Size of Normal.mxt File Increases After Every Start of ArcMap
CQ168183 [SP2] Upload/Download Tool: In ArcMap upload report template dialog is unavailable
CQ169770 [SP2] Color-Coded Maps toolbar should reflect changes in symbology done via Layer Properties in TOC
CQ170071 [SP2] Large trade areas that do not intersect BGs return zeros with spatial overlay or reports
CQ171520 [SP2] Message Centre L10N
CQ171884 [SP2] Threshold Areas Memory Error
CQ171979 [SP2] Color-Coded Maps Error For Specific Field With Online Data
CQ172047 DemoCalc doesn't work if there is no Blocks layer in the dataset
CQ172507 [SP2] Detailed Business Locations Report – Header Wrap Issue
CQ174072 [SP2] BA Message Center Fails When Dataset XML Is Not Available
CQ174536 [SP2] Help – Customer Prospecting Help Button Yields "This program cannot display the webpage" Message
CQ176843 DemoCalc Indexes Crashes for Custom BDS from County Areas
CQ177413 [SP2] Message Center Text Edit – Change “ESRI” to “Esri”
CQ178400 [SP2] Error when running Online Reports with Standard Geography Trade Areas created from Online Data
CQ178401 Search and Filter Control Crashes For Calculated Field Setup Dialog
CQ180186 [SP2] Create new summarizations_us.xml that corrects the inconsistent index base values in the scripts for the CEX _I variables and correctly changes the SummaryType to be SUM instead of CALC.
CQ180463 [SP2] Customer Derived Trade Areas GP Tool Error If ‘Associated Store ID Field’ Field Is Left Empty
CQ180793 [SP2] Reports – Demographic and Income Profile Report – State Annual Trend Is Blank for BG and Tract Level Standard Geographies Trade Areas
CQ180822 DIVINDEX90 (1990 Diversity Index) yields negative values
CQ181477 [SP2] The Business Locator report is not properly summing up the business counts and sales per trade area
CQ189576 [SP2] BA Geoprocessing tools do not create an output when using %scratchworkspace%
CQ190264 Simple Rings fail if store layer ID field contains NULL values
CQ190267 [SP2] BA GP Tools misuse ScratchWorkspace setting
CQ190602 [SP2] BA 10: IDS_CANT_SAVE_ADDRESS_INTO_XML An unhandled exception is encountered using Evaluate Site Wizard by entering an address.
CQ191517 [SP2] Geoprocessing Environments Default Workspace Paths Incorrectly Set To User Path of a BA Development Employee
CQ191540 [SP2] Remove (Or Replace) Single Line Geocoder Functionality From Bing Search in BA Toolbar
CQ191894 Color-Coded Maps ‘Unknown error’ When ‘USACensus2010’ Hierarchy Is Active
CQ192391 [SP2] Remove the “380 New York St, Redlands, CA” Bing Search Box Tooltip on the BA Toolbar
CQ192881 BatchReports GP Tool Creates Reports With Incorrect Names in Case Shape File Is Used as Input
CQ192884 Core Segments Report Fails if Target Groups Parameter Is Used
CQ193089 Provide User-Friendly Error Message in Color-Coded Maps Toolbar for USACensus2010 Dataset
CQ193288 Threshold Rings with Drive Time option doesn't work with Japan dataset
CQ193624 Next() operation crashes on ArcGIS Server on IStyleGalleryItemEnum interface if the object wasn't released correctly on the previous run
CQ193647 [Dev] BDS layers fail to be decoded using DecodeFeatureLayer method
CQ194338 [SP2] Cannot use custom BDS layers based on CBSA and DMA
CQ194614 [SP2] Upload Operation: File Based Repo/SDE Repo.: Unhandled Exception:System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Win 7 & Vista
CQ194617 [SP2] Download Operation: File Based Repo: Unhandled Exception :: Win 7 & Vista & XP
CQ195517 Add updated Help files to BA10SP2 setup
CQ195729 Online Reports Do Not Work Via Proxy Server
CQ195735 QuickReports GP Tool cannot work with %scratchworkspace%
CQ195906 [SP2] Evaluate Site Drive Time with All Reports Being Created in All Available Formats Doesn't Work
CQ195907 [SP2] Custom Data Setup: When Double-Clicking Field Categories It Incorrectly Highlights the Category and Fields Below Instead of Moving Them to the Right
CQ195908 [SP2] Two Online US Datasets Are Displayed in the Available Reports List
CQ195909 [SP2] Custom BDS with CEX Variables Cannot Be Saved
CQ195910 [SP2] Modern and Classic Report Styles Are Duplicated in Report Style Drop-Down Menu
CQ196176 [SP2] SDE: Download operation: Internal BA Server/BA Desktop error
CQ196289 [SP2] Color-Coded Map (Online) – Layer Attributes Are Missing ID and Name Fields Which Are Needed For Labeling
CQ196326 [Dev] On some XP machines getting items from Business Analyst.severstyle fails in GP Tools on Server
CQ197214 Upload Project: When uploading a project to BA Server, the progress bar disappears long before the credentials challenge window opens.
CQ197443 [SP2] Color-Coded Maps – Using Custom Field From Custom BDS Results in Error
CQ197444 [SP2] Smart Map – Using Custom BDS Layer Results in Error or Freezing
CQ197476 Trade Area – Equal Competition (Thiessen) Results Are Odd, Jagged, and Non-contiguous For Large Extents
CQ197534 Reports and Spatial Overlay return all zeroes for a custom BDS based on esri_bg.bds with base type = "NONE"
CQ197572 [SP2] Smart Map Search doesn't work with newly add layers
CQ197573 [SP2] Smart Map Search - Cannot add "Urban Areas" layer to the map after processing

Arvest Bank, Edward Jones at ESRI UC This Weekend

2011-07-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

The ESRI 2011 User Conference is nearly upon us, so get out those travelin' shoes. Scott McClymonds of Arvest Bank will be receiving a Special Achievement in GIS Award, recognizing nearly two decades of GIS excellence at the Bank, on Wednesday. Way to go, Scott!

The ESRI Business Summit will kick things off on Sunday morning July 10, where upwards of 200 business geography pros will gather to hear the latest and greatest from industry leaders - and each other.


Matt Mikula, IS Services at Edward Jones.

Added to the ESRI Business Summit speaker lineup is Matt Mikula, who is a key IS adminstrator for Edward Jones. Matt is responsible for IS Financial Advisor and Branch Services, and supports many of the systems used by the firm's financial advisors and branch office administrators. Edward Jones has been a pioneer shop for GIS, with a long track record dating back (like Arvest) to Atlas GIS, the pioneering business geography platform invented by our longtime friend and associate, Steve Poizner, which was purchased by ESRI in 1996.

Joining Matt will be a group of exceptional speakers from Cisco, Starbucks and others. So, come on down, and hear about best practices, tips and tricks, new software features - and enjoy the usual raucous good time had by all. Here's where to go for more information about the Summit, and about the User Conference.

Predicting Strategic Residential Mortgage Defaulters

2011-06-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Empty mailbox fronts foreclosed home, Reuters 6/2011

A new Experian study that showed up last week on the Reuters wire shows that Strategic Defaulters – those who voluntarily stop making their mortgage payments - are financially astute, and often already have their next home and loan before they walk.

“They are high income, they are high wealth, they own multiple homes, and they have higher (credit) scores," Tracy Bremmer, director of product marketing and management at Experian, told Reuters. Experian is trying to identify Strategic Defaulters before the fact, so that banks can strategically head them off at the pass.

"Lenders are still interested in educating people about whether they really understand the repercussions," added Andrew Jennings of FICO. Jennings explained that 40 states allow lenders to go after foreclosed borrowers for the extra money that was promised in the mortgage but not collected during the foreclosure sale. FICO, for their part, recently launched a new scoring algorithm to point lenders to borrowers who are likely to strategically default before the fact. An earlier study by FICO found that strategic defaulters had relatively strong median FICO scores of 663 and low credit card balances. Here is some real fodder for your predictive models:

They may have applied for other credit recently,
They are upside-down on their mortgages, owing more than the home is worth, and, note this friends,
Are heavily concentrated in geographic areas where the pace of home values falling below mortgage balances is accelerating.

FICO also indicates that they have ongoing research that suggests that 18 months after foreclosure, the majority are having other financial problems.

The Experian study finds that 3 percent of strategic defaulters (who in turn make up about 17 percent of all defaults) went out and obtained new mortgages just before they stopped making payments. "That strategy is certainly in place," said an Experian representative. "Strategic defaulters carefully plan ahead of time before defaulting in order to purchase another home prior to leaving their current home." At that point, their credit scores and earnings histories might easily qualify them for the new loans. Once they settled on the new home and stopped making payments on their old home, they would not have to worry so much about the resulting credit score hit.

What does this tell us? A lot. We can use this information in our GIS to both identify risks in our portfolios, and possible new opportunities in our communities (the last FICO finding notwithstanding).

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Buy 'Em

2011-06-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

CapOne bought ING yesterday, for $9 billion in cash and stock. This moves CapOne up to #5 in deposits in the U.S. from #8. The ING brand will persist for a year or more.

The deal makes a lot of sense from many perspectives, especially if CapOne adds assets (like the HSBC card portfolio, which includes many affinity cards). There is access to a broad base of low cost funds. There is a big gain in online know-how. Most of all, as system conversions go, this one looks relatively painless as the two share quite a bit of technology.

Just one problem. The kind of customer that ING has is typically a value-hungry, simplicity-minded, big bank rejector. And among the big banks that ING customers reject, CapOne is high on the list. In fact, in many ways, CapOne is the anti-ING - perceived by many to be a high fee, hard to do business with, even deceptive traditional bank. One look at the ING customer response to the news, as suggested by online comments in response to news announcements, suggests that the difficulty here in conversion will be cultural rather than systemic.

