Online Banking and Bill Payment Spur Loyalty</h1> <article> <h1>Online Banking and Bill Payment Spur Loyalty</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:46:57 GMT</p> <p> For the first time ever, online bill payments surpassed paper checks among Internet households, according to a <a href="http://www.checkfree.com/" target="blank">CheckFree</a> report titled "The 2007 Consumer Bill Payment Survey."</p> <table align="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td>The report, conducted with <a href="http://www.mwshop.com/" target="blank">The Marketing Workshop</a> and <a href="http://www.harrisinteractive.com/" target="blank">Harris Interactive</a>, found that 74% of all US Internet households pay at least one bill online.<br /><br /> Also, 39% of total bill payment volume among US Internet households in January 2007 was online, up 4% over December 2005. Mailed check volume fell 4%, to just 34% of the total bill payment volume. </td> </tr> </table> <p>This is all good news for banks, according to a <a href="http://www.foreseeresults.com/" target="blank">ForeSee Results</a> and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/" target="blank">Forbes.com</a> study. </p> <table align="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td>The firms found that consumers who pay their bills through a bank Web site are more satisfied with their financial institution than either people who just check their balances or transfer money online, and others who don't use computers for financial business. <br /><br />On a 100-point scale rating customer satisfaction, people who banked and paid bills online scored their banking experience at 79, while online bankers rated their banks at 76 and offline bankers scored around 70.<br /><br />The more bills paid through a bank's site, the higher the satisfaction, it seems. Consumers who paid more than six bills through the bank scored 81 out of 100 points for "total satisfaction." </td> <td> </td> </tr> </table> <table align="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td>Forsee found that higher customer satisfaction boosts share of wallet for banks. <br /><br />Online bill payers are 31% more likely to purchase additional services from their bank than online bankers who do not pay bills through the bank's Web site. <br /><br />Even then, consumers who just bank online are 19% more likely to recommend their bank than offline bankers. </td> </tr> </table> <table align="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td>However, credit unions have higher overall customer satisfaction scores (84) than both large banks (77) and community banks (77). Their customers were more likely to purchase more services and recommend the institution and its Web site to others. <br /><br /> eMarketer's "Financial Services Online Marketing" report is published in July 2007. To be notified when it is released, <a href="http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/ReportNotification.aspx?src=report_notification_reports=blank">click here</a>.<br /><br /> <b>Article Source: </b><a href="http://www.emarketer.com=blank">www.emarketer.com</a> </td> <td> </td> </tr> </table><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>The Revolution of Mobile Financial Services</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:42:38 GMT</p> <p>Mobile banking and payments could revolutionize the financial sector the same way that the ATM did, according to a January <a href="http://www.juniperresearch.com/index.php">Juniper Research</a> report "Mobile Financial Services: Banking & payment markets 2007-2011."</p> <p>By 2011, Juniper predicts 612 million worldwide mobile phone users will generate over $587 billion worth of financial transactions.</p> <p>Of that total, mobile payments are expected to generate $22 billion worth of transactions by 2011, through 204 million mobile phone users. </p> <p>Juniper sees enormous potential in giving consumers the freedom to bank and make payments from their mobile phone. </p> <p>"A combination of increased user demand and a desire from all sections of the MFS ecosystem to deliver intelligent applications and services has created an atmosphere that is both creative and pragmatic," says report author Alan