This is going to create huge opportunities FOR YOU, super-regional, regional, and community banks and credit unions. The latter have already made a lot of hay in the wake of the "death of free checking".

It's June 2011, do you know which of your customer households is doing business with ING, or fits the ING customer profile (online-savvy savers and fee-averse transactors)? Yes indeed, another reason to lean heavily on a customer-relationship, lifestyle-oriented GIS system.

April Revolving Debt Decline May Obscure Upbeat Long Term Trend

2011-06-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, the Fed released data for April showing that revolving credit (largely credit card debt) declined once again, after increasing slightly in March.

There has been a lot of media attention on this decline, and a lot of misinformation, with many reporting that "consumers are pulling back on credit card spending again." This is because the fact remains, revolving debt dropped for 27 consecutive months from September 2008 to November 2010, and it seems that nobody can wipe that bad taste away.

However, it is also evident that revolving credit expanded in November 2010 and in March 2011, and the April contraction was just -1.4% - not good, but well below the levels of contraction we have been seeing. As illustrated in this chart, the present long term trend looks a whole lot better than anything we've seen since the Great Recession began.

We believe that as political and economic conditions stabilize, we will see consumer confidence and spending begin to rebound. It is going to take time, though. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity, rose a less-than-forecast 0.4 percent in April, according to Commerce Department statistics released May 27, as increases in fuel costs started to show up everywhere, especially in food prices as well as gas prices.

It is those fuel price increases -which affect everything that is transported - that remain a threat to stag-flate us. But as we see gas prices relaxing now in June ahead of the peak summer travel months, and forecasts for planned consumer travel seem to have been little impacted based on TripAdvisor data (showing 61% of Americans say their travel plans will not be impacted at all by gas prices), we think people are going to travel and spend this summer - perhaps especially because times have been so tough and we all feel like we deserve a little vacation.

Merchants Rejoice as Senate Upholds New Debit Card Rules

2011-06-08T15:49:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of National Public Radio, 2011

Banks will really need to find other ways of earning fee income now. The Senate voted Wednesday to let the rule stand by which the Fed will slice away $12 billion in annual income represented by debit interchange, the fees that merchants pay banks each time a customer swipes a debit card. Senators supporting the financial institutions' efforts to head off the Fed proposal fell six voters short of the 60 needed to prevail, 54-45.

Those charges now average 44 cents per transaction. Let's get real. That is well, well above the cost of a debit transaction carrying none of the risk of a credit based one. BUT - the Fed ruling will hold those fees to a maximum of just 12 cents per swipe, and the law takes effect in about a month on July 21. While this might change, it probably won't now.

Smart banks will realize, and already have, that they need to enter retail financial businesses that earn fees. But most will simply look to place fees on what has been given away for years, and play right into the hands of online, non-traditional players, and non-banks.

What a good time to dig into your GIS, and determine which of your trade areas have the kind of customers and overall community composition that spells success for financial, college, tax and retirement planning.

When one needs fee income, one emphasizes products and services for which consumers have always paid fees, and gladly. And studies continue to show that consumers still trust their banker more than, say, their stockbroker. Simply ratcheting up NSF and late and other fees and creating new triggers for them simply won't get 'er done. Making new kinds of relationships and stepping up to compete in the new environment, will.

Banks, Google Have PayPal In Their Sites

2011-05-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

Looks like the big three banks, where one-in-three Americans have their checking account, want in to PayPal's gold mine. No kidding.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase announced clearXchange last Wednesday, their new joint venture to let customers move money around with just a mobile number or email address.

We won't see it until next year. Too bad, because this will put fee pressure on PayPal - they'll probably be giving away clearXchange to obtain trial, then charge after it proves its value. Like debit, consumer protections remain far better with a credit card. Tests will be in Arizona, which has always been where they test electronic banking.

And last Thursday, Google announced their NFC play with partner CitiCorp that will let consumers "tap, pay and save". NFC or Near Field Communications is the short-range wireless technology that lets you wave your NFC enabled phone near a payment terminal in a store or gas station and pay for something. "Google Wallet" will also feature LBS a la Foursquare, so you'll get coupons from partner merchants pushed at you based on location.

BUT. It will start out being available only on Nexus S 4G by Google, available on Sprint, and will work only with MasterCard PayPass terminals, a fraction of the NFCs deployed. Google will begin initial testing of Google Wallet in New York and San Francisco.

AND, PayPal sued Google on Friday, claiming two ex-employees brought trade secrets to Google.

All of this is a good thing. It will reduce friction in payment systems by reducing costs and fees - especially for person to person payments, where the high cost of wire transfers today is what has made PayPal such a success. And it is interesting that Citi seems more interested in owning traditional bank turf - merchant payment terminals - while the clearXchange banks stake their place in the new firmament, online and mobile payments.

Characteristics of Closed Branches - Trade Area Lifestyles

2011-05-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, we began our analysis of closed bank branches, suggesting that the next steps are profiling the trade areas involved, in terms of demography and lifestyle, business mix, primary site characteristics and several other key metrics.

Demography and lifestyle turns out to be quite telling. Using ESRI Tapestry, we find that the top 5 of the 65 Tapestry segments account for over 42% of these trade areas.

Laptops & Lattes are nearly 16 times as likely to be in one of these trade areas than in the U.S. as a whole; Metro Renters, nearly 12 times as likely. Further, 4 of the 5 segments are in the Solo Acts lifemode or uber-category. We also note that of 11 Urbanization areas, 45% are in just one, Principal Urban Centers I.

And, the plot thickens.

Average household size is quite small, at just 2.19 - reflecting all those Solo Acts. And income is upscale, at a median AHI of nearly $60,000. Though 58% of occupied units are renters, those who do own homes have home values well above the U.S. average. The trade areas are also about 2/3 White.

Not exactly what one might have expected. That is, until you consider that the people we are talking about - young upscale singles and couples and some very young families - don't rely on branches to do their banking. So, while they are dynamite prospects for financial services - just the kind of people that American Express targets and courts early and often - branches may not necessarily be the way to make them customers.

That is, branches as we now know them.

Analyzing Characteristics of Closed Bank Branches

2011-05-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Along with the decision of when and where to open a new branch office, one of the key decisions made by banking administrators is when and where to *close* a branch office. We decided to take a look at recently closed branches in order to identify what common characteristics we might be able to identify.

BranchInfo by RPM Consulting

To conduct our analysis, we used the most current version of BranchInfo. RPM's BranchInfo competitive bank branch database tracks not only branches that are currently open, but also branches that have been closed since the last data update. The current version of BranchInfo, released in February 2011, contains bank branch locations and ownership as of February 15, 2011, as well as branches which were closed between July 1, 2010 and February 15, 2011. Also, new to BranchInfo beginning with the last update, are a series of key market potential and competitive metrics calculated for a one-mile radius surrounding each branch. In order to better understand the characteristics associated with branches that institutions have chosen to close and/or consolidated into other locations, we decided to conduct an analysis of the closed locations, comparing them to locations which have remained open.

Methodology

To conduct our analysis, we began with the 422 branches reported as having been closed between July 1, 2001 and February 15, 2011. We then identified the complete branch networks for all institutions that had reported a closed branch during that time period so that we could compare closed branches to open branches for the same institutions that had closed one or more branches. This approach allowed us to compare the 422 closed branches to 43,439 open branches for the same institutions.

Once our database was assembled, we compared the following characteristics for the open and closed branches:

Age of the branch

MarketBank deposit potential
MarketBank loan potential
MarketBank investment potential
Number of competing branches
Average MarketBank deposit potential per branch (within a one-mile radius)

Branch deposit market share

Size of branch in deposits dollars

Type of institution regulator

Branch office versus main office

Service type (full service brick & mortar, etc.)

Each branch's share of total bank deposits
Bank Asset Size

Each variable was tested for statistical significance using either chi square analysis or one-way analysis of variance, with .05 being set as the alpha value (for you quantitative types).

Findings

For our study, we broke down the variables we analyzed into several categories, focusing on the physical/administrative characteristics, competitive environment, and market potential.

Physical/Administrative

First looking at the physical and administrative characteristics of closed branches, we found that the age of a branch was a statistically significant when comparing open and closed branches. Closed branches are, on average, much younger than branches that remain open. While the average age (calculated using the "Date Established" field) of an open branch is about 36 years, the average of a closed branch is just 26 years.

Another significant difference concerns the service type of the facility. Overall, we found that "Limited Service" facilities (such as drive-through branches, and seasonal/mobile offices) were much more likely to have been closed compared to full-service offices.

In terms of the type of institution most likely to close a branch, state savings assocations and state savings banks closed 7.9% and 5.2% of their branches, respectively, compared to state and federal commercial banks, which closed less than 1% of their branches.

Closed branches also have a tendency to represent somewhat larger contributions to banks' overall deposit levels. Our analysis found that although the average open branch represented approximately .5% of its institution's deposits, the average closed branch represented a considerably larger 3.2% of its institution's deposits (consistent with a smaller institution). In terms of deposits, closed branches were somewhat smaller than open branches, holding an average of $34.6 million in deposits, compared to $60 million for open branches (excluding outliers).

Finally, the size of the institutions also seems to be significantly different when comparing open and closed branches. Although the average institution held approximately $125 million in assets, those with closed branches were considerably smaller, holding an average of just under $40 million in assets.

Geographic Distribution

Based on the percentage of total branches closed during the second half of 2010, states with the highest percentage of closures (2% or more of the institutions' branches being closed) included Idaho, North Dakota, and Montana to the north, stretching south to Arkansas and Mississippi.

Competitive Environment

In our analysis, we studied the nature of each branch's competition by assessing the number and size (based on deposit balances) of competitor branches located within a one-mile radius. Interestingly, the number of competitors does not prove to be significantly different between open and closed branches, however an analysis of market share does surface an interesting difference. Although the average share of deposits for open branches was approximately 27.1%, the market share of closed branches was somewhat higher, at 30.7%, suggesting that a closed branch does not necessarily equate to an under-performing branch.

Market Potential

One measure that we often use to determine whether an market is potentially over-banked, is the average estimated MarketBank potential deposit balances divided by the number of bank branches present. In areas in which tend to be saturated with bank branches, we generally find that the average deposit potential per branch is typically lower than areas with unmet potential. An assessment of the average deposit potential per branch found that closed branches tend to be in somewhat lower potential markets than open branches. The average potential per bank branch in open-branch market areas was about $18 million, which was higher than the $15 million for closed branch market areas.

We also used our MarketBank retail market potential database to quantify the consumer deposit, retail loan, and retail investment potential indices for a one-mile radius surrounding each branch (an index value of 100 equates to the national average for balance potential per resident household). Not surprisingly, retail deposit, loan and retail investment potential was substantially higher among still-open branches compared to closed branches. Open branches had average deposit, loan and investment potential indices of 104.5, 101.1, and 105.9, respectively. All are significantly higher than the deposit index of 100.5, loan index of 92.8, and investment index of 99.3 for closed branches.

Conclusions

Based on these observations, we can conclude that institutions that close branches tend to be somewhat smaller thrifts, rather than commercial banks, and the closed branches tend to be rather younger, and more likely limited service facilities, with almost half the deposits of branches that remain open. The average market share of closed branches tends to be close to or above the average for other branches in their local markets, and the average deposit potential per competing branch tends to be somewhat below average, suggesting that the areas in which branches are closed tend to be rather smaller, as well as competitive and/or saturated markets. Additionally, the closed-branch markets tend to be hold lower than average potential for lending and investment products, although relatively average potential for deposits.

Although closed branches tend to be smaller branches in lower potential markets, the decision to close a branch is not one that is made consistently from branch to branch or from institution to institution, suggesting that very often, the decision may not be based on market conditions as much as it may be based on logistical or contractual issues. For example, given that limited service facilities are more often closed, it is possible that branches that have been opened as temporary facilities to serve a particular need are often closed when the need no longer exists and the branche's usefulness comes to an end.

Although this analysis gives us a start in understanding some of the underlying characteristics, a better understanding of the nature of closed bank branches should also include additional local market and locational information, such as daytime population, business mix, employment, and demographics of those residing within the markets.

Consumer Credit Expands, But Remains Near 2 Year Lows

2011-05-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Fed reported on Friday that consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3% for the first quarter of 2011. However, December 2010 and March 2011 represent the only recent expansions, and the level of revolving credit outstandings remains around two year lows.

February numbers show the 4 year auto loan is averaging just under 5.9%, 2 year personal loans at 11%, and card rates around 13.5%.

With Moody's reporting on Monday that chargeoffs are low and headed lower, we expect to see some stepped-up credit card marketing beginning right around - now. It's almost Memorial Day - do you know where your credit card market potential is? The answers are in your customer database, in your GIS, in RPM's MarketBank.

Ford Foundation Recognizes Self-Help, Financial Services Visionary

2011-05-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Nine million American households don't have a savings or a checking account. Another 21 million rely on predatory lending, costly alternative financial service providers such as payday lenders or check-cashing outlets.

Martin Eakes did something about it, and today the Ford Foundation recognized him as a Social Visionary for his work at Self Help.

The Foundation notes that mainstream financial markets fail to meet the needs of poor and marginalized populations for three reasons.

Financial products and services offered typically are inappropriate for low-income households.
The infrastructure or delivery system is unresponsive to their needs.
Policies and regulatory systems are poorly designed and implemented.

GIS systems should be playing a vital role here, particularly for mainstream institutions who simply need to understand their communities better, and understand how their delivery systems are working and not working to reach them. There is huge potential to undercut the predatory lenders by using GIS to develop and deliver valuable products that save people money and are a good long term investment for the institution.

We salute Self Help, and it is a high priority at RPM to help institutions, communities and regulators and legislators to use GIS and data resources to develop innovative ways to far better serve unbanked and under-served individuals and families.

JD Power 2010 Customer Satisfaction Data Released

2011-04-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

JD Power results were published yesterday, and it's no surprise to see a lot of heightened fee sensitivity among customers, and to see overall satisfaction nominally improve from historic lows.

It's important to note that fees don't necessarily create dissatisfaction. Insensitive fee structuring, poor communication about fees, and not enough ways to avoid fees, do that.

Customers who pay fees and also express high levels of satisfaction are more likely to have had a consultative experience or needs assessment, and a discussion of fees, up front. They also are more likely to have had good service on the phone and/or in branch, and have found it easier to resolve problems. They are also more likely to find value in debit rewards, free online banking, and overdraft protection.

As always, we believe the research is most powerfully applied in a GIS, where the JD Power ratings are assigned to competitors in a trade area, and then branch performance and site/location attributes can be analyzed in the context of consumer ratings. This is how we discover how site and location influence satisfaction. It's also really helpful for branch micromarketing to know, for example, that you are the clear leader in reasonable fees among your immediate competitors, within and perhaps across branch areas.

Study results by region are as follows. Congratulations are due once again to Frost Bank, with the strongest scores in the nation; and ARVEST, leading one region and among the leaders in the other.

California: Rabobank ranks highest in the region with a score of 796, and performs particularly well in the fees and account activities factors. Bank of the West (777) and Union Bank/Frontier Bank (766) follow in the regional rankings.
Florida: Regions Bank ranks highest in Florida with a score of 789 and performs well in the fees, account activities and account information factors. SunTrust Bank (788) and Wachovia Bank (786) follow in the rankings.
Mid-Atlantic Region: With a score of 804, Northwest Savings Bank ranks highest in the region and performs well in product offerings. Susquehanna Bank follows with a score of 792, and S&T Bank ranks third with 791.
Midwest Region: First Midwest Bank ranks highest with a score of 775, and performs particularly well in the product offerings and account information factors. Commerce Bank and UMB Bank tie to follow in the rankings with a score of 774.
New England Region: Eastern Bank ranks highest in the region with a score of 791 and performs well in the product offerings and account activities factors. Rockland Trust Co. follows with a score of 789, and TD Bank and Wachovia Bank tie to rank third with 760.
North Central Region: FirstMerit Bank and Flagstar Bank tie to rank highest in the region with a score of 802. FirstMerit Bank performs well in facility, product offerings and fees, while Flagstar Bank performs well in account activities. Huntington National Bank and Independent Bank follow in the rankings with 799, in a tie.
Northwest Region: With a score of 794, Umpqua Bank ranks highest in the region and performs well in facility and product offerings. West Coast Bank (792) and Sterling Savings Bank (789) follow in the rankings.
South Central Region: Hancock Bank ranks highest in the region with a score of 817 and performs particularly well in the product offerings and account information factors. Whitney National Bank (799) and Arvest Bank (798) follow in the rankings.
Southeast Region: First Federal ranks highest with a score of 818, performing particularly well in the facility and product offerings factors. United Community Bank follows in the rankings with 813, and First Citizens Bancorp ranks third with 809.
Southwest Region: Arvest Bank ranks highest in the region with 809 and performs particularly well in facility, product offerings and fees. Zions First National Bank (782) and Bank of Oklahoma (779) follow in the rankings.
Texas: With a score of 849, Frost National Bank ranks highest in the region and performs well across all six factors, particularly account activities and fees. First Financial Bank (805) and Woodforest National Bank (792) follow in the rankings.

The 2011 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study is based on responses from nearly 52,000 retail banking customers regarding their experiences with their banking provider. The study was fielded in January and February 2011. Large banks are defined as banks with more than 475 branches and $50 billion in deposits.

California
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Rabobank	796	5

Bank of the West	777	4
Union Bank/Frontier Bank	766	4
Wells Fargo	762	4
U.S. Bank	759	4

California Region Average	742	3
Citibank	728	3

Chase	726	2
Bank of America	719	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are BBVA Compass (Compass Bank), California Bank & Trust, City National Bank (CA), Comerica Bank, East West Bank, First Bank (MO), Onewest Bank, Pacific Western Bank, Umpqua Bank, Wachovia Bank and West America Bank.

Florida
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Regions Bank	789	5
SunTrust Bank	788	5
Wachovia Bank	786	5

PNC Bank/National City	783	4
Fifth Third Bank	781	4
Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T)/Colonial Bank	775	4

Wells Fargo	769	3
Florida Region Average	767	3
Citibank	763	3
BankAtlantic	761	3

Bank of America	742	2
TD Bank	742	2
Chase	729	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are BankUnited, Carolina First Bank, RBC Bank and Riverside National Bank of Florida.

Mid-Atlantic Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Northwest Savings Bank	804	5

Susquehanna Bank	792	4
S&T Bank	791	4
First National Bank of Pennsylvania	790	4
Fulton Bank	785	4
National Penn Bank	783	4
Huntington National Bank	780	4
Hudson City Savings Bank	775	4
PNC Bank/National City	775	4
Beneficial Mutual Savings Bank	773	4
First Commonwealth Bank	772	4
The Provident Bank	766	4
Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T)/Colonial Bank	765	4
Community Bank	763	4
Manufacturers & Traders Bank (M&T BANK)	763	4
SunTrust Bank	762	4
TD Bank	761	4
Valley National Bank	758	4
NBT Bank	753	4

Wachovia Bank	749	3
Citizens Bank	748	3
Wells Fargo	747	3
Mid-Atlantic Region Average	743	3
Chase	738	3
KeyBank	738	3
Astoria FS&LA	729	3
First Niagara Bank	725	3

New York Community Bank	722	2
HSBC	721	2
Sovereign Bank	720	2
Capital One/Chevy Chase Bank	719	2
Bank of America	716	2
Citibank	712	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: Apple Bank for Savings; Carter Bank & Trust; Investors Savings Bank; StellarOne Bank; Sun National Bank; Trustco Bank; Union First Market Bank; and United Bank (VA).

Included in the Mid-Atlantic region are: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Midwest Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
First Midwest Bank	775	5
Commerce Bank	774	5
UMB Bank	774	5

Marshall & Ilsley Bank (M&I Bank)	766	4
First Bank (MO)	764	4
Harris National	762	4
Regions Bank	762	4
AnchorBank	760	4

PNC Bank/National City	751	3
U.S. Bank	750	3
Bank of the West	746	3
Midwest Region Average	746	3
Chase	741	3
Fifth Third Bank	741	3
Charter One	734	3

Associated Bank	732	2
Bank of America	726	2
Wells Fargo	725	2
TCF National Bank	720	2
Citibank	711	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: Bank Midwest, Bank Mutual, Bremer Bank, First American Bank, FirstMerit Bank, Great Southern Bank, Johnson Bank and MB Financial Bank.

Included in the Midwest region are: Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

New England Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Eastern Bank	791	5
Rockland Trust Co.	789	5

TD Bank	760	4
Wachovia Bank	760	4
Peoples United Bank	754	4
KeyBank	748	4

Citizens Bank	737	3
New England Region Average	733	3
Webster Bank	731	3
Citibank	729	3
Bank of America	717	3

Sovereign Bank	705	2
Chase	694	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are NewAlliance Bank and Wells Fargo.

Included in the New England region are: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

North Central Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
FirstMerit Bank	802	5
Flagstar Bank	802	5
Huntington National Bank	799	5
Independent Bank	799	5

First Financial Bank	789	4
Citizens Bank (MI)	787	4
1st Source Bank	786	4

Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T)/Colonial Bank	771	3
Chemical Bank	771	3
U.S. Bank	769	3
KeyBank	767	3
North Central Region Average	765	3
WesBanco Bank	763	3
City National Bank (WV)	762	3
Chase	759	3
Regions Bank	759	3
Fifth Third Bank	756	3
Wells Fargo	756	3
Charter One	753	3
PNC Bank/National City	753	3
Comerica Bank	750	3

Bank of America	733	2
TCF National Bank	732	2
Old National Bank	722	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: Community Trust Bank, First Merchants Bank, MainSource Bank, Park National Bank and United Bank (WV).

Included in the North Central Region are: Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

Northwest Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Umpqua Bank	794	5
West Coast Bank	792	5
Sterling Savings Bank	789	5

KeyBank	766	4
U.S. Bank	758	4

Northwest Region Average	741	3

Wells Fargo	721	2
Chase	705	2
Bank of America	703	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: Banner Bank, Columbia State Bank, Union Bank/Frontier Bank and Washington FS&LA.

Included in the Northwest region are Oregon and Washington.

South Central Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Hancock Bank	817	5

Whitney National Bank	799	4
Arvest Bank	798	4
First Tennessee Bank	797	4
BancorpSouth Bank	795	4
Trustmark National Bank	788	4

Capital One/Chevy Chase	777	3
Chase	776	3
SunTrust	774	3
South Central Region Average	771	3
Regions Bank	760	3
Wells Fargo	756	3

U.S. Bank	751	2
Wachovia Bank	746	2
Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T)/Colonial Bank	744	2
BBVA Compass (Compass Bank)	734	2
Bank of America	729	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: First Security Bank, Iberia Bank, RBC Bank, Renasant Bank and Simmons First Bank.

Included in the South Central region are: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Southeast Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
First Federal (FS&LA of Charleston)	818	5
United Community Bank	813	5
First Citizens Bancorp	809	5

Regions Bank	795	4
RBC Bank	794	4
First Citizens Bancshare	792	4
SunTrust Bank	791	4
Wachovia Bank	785	4
Carolina First Bank	781	4
Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T)/Colonial Bank	777	4

Southeast Region Average	760	3

Fifth Third Bank	738	2
Bank of America	736	2
Wells Fargo	720	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size is South Carolina Banking & Trust (SCBT).

Included in the Southeast region are: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Southwest Region
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Arvest Bank	809	5

Zions First National Bank	782	4
Bank of Oklahoma	779	4
First Bank (CO)	778	4
Nevada State Bank	771	4

Bank of the West	759	3
Southwest Region Average	756	3
U.S. Bank	755	3
Wells Fargo	754	3
Chase	749	3
KeyBank	742	3
BBVA Compass (Compass Bank)	741	3

Bank of America	728	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: BancFirst, Marshall & Ilsley Bank (M&I Bank), MidFirst Bank, National Bank of Arizona and Wachovia Bank.

Included in the Southwest region are: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma and Utah.

Texas
*Customer Service Index Ranking*		*J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings*
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers
Frost National Bank	849	5

First Financial Bank (Texas)	805	4
Woodforest National Bank	792	4
Amegy Bank	791	4
Comerica Bank	791	4
Bank of Texas	789	4
Capital One/Chevy Chase	779	4

Wells Fargo	767	3
Texas Region Average	759	3
International Bank of Commerce	758	3
Wachovia Bank	758	3
Chase	757	3
Regions Bank	756	3
Prosperity Bank	749	3
Citibank	747	3
Bank of America	741	3

BBVA Compass (Compass Bank)	724	2
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size is Sterling Bank.

Power Circle Ratings Legend:
5 – Among the best
4 – Better than most
3 – About average
2 – The rest

Business Analyst 10 Desktop Online Access

2011-04-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Cathy Spisszak announced on the BA Blog that the Census Bureau's American Community Survey data is now available on Business Analyst Online.

Business Analyst Desktop users can also access this content (along with a lot more, such as locators, Imagery and other latest-and-greatest data). More and more content will find its way online, so this is key going forward.

Here's how to setup your online access.

Step 1: If you don't already have one, create an Esri Global Account here.

Step 2: Send your Esri customer number, Global Account username, and contact information for named user(s) to ba_onlineaccess@esri.com. You will receive a confirmation email when your account has been setup for online access.

Step 3: Launch Business Analyst. Go to the Business Analyst, Preferences and click on the Online tab. Enter credentials and check the online access boxes.

Any issues, questions, comments, concerns - just let us know.

Common Characteristics of Closed Branches

2011-04-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Dixie Square Mall is definitely the best known dead mall in the world.

That's because John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd drove the Bluesmobile through it.

Today, it looks even worse. Much, much worse. Inside...

... and out.

What happened to Dixie Square Mall, and to all the other dead malls? RPM has looked into that, with our friends from Edens and Avant. We first presented the results at the 2004 ESRI UC, and they have found their way into the MIT curriculum as an example of how to site a shopping center.

Our real story today is, what makes a bank branch die? What common characteristics can we identify, using geospatial and statistical analysis, and incorporate into our site selection solution to avoid bad, bad mistakes?

RPM has been collecting data on every branch closed this year, from the weekly FDIC feeds designed to update the RPM BranchInfo Branch Locations Performance & Potential database. Analysis of the first quarter 2011 data is underway, and is sure to reveal some of the keys to the kingdom. So, stay tuned.

In the 80's and 90's, we used to say that a bad branch decision was a million dollars bad. Now, depending on the architecture, location and site it may often be a significant multiple of that. This is why a bank's GIS, incorporating internal and external data and a means to distribute analysis and intelligence tying everyone together across disciplines and departments, is one of the most valuable information investments that can be made.

Tablet Adoption in Banking

2011-04-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Quick - what do Chase, Lloyds of London and Morgan Stanley have in common?

They have all integrated iPads into their enterprise networks.

As Android phones become ubiquitous and come to dominate the market, tablets are a completely different issue. Until Android becomes a secure platform, the iPad and the soon to be released BlackBerry PlayBook (pictured left) will dominate whatever enterprise adoption occurs, possibly over the next couple of years. Android tablets will find their place in business, but won't be enterprise ready for A-while.

Never before has user adoption of a mobile device challenged corporate IT as fast and as broadly as the iPad has. As you probably know, Apple is as surprised as anybody and can't manufacture nearly enough to meet the demand. And they are definitely finding their way to work - new Forrester research shows one out of four companies using or planning to use tablets. Are they secure enough to be on a corporate network? Forrester says Yes. And so do some pretty big banks. The early applications are a little weak in terms of justifying hard ROI on iPads, but it's clear that they are a boon to meetings, electronic documents, and field applications in sales and service.

Perhaps the greatest concern? All those tablets sucking a mobile bandwidth that is not designed for, and can't accommodate, tons of fat content; and extending reach via Wi-Fi is not cheap. What to do? Well, enterprise users, enjoy all your YouTube and streaming video over wireless networks now, because we will be locking it all down before you know it.

Small Merchants Embrace Mobile Payments - & Vice Versa

2011-03-30T14:19:00.001-07:00

When it comes to mobile payments, the U.S. is still well behind the curve, and this extends to all areas of mobile payments. But what is happening here, and now, are small merchants.

This week, Intuit unveiled GoPayment for Android 3.0 in NYC - more than a month after its preview in Barcelona last month at Mobile World Congress.

Intuit is venturing into the space for low cost, small merchant payments that Square has established on the iPhone and iPad platform and extended to Android. Square will send you the little square card reader for free, and swipes will cost you just 2.75%. Quite a bit less expensive and far more efficient than other methods of accepting cards, and far, far better than (shudder) PayPal.

As we can and will reach the unbanked through mobile phones on the retail side, on the merchant side Intuit would like to compete for small businesses without merchant accounts, using banks that can't, or won't, help them. Intuit has targeted tablets, rather than phones, and loaded GoPayment for Honeycomb (Android 3.0) with features, so you can:

Swipe cards within seconds – Save time and money by swiping a card instead of entering numbers manually. GoPayment features support for a variety of credit card readers. All compatible card readers also encrypt the credit card data for added protection.
Authorize transactions with touch screen signature – For added security and professionalism, customers can quickly sign a tablet’s touch screen to authorize their transactions.
Drag and drop frequently sold items from a product list – Quickly complete a sale by dragging and dropping items into the shopping cart and easily add or delete items as needed.
Take photos of frequently sold items – Using a device’s camera, save time by photographing products and storing details to create a visual product list to quickly take customer orders.
Find data quickly – Find items in a product list or locate past transactions using new search capabilities.
Work within an easy-to-view, large-screen environment – Easily view transactions and work faster when processing payments on a tablet. GoPayment is optimized for tablet form factors building on Honeycomb’s “fragment” technology.

Given the tablet orientation of GoPayment for Honeycomb, Intuit is likely reaching for larger, more sophisticated businesses than Square - businesses that already use QuickBooks, for example. Whether they can come up with a value proposition as strong as Square's 2.75% merchant discount remains to be seen.

Opportunities are Available in All Walks of Life in Australia

2011-03-29T13:12:00.001-07:00

Australia is the California of the UK. I first heard this from Ray Davies of the Kinks, talking about the song. Everything happens first here, and this has never been more true than today, and never more true than for payment systems (and GIS adoption in finance).

Yesterday, MasterCard revealed the "5 Year Roadmap" for Australia and New Zealand. At the heart of this is PayPass, MasterCard’s contactless payment service, with 88 million cards used at more than 276,000 merchant locations. By October 2012, all new MasterCards Down Under will be PayPass enabled.

MasterCard is requiring that all new merchants in relevant merchant categories have at least one PayPass enabled terminal. These include: taxis, news stands, bookstores, supermarkets, convenience stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, service stations, parking lots, fast food restaurants, cafes, bars and movie theaters.

(MasterCard is also requiring that all POS terminals and all new/reissued MasterCard cards in Australia and New Zealand be EMV compliant by July 1, 2011. EMV is the Europay-MasterCard-VISA tech standard for inter-operation of integrated circuit cards (IC cards or "chip cards") and IC card capable point of sale (POS) terminals and automated teller machines (ATMs), for authenticating transactions - securely, 21st century-style.)

In the U.S. there has not been a lot of activity with near field communications like PayPass, Longtime RPM client and innovator Kinecta FCU is out front, branded as “Tap N Go". Kinecta members simply tap their PayPass enabled credit card on a specially equipped merchant terminal and payment is completed quickly, securely and easily (say, at a gas pump) without the hassle of swiping a card or fumbling for cash and coins. Gary Harman, First Vice President of Consumer Lending Operations at Kinecta, notes that “MasterCard PayPass is simpler and faster than cash, allowing our cardholders a more streamlined payment option."

It's coming. And in financial services, it always comes first in Australia.

Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

2011-03-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

A few posts back, we suggested that mobile phones might be able to reach older consumers who never tried banking online with a PC, and don't care to, either. But international data suggests that it is the unbanked - the poor, lowest income consumers - who might be the real beneficiaries of mobile payments.

CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) reports that the mobile phone is the first communications device in history to have more users in poor countries than rich. In 2010, mobile phone owners in poor countries accounted for two-thirds of the world’s 4.77 billion phones.

But as people in poor countries become increasingly well-connected via mobile, they remain far less well-connected financially. An emerging market consumer is more than twice as likely to own a mobile phone as to have a bank account in their name.

So, doesn't it seem like mobile phones hold a lot of promise for reaching the unbanked?

Let's also consider that banks can reap substantial cost savings from channels that replace branches with “branchless banking” (technology paired with agents, typically merchants who handle deposits and withdrawals and are connected via mobile or card-swipe POS terminals). The figure at left shows the cost reduction for 4 Mexican and Colombian banks from moving deposit transactions from teller to agent. CGAP estimates most banks will see 50% cost savings or greater. This enables them to reach low-income clients who were previously uneconomical to serve.

Now hear this - other providers — mobile operators, tech firms — which want to enter financial services for the first time can also employ agents to cost-effectively roll out. That means that those who create the software for phones (Google), those who make the software and the phone (Apple), those who have the networks (AT&T and Verizon) and those who have competing payment networks already in place (Discover) all stand to benefit from the inability of banks and merchants to get on the same page - which they have not been able to do. This was the case when I first developed the business case for EFTPOS at First Interstate in the early 1980's with KMPG, and since then, merchant-bank relations have decidely not improved.

No wonder this is developing outside the U.S. so much faster, where there are far fewer, far less powerful entities battling for control.

Emergency Preparedness Lessons from Japan

2011-03-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

I am eating only yogurt today, thinking about the boy and his grandma who survived on nothing but, while for 9 days they were trapped in the kitchen of a house swept away by the tsunami.

Next to be seen floating by might be the 3rd largest bank in Japan, Mizuho Bank. The lesson to be learned here is that people rush to cash in an emergency, and Mizuho's systems - and they have had trouble like this before - apparently were not able to scale to meet the demand. ATMs malfunctioned and bank deposits could not be processed, so salaries for workers of employers who use Mizuho couldn't be paid. Foreign exchange transactions also stopped.

Can you imagine how much this is adding to the stress people feel? When you are already trying to cope with the aftermath of an earthquake, tsunami, and radiation from damaged nuclear power facilities? And rolling blackouts are taking out everything, including all the other banks' machines?

Mizuho suspects the problems were tied to a flood of transactions, but they are not sure, and that is perhaps most disconcerting.

All of its 38,000 ATMs at its branches and convenience stores were shut down over the weekend and through Monday, as Mizuho extended operating hours at its 440 branches, so that customers who did not get their paychecks can withdraw up to Y100,000. Now, it looks like while branch ATMs may soon re-open, other ATMs will not.

The situation regarding settlement of payments has become so dire that the Bank has asked in its primary competitors to help out - which could threaten to bring down the entire house of (debit) cards. Mizuho will also end up disciplined, at least, by Japan's Financial Services Agency, the nation's primary regulator.

Add to this the fact that the Japanese fiscal year ends March 31 with another torrent of transactions, and one realizes that it indeed may not end just with Mizuho's 1 million or so customers.

Do I even have to say it? It could happen here, and I hope you are all paying rapt attention. Some lessons:

Make sure your IT is up to the scaling up that is required in an emergency, and don't wait for one to find out.
Use GIS to figure out how to get your employees to work in your branches, and which branches are most important to have open and ready, by understanding the geographic relationship between customers and branches; and how disaster impacts the ability to get from place to place.
Be prepared in-branch to manage an onslaught of customers well beyond what a branch is designed for, so that customers can be comforted as they wait to be served, both physically and emotionally.
Train customer service staff to better cope themselves, so they can better cope with emergency-stressed customers - and realize they have, albeit briefly, the chance of a lifetime to lend an ear and a heart as well as a few dollars.
Make sure your key managers have alternative places besides the Bank to meet.
Encourage customers to always have enough cash - and supplies - on hand to ride out an emergency of a week or more.

ESRI Tsunami Map Portrays Social Media

2011-03-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here's some really cool technology I just saw at the ESRI Developer's Summit. Unfortunately, its first major application came rather quickly - an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster has struck Japan. And we all feel it.

There don't appear to be any Twitter feeds yet, but there are YouTube and a few Flickr feeds integrated in the map, which also features the quake events and magnitude, a shake map (which shows this was a strong, strong shake throughout most of Japan) and other interactive features.

Here's how the social media feeds are integrated - yes folks, let your imaginations run wild here, it gets a little technical, but this technology is for You, for you to make social media maps about your bank, your customers, your word of mouth, and emergencies of a lesser though doubtlessly significant nature.

News Feeds: ESRI gathers the headline news from various online news agencies and pass each link through the RSStoGeoRSS web service that geocodes RSS content from any RSS Web link and returns the content as GeoRSS and serves it through ArcGIS Server as a map service.
Ushahidi: This public content from Ushahidi is added to the site by directly accessing the Earthquake Tohoku service through the Ushahidi API . The Ushahidi platform allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, e-mail or the web and visualize it on a map or timeline. The feed aggregates information from the public for use in crisis response. ESRI requests the incidents from Ushahidi in JSON format and adds to the map based on the ArcGIS API for JavaScript.
YouTube Videos: The videos are added to the application using the YouTube API which allows you to request videos given a latitude and longitude position along with a search radius and keywords.
Tweets: The Twitter API is used to identify tweets that match a specified query and area. In this case, only the tweets that return a coordinate value within the current visible map extent are added to the map. The Twitter API also sends the results of the query back to the application as JSON.
Flickr: The Flickr API is used to identify Flickr photos that match search terms and a collection of other parameters identified in the Flickr API help pages, and the API sends the results of the query back to the application as JSON.

So sad that we need to find and catalog these victims. So glad we have the technology which will help, be furthered, and extended.

Real Stuff for Real People II From ESRI 2011 Dev Summit

2011-03-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

Just about to head off to the Developer's party, where I will attempt to continue the tradition of Dodgeball Tourney Tweets. But there is going to be some mighty good microbrew, and the usual crossroads of the world good time shared by all.

Coolest Stuff So Far At Dev Summit

1 - Tim O'Reilly telling us that most of our web apps suck. They do. They are too biased towards GIS pros and not easy enough for business and regular folks to use.

2- ArcGIS Runtime. Here's a thumb drive with just what you need from ArcGIS on it to run your site or marketing or community analytics. No complexity, no licensing, no installation at all. Just stick it in a USB slot and run it. Me likey.

3. Dynamic Drive Time Polygons. The software has gotten SO fast, you can create and drag a drive time polygon around, shrink it, enlarge it, and watch it morph instantly. There was not a dry eye in the house.

4. Pervasive GIS from APOS. APOS was a gold sponsor this year and that's great because more people should know about these guys and what they are doing to make easier-to-deploy-and-use GIS and make it useful, or pervasive, throughout an enterprise or organization. We work with them and highly recommend them to all U.S. users who have not discovered this yet, particularly if you're interested in tapping into business intelligence networks, and especially those based on SAP Business Objects ("Crystal Reports").

5. Microsoft. What makes more sense than to try to reach a broad business and academic and government audience but to partner with Microsoft and tap into Office and Share Point? And now, Azure and Azure Data Market. Duh!

6. Dr. Jane Mashup. The ESRI Proto Lab team showed a ton of stuff they are working on that is absolutely real stuff for real folks. My favorite is the Dr. Jane Goodall mashup assisting the tracking and location of chimps. Jane will tell you she learned it all from her dog. She made me cry at the UC a couple of years back and was nice enough to come out and speak at Redlands recently for her Roots and Shoots program for kids.

More later. For one thing, ArcGIS runtime is so compelling, there will be after conference sessions on it tomorrow afternoon. For now, dodgeball calls.

ESRI Developers Build Great Stuff for Real People

2011-03-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

Over 1,400 attendees from all over the world have converged in Palm Springs this week for this year's ESRI Developer Summit.

And from every corner comes one idea - building great stuff that comes to life for real people, not just for GIS pros. Finally, there is the recognition on the part of all concerned that we must do much better to make our technology more transparent and useful to solve real problems for real, everyday people and present them with a much more engaging experience.

Perhaps Tim O'Reilly said it best - "Most of the web design we do sucks."

We must do much more to reach non-GIS audiences, particularly in business and local government.

More than half of the developers here (54%) are here for the first time, and 32% come from countries other than the U.S. So far, the greatest Wow factor is probably the experimental Kinect interface that allows the user to make gestures (like with a Nintendo Wii or the amazing Microsoft Kinect) to pan and zoom the map, and do pop-ups. That, and all of the technologies intended to make GIS more transparent, are the stars of this show.

Electric Orange Squeezes Big Banks - And Itself

2011-03-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

ING, seeing an opportunity you could drive a fleet of armored cars through, has been even more aggressive in going after customers dumping their big bank. This comes in the wake of a tsunami of checking account fees, that have gone from 0 to $120 or more a year in about 5.1 seconds.

Among many other placements in an extraordinary integrated marketing campaign, ING has embedded Electric Orange ads into the banner of the online New York Times.

No, not an ING banner - this is integrated into the Times' own banner.

No, it is not just on the masthead, it is... a button ad featuring No Fee Checking or Electric Orange and it's on every page.

So. We have a number of big banks, all raising their Checking fees, often calculated off the ultra agressive minimum daily balance method, and requiring hefty minimums and/or additional account relationships. And we have online banks like ING, giving it away to everybody. Does it really take that much thought to realize the real answer lies somewhere in-between, recognizing and rewarding customer relationships and loyalty, rather than simply repricing accounts?

One more thing. It's not just the NY Times, not by a long shot. On Amazon, for example, ING is looking for value-oriented, convenience-oriented Savers with Orange Savings.

Women In America

2011-03-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

One of the most important emerging market segments with unmet needs is one of the most obvious, yet one of the most overlooked, by banks, CUs and financial services companies. No, it is not the Latino population; nor the Asian population. It is not Gen X, it is not Gen Y, not even Alphaboomers. It is not Sun Belt; it is not Gentrification in urban cores.

It is Women.

Yesterday, WhiteHouse.gov released Women In America, the first major collected study of women in nearly 50 years, since the days of Eleanor Roosevelt and JFK. Among the key findings:

Younger women are now more educated - more likely to graduate from college than are men, more likely to hold a graduate school degree, more likely to have at least a high school education, and to participate in adult education. Men, however, still dominate math and science.
However, women continue to earn perhaps only 80% what men earn. This reflects other priorities such as care-giving and child rearing, volunteer work, and part-time work (but it also continues to reflect lesser pay for equal work).
Though, the participation of women in the workforce rose dramatically through the mid-1990s, it has been relatively constant since then.
Women have, and will have, more health issues, though women continue to live longer than men. These include mobility impairments, and chronic health conditions such as obesity, asthma, arthritis, and depression.
However, women continue to have a lower incidence of heart disease and diabetes then men, and generally use the health care system and preventive care more than men. Yet, fully one of seven women have no usual source of health care.
Women are marrying later, and having fewer kids and having them later. Of the 8 of 10 adult women with kids, an ever-growing number of women are raising children without a spouse.
Women will dominate older age cohorts.
More women will live in poverty than men.

The ramifications, and the unmet financial needs, are many. Among products and services to address these, specific financial education - especially regarding investments - is very important. Helping women establish their own small businesses is very important. Establishing relationship with women when they are still in college and grad school is very important. Addressing the needs of single, working moms is very important. Addressing and preparing for health needs is very important.

Above all, what is very important is understanding how the lives of women are changing over time, in order to build social and economic well-being.

Fiserv Makes Bold Mobile Banking Move, Buys M-Com

2011-03-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

How strategic and important is mobile banking to Fiserv? Yesterday, they outright acquired their partner in this space since 2008, mobile provider M-Com (Mobile Commerce Ltd.).

M-Com lets Fiserv expand mobile-banking and bill payments now, and enter location-based and near-field payments and communications (NFC) later. NFC allows mobile phones to act like contact-less cards to make payments at (or near) a point of sale, from e-wallets stored in the phones that hold coupons and tickets as well as payment media.

As is the case with many emerging banking and payment technologies, M-Com is originally from Down Under (New Zealand). Perhaps this deal is most significant because it involves a major provider of traditional tech to banks and credit unions going well outside to acquire the mobile technology it needs. It is likely to be only the first of many, and we'll continue to look to Australia, New Zealand and the Far East for payment system innovations.

BranchInfo 2011 Released With Major Enhancements

2011-02-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

The new BranchInfo update is now available, and includes locations and ownership as of January 2011 and deposit balances as of June 30, 2010. As always, it includes years of deposit history trends, mergers and acquisitions, closures and consolidations, dates opened, facility type, and more. For this release, we have improved the geocoding even further for previously hard-to-match locations.

But best of all, we have added a lot of new value. And how did we do that? Well, with geoprocessing, of course! We measured the relationship of branches to each other and to market potential, and added that back to the branch layer.

The result is that BranchInfo 2011 now contains additional metrics that are useful for quickly evaluating a branch's - and an entire network's - market potential and competitive environment. This includes the addition of many new variables, including deposit potential, loan potential and investment potential; and the degree of competition in terms of branch density and concentration.

How can we use the new data? We can relate deposit performance to the degree of competition and the amount of market potential, and analyze that in terms of all other branch characteristics; and do so both from within BranchInfo (like facility type, date opened and ownership changes) and among primary branch site and location characteristics like signage, business compatibility, parking and access. Just click on these links if you missed our 101 lecture on this, Blind To Site I and Blind To Site II.

And that is key to placing resources where they will do the most good. So you can dominate where deposit performance and potential are high and competition low; target where deposit performance is lacking but potential is clear and competition not overwhelming; maintain where deposits are OK but potential is weak and/or there’s too much competition chasing too few dollars; and just plain avoid everything else.

We’ll be sharing a lot more about the new BranchInfo 2011, and how banks are using it, in the coming weeks.

Add: Speaking of sharing, BranchInfo 2011 also includes the share of deposits among branches within one mile for each branch we could accurately estimate, which is the vast majority of all U.S. branches in the 50 states.

Forrester Predicts 1 in 5 Will Use Mobile Banking By 2015

2011-02-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

Perhaps what is most interesting about Forrester Research's US Mobile Banking Forecast, 2010 To 2015 is the idea that there is vast potential in getting those who do not bank online with a PC to do so with their smartphone. While most mobile banking programs seek out active online adults, far more adults currently own a cell phone and use it daily than access the Internet on a PC, and it is here where there is more potential to both add value for customers and reduce delivery costs for the bank.

Forrester reports, however, that Gen X and Y will be the drivers behind mobile adoption. “Gen X adults (ages 31 to 44) today make up 39 percent of U.S. mobile bankers —the most of any generation... when combined with Gen Y users, the two account for more than three-quarters of all current mobile banking users. By 2015, Gen Y will surpass Gen X and will make up 44 percent of U.S. mobile bankers. These two groups represent the present and the future of mobile banking.”

To get to that one in five US adults, banks will need to do a lot more.
   1. Introduce innovative new features, like mobile remote deposit capture, not commonly available through other channels.
   2. Optimize existing functionality to offer superior user experiences through the mobile channel.
   3. Leverage the unique capabilities of mobile devices and the mobile channel, particularly location based services.

The real ROI from mobile banking will come from engaging the 40% of US consumers who today do not bank online. As Forrester notes, today's online banking functionality won't get it done.

Card Outstandings Rise!

2011-02-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

We all felt it this Holiday season - enough already. We're going to celebrate.

And celebrate we did, as we hit our cards Big Time. Retailers had their best holiday shopping season since 2006. And today, the Fed confirmed for us that we experienced the first increase in credit card use in over 2 years in December. Credit card outstandings rose 3.5 percent, and on auto loans increased 2.8 percent.

How important is this? Very. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of domestic economic activity.

Add this news to those burgeoning 401Ks riding a market rally, and we can expect consumer confidence to continue to rise. But it will never again be fueled by 20% or more year to year gains in the value of our homes.

Implications? We expect a renewed wave of balance transfer marketing by the likes of Cap One - and robust retirement savings season for non-traditional and self-directed, as the savings rate continues at levels far higher than before the Great Recession despite all the borrowing. Has reality set in? Good. Now that our household budgets are more realistic, maybe public ones someday will be, too.

Mobile Banking Usage from Synergistics

2011-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Synergistics - a top tier supplier of syndicated research to financial institutions that I have been turning to for over 25 years - pegged mobile banking subscriptions at about 16% or one in 7 households in mid-summer 2010.

This is based on 42% aware of such services, and 40% of those signing up. Those who say mobile is their primary means of banking is only about 4%, which fits very well with other consumer research on this.

How many actually used the service last month is unknown, but probably remains in single digits.

What is amazing here is that 40% of respondents did not know whether their bank offered mobile banking services, an astoundingly large number that speaks to

A) Continuing consumer unfamiliarity and

B) Ineffective or absent bank communications.

The prior year, Synergistics pointed out that small business was moving faster on mobile devices in general, and that this was an obvious place for a bank to focus its early efforts.

At that time, 24% were already using smartphones, and among these, 2/3 were doing mobile banking (16% of all businesses).

More interestingly, they were engaged in a wide variety of activities. While balance inquiry led the way (52%) - as it did with ATM and ARU adoption earlier - 42% made a balance transfer or a card payment. Also a hopeful sign is that nearly half received an e-mail from their bank on a mobile device, and about 1/3 sent one.

Genie Driscoll of Synergistics spells it all out. “One of the foremost trends in banking right now is mobile banking and payments, and, with a few notable exceptions, the consumer seems to be the focus of most marketing activity, as well as trade press coverage. However, our survey shows some very impressive activity taking place in the small business market. There has been significant adoption of mobile banking and payment activities by small businesses. Providers, in focusing on consumer marketing of mobile services, would do well not to neglect these significant small business adopters.”

Mobile Banking Wave Reaches Critical Mass

2011-01-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

My good friend Ron Stratman is the marketing director of the California Credit Union. Being a Mizzou boy born and bred and all the way through, we frequently enjoy a Missouri style BBQ lunch at the Bear Pit, which is in Mission Hills near RPM's offices.

For the past 5 years, Ron has always asked over lunch, always - where are we with mobile banking? The answer always has been, not there yet, usage is minimal, under 5% penetration, though it's an influential, desirable 5%.

Well buddy, looks like this is The Year.

Nielsen reported at CES 2011 that 31% of all U.S. mobile subscribers now have smartphones, and that may hit as high as 50% by year end. And this smarphone market is Huge - already, according to Nielsen Mobile Media View study, there are over 83 million people accessing the web from a phone - more households than have HDTV, or digital cable. IDC reports in their IDC Financial Insights’ United States Consumer Channel Preference Survey that mobile banking usage doubled in 2009 and skews - young, male and upscale.

Young, male, and upscale is exactly where smartphone growth is going. Today, women talk more (28% more according to Nielsen) and text more - but as sports content begins to take its place alongside movie, TV and videos (and social networking), more and more men are going to pick up smartphones as soon as they discover they are sports information machines, capable of delivering everything from live broadcasts to Albert Pujol's lifetime stats by voice query.

And when sports content hits mobile and intelligent TVs and set top boxes, that 4% of Cord Cutters that have dumped cable TV for broadband only will explode in ways, it was clear at CES, that many traditional players are not ready for.

Today, Nielsen reports that E-Mail (39%) and Social Networking (11%) represent about half of all mobile internet time spent. News and Current Events, only 7% - add sports, and They Will Come.

And Mobile Banking - which is still a very small niche - will, too.

So Ron, and all you bank marketers out there, it is time to leverage online banking efforts into mobile banking efforts and brace for The Smartphone Explosion as we head for broad, mainstream adoption of the smartphones that will empower mobile banking in 2011.

Alphaboomers Defy Traditional Bank Marketing

2011-01-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

Nielsen's State of the Media 2010 presentation in the Media Money Makers track at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas shook some worlds - maybe yours.

If your bank relies on segmentation models that focus more on lifecycle per se than on lifecycle's role in lifestyle, you may be about to make the biggest mistake you ever made.

What was formerly the "Preretired" lifecycle - ages 55-64 - is now strongly influenced if not dominated by Alphaboomers, Nielsen's coinage for 55-64 year olds that consume media - old, new and cutting edge alike - like teenagers. In the past, once consumers reached the age of 50 to 55, they fell off entertainment radar completely, and their financial concerns turned to thoughts (and worries) about retirement.

Now, if you market to Alphaboomers as if they were Preretired - because you are considering lifecycle outside the broader context of lifestyle - you will be so far off base you will go backwards for every marketing dollar so misspent.

All these years, I thought I was the only one who failed to grow up. How comforting it is to know that I have so much company as a 56 year old with a feature phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a work notebook and an entertainment one, a desktop PC, 3 internet/PC connected TVs, a DVR, a Blu Ray set-top box and a presence on Twitter and Facebook (and My Space for the music stuff).

Cultural factors, and health and wellness, have turned us into one megaspending cohort, 55-64 - much more concerned with enjoying the time of our lives when we still, for the most part, have not only the means but the health. Increasingly, the health and wellness of people - of customers and prospects - will find its way into RPM's financial models and data like MarketBank. The healthier the older household, the more financial services they will consume that hit the bottom line, not just liabilities (like hot money CDs) as in the past.

This Nielsen presentation was Killer! Even Nielsen themselves will need to step up to the findings. More to come on changing media habits and how we expect them to change retail banking and the ways we analyze customers and markets.

Oracle Unveils Glimpse of the Future of CRM at CES 2011

2011-01-05T23:08:00.000-08:00

The future of CRM is delivering business intelligence that can be used at the moment of truth where customers interact with service staff and systems - for a bank, that is branch, phone, web, mobile.

This was the key takeaway from today's compelling Oracle presentations at the Oracle High Tech Summit at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

More on this in the days to come - it was among the richest conferences I've ever attended in terms of solid thinking about data management architectures for CRM and real-world business cultural implications of same in a very short period of time (6 hours).

Using the APOS Location Intelligence Solution for ESRI, RPM has developed just such an application. For call centers and branch staff, it provides an at-a-glimpse map that suggests logical cross and up sales; mobile and on the PC, business rules do the same thing transparently.

Just one problem, we are ahead of the market, and ahead of our business partners, too. Traditionally, business intelligence was for Analysts. Now, we are driving it to the POS and moments of truth. This challenges everyone to step up to the new model.

Dynamics Card Selected A Best Innovation at CES 2011

2011-01-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

The computer-on-a-card from Dynamics, Inc. is a REALLY smart smart card. The smartest ever! It is essentially a computer in a credit card form factor, with all those possibilities as a payment card.

Dynamics’ core technology, Card 2.0®, is a paper-thin, flexible computing platform in a payment card form factor. The device features Electronic Stripe™, the innovation -- a fully card-programmable magnetic stripe.

The Electronic Stripe™ can be read at any current POS terminal. It is designed to be as durable as a traditional payment card and last over four years on a single battery charge. That the technology does not require any change to the 60 million 1970s-era magnetic stripe readers is a huge plus - this was not a significant barrier to past generations of smart cards that required replacing the old mag stripe tech - it was an insurmountable barrier.

Payment systems evolve, and Dynamics knows that, and continues to expand upon and improve its technology - but will smart cards ever be inexpensive enough to deploy vs. mag stripes and their terminals deployed so ubiquitously in the U.S.?

Sure. Citi for one has been experimenting pretty aggressively.

Just don't hold your breath. This is decidedly not Australia, where electronic banking has evolved far faster than it has stateside.

More on this and other developments in electronic and mobile banking from the CES at the incredible Venetian in Las Vegas.

Customer Service Stars

2010-12-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

I have been elbow deep in dust in a data center with a dropped dongle – you overnighted it.

I’ve sucked on a bad BA thumb drive – you replaced it.

Frozen out three disks in on a four disk install five times in a row – you replaced them.

Clients due were denied support – you got it for them.

My install codes gone, my licenses corrupted – you got me new ones, in minutes.

This may be news to a lot of people, but no one – No One – we work with in our practice makes us feel more valued, does more to help us, and to help our customers, than ESRI Customer Service, and our old friends in the ESRI Partners program. All problems resolved, fast - in a calm and considered voice, by someone who understands when things are not going so well and makes them better. Someone who knows that business systems are not always customer-centered and makes them work.

Here in California, our rep has been Rick Witham, our forever Partner Goddess is Nancy Forrest, and Dave Wieseler still looks out for us even though it’s not even his job anymore. Rick is moving on now to Event Management where he will have even a greater impact – well done.

At this Holiday time of the year, we’d like to take a moment to recognize the extraordinary people who help us help you. And we’d like to encourage everyone to get to know the Customer Service Angels who serve them.

Important Changes to Your Checking Account - Checking Fees & Branch Attractiveness

2010-12-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

Free checking is dead. We've all heard the news. It's the same all over. Or is it?

We think the death of "free checking" is the greatest marketing opportunity since the invention of the giveaway toaster.

Those who are truly retail oriented will do well, and traditional banks will not. Why not? Because most big commercial banks don't understand the retail impact of charging significant fees, every month, for something that was once provided free - and how such a move can make branches less attractive than nearby and online options and cause defections of solid relationships, not just cherry pickers (single service, low balance free checking customers).

Presented for your inspection, one Chase Bank. We think that Chase has perhaps considered, but not calculated, the valuable business it will lose to nearby branch competitors by going from $0 to $120 annually for a Checking account. In other words, it doesn't seem like they did any focus groups to find out that we all go ouch at 10 bucks; nor have they conducted a gravity analysis that includes the institution of the new fees as an attractiveness variable, along with all other things geo and geodemographic, to see what might happen competitively, branch trade area by branch trade area, as everyone changes their prices at the same time.

Chase is a commercial banking culture and they are relying largely on inertia here, the inherent difficulty in changing Checking account providers. There is an old rule in retail banking that whenever one raises fees, one provides at least 5 different ways for customers to avoid those fees. Chase has provided four, and they have holes in them.

Direct deposit $500 or more each month, which is fine if your employer supports that, but it doesn't really work for small business or many other people.

Or, keep a minimum DAILY balance of $1,500, which means you will trigger the fee if your Checking balance goes below $1,500 at any time, which means you have tied up $1,500 in a zero-interest account and lose any investment opportunity associated with it.

Or, maintain an average monthly balance of $5,000 or more at Chase, deposit-driven and not very young household or family-friendly.

Or, already be paying $25 or more to Chase in monthly fees.

Those are the commissions, among glaring omissions are not waiving the fee for customers with an auto loan who autopay, nor creating any other ways for transaction and credit driven households to avoid the fees.

At RPM, we are currently using GIS to predict what the outcome of "the death of free checking" will be at the branch level, associating all of the fee changes for each competitor for every branch in our national BranchInfo branch performance and locations database, and using the new fees as an input to calculating store attractiveness in branch trade areas.

And what we are beginning to see is the potential for a major shift towards the first big bank retailer(s) that act(s) like one in 2011, as many people figure out how to make smarter banking choices along the routes they travel every day. And increasingly, location-based marketing will push messages to the fee averse based on their location when they come within range of a significant differential, where one competitor may be ranked significantly better or worse on the basis of fees and ultimately, value. (To keep up with location based tecnology trends, be sure to visit the RPM blog.)

Chase is just one example, and has hired some great retail banking people, but do they have the research, the tools and the technology to deal with this? Do you?

Business Analyst 10 Service Pack Download

2010-11-30T16:51:00.000-08:00

Esri Business Analyst 10 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is now available from the Esri Support Center. This service pack contains several performance improvements and maintenance fixes.

Here are some of the issues it is meant to fix that we have heard of... there is an exhaustive list on the Download page.

NIM061242 - BA 10 Bug: Changing the terms "Customer" and/ or "Store" in Preferences does not persist in the wizard's text, i.e. they are still called "Customers" and "Stores" after about the third window during cust/store setup.

NIM061418 - BA 10 Bug: Entering text into the SIC search box, when using Add Business Listings (Classic view), does not work. Work around is to type in caps.

NIM061777 - The word County is duplicated in the label for the County Labels layer . Workaround outlined in kb38382.

NIM061817 - Spatial Query Layers used to create Customer and Store layers crash Business Anlayst 10 (contains workaround).

NIM061901 - When data apportionment is set to Hybrid reports and spatial overlay will return zeroes for rings 10 miles and larger [changing to block apportionment is the workaround].

NIM061902 - BA 10 Bug: After creating/adding a custom bds layer, using the geocoder results in an error: "Geocoding Service is damaged, do you want to repair it?" Restarting BA and not adding the custom bds will resolve the issue.

NIM061969 - BA 10 Bug: Customer Setup to geocode addresses results in Unhandled Exception, referencing out of memory.

NIM061972 - BA 10 Bug: USA Geocoding Service is not Geocoding records it successfully geocoded at 9.3.1.

Let's see if these all got in there, as well as the long list on the Download site, and if you don't see your issue here or there, let us know!

Esri recommends that customers using Business Analyst 10 and Business Analyst Premium 10 download and install this service pack at their earliest convenience. You don't need the core ArcGIS 10 SP1, bit it is also now available from the Esri Support Center, and it should not break anything BA and offers some core improvements and fixes that may be helpful.

Centralized Layer Management

2010-11-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

One of many cool things in Business Analyst 10 is the Project Explorer tab of the Business Analyst Window. For the first time, ArcGIS users can manage layers centrally, instead of having to open them one at a time. This is especially tedious when making changes.

Now, in one powerful window or dialog, we can choose which Project to work with; which layers are on and off in the project, and the transparency of each layer. There are also helpful project level controls allowing you to print the map, copy it to the clipboard, add or remove toolbars.

Most powerfully, one can perform analysis on the layer by choosing a tool/wizard from the Favorites bar. The defaults include Spatial Overlay, Dynamic Rings, Drive Time, Grid, and Custom Data Setup to prepare one of your own layers for analysis.

Where are we going with this? Back to the future.

Here is the Layers and Themes control in Atlas GIS 4.0, which to date has been the only ESRI product with centralized layer management.

In Atlas, one has control over most of the important settings for each layer in one convenient place, including visible range, theme, symbology (style), label settings, legend, and layer info (source tab).

Which is among the reasons why, 10 years after it was discontinued, we still get calls for help with Atlas GIS, and we still produce a low cost geocoder for those who can't bear to part with it.

Can Brand Perceptions Impact Store Attractiveness?

2010-11-10T14:30:00.000-08:00

The answer is, perceptions of customer service and value of the overall brand may absolutely impact store attractiveness - in fact, GIS analysis suggests they can make all the difference.

Here's a little market in Minnesota, but it could be your neighborhood. There are four banking competitors and six branches here in the space of about 1/2 a mile - US Bank with two branches to the north, TCF Bank with two to the southeast, and Wells Fargo and M&I with one branch each towards the west. Using customer perceptions of Overall Satisfaction, Reasonable Fees and Easy to Resolve Problems from the most recent JD Power Retail Banking Study for this region, we assigned the JD Power scores for each bank to each of its branches. Then, we ran a very basic Huff model based on these perceptions, at left.

The analysis shows that M&I will be able to successfully compete in this market with a much smaller office, and just one office, because the perceived service quality and value are attractive enough to have influence throughout the entire southern portion of the area. To the north, US Bank benefits from having two offices with better perceptions than either Wells or TCF, and dominates the entire northern area.

Based on deposits, which with date opened and several other factors is usually considered a key factor of attractiveness, we would expect something entirely different, depicted to the right in a model based purely on deposit size. M&I is overwhelmed in this analysis, by the large Wells branch, the two TCFs including one large office, and the two US Bank locations.

Looking at the same neighborhood by equal competition or Thiessen analysis, where equidistant lines are drawn between each branch and its adjacent branches, this tends to flatter the institutions with multiple branches (left).

Simple rings tend to flatter the multibranch US Bank and TCF even more, as they dominate the market to the north and south, respectively.

Meanwhile, drivetime polygons tend to depict a lot of overlap, given the immediate proximity of all the offices to a single, main intersection.

Hardly definitive, but food for thought. To what extent can perceptions of good customer service and value overcome weaker convenience and ease of access, and how do we model it in GIS? By the way, that is RPM's MarketBank potential for deposits as the underlying theme, the greener the better.

Blind To Site, Part III

2010-11-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Back in the day... Site work used to be so much... work.

Trudging around, filling out a site questionnaire longhand that would only need to be transferred to a computer later. Then, brought step by step into a spreadsheet, a database.

Then finally into desktop GIS, ultimately to be integrated with the existing network.

Fumbling for a camera to take photos. Mumbling voice notes into a hand-held voice recorder. Scrambling on the cellphone to relay results. Worst of all, dropping the notebook PC you brought out with you, ostensibly to save a little time.

No more. Now we do it all on the Samsung Ultra Mobile PC. On one tablet device, I can do it all - photos, voice, full Excel spreadsheet, even ArcGIS.

Suddenly, what used to take forever and was no fun at all is now made quick, easy, fast. Work has become a pleasure again. I can collect all the rich data I need in every way I need literally in the palm of my hand.

And integrate my field work with the network in real time.

Not to mention that tablet computing is a blast, and definitely the next Big Thing (witness the IPad).
However - unlike the IPad, this Samsung has an integrated QWERTY keyboard - and more importantly, a full blown OS (Windows XP SP3), a powerful mobile CPU, and fully 2GB of RAM. And if you are not quite as literate texting as your kids are, you can write longhand right onto the PC using a stylus and an input area, and the handwriting recognition kicks in.

What a joy it is to gather the info digitally, once,

into an Excel spreadsheet...

then pull that into ArcGIS...

integrate it with the existing network...

analyze the impact on that network...

compare it with other site options... and

distribute the information throughout the organization and to partners before I even get back into the car to drive to the next site.

We've been using these Samsung UMPCs for over three years now, and we love them. More so, we're in love with tablet computing.

So much so, we just bought one of Samsung's new 40 inch touchscreens.

Now, I just have to find a way to mount it into my vehicle.

1stBank Deploys QR Code Advertising

2010-10-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's a link. It's a bar code. It's Pop Art. It's a QR code! And it's another mobile technology that caught fire in Japan years ago and is still finding its way to the States.

On the one hand, this is a very promising mobile technology, on the other, just another way to pass a link. Content is king, as always. If the website or other content you are whisked off to is useful, valuable, and/or entertaining, then you have something. If your site is lame, and/or you are lame in referring customers to it and then dropping the ball, you will remain lame (just a more geeky lame).

1stBank in Colorado is one of the first movers on QR codes, providing reading material and puzzles for a virtual waiting room in the Denver International Airport. QR code posters inside the airport (photos courtesy of The Financial Brand) are headlined “Free Books,” “Free Crosswords,” and “Free Sudoku” and link to a selection of classic novels, crosswords and Sudoku.

Microsoft has its own, color version of QR codes, aimed particularly at mobile tagging applications, called Microsoft Tag.

You can create QR codes to your own content at sites like this- the technology is free of any license, easy to use, and offers some very interesting opportunities.

Here's a QR code to RPM's The GIS Biz, which covers general business and location intelligence news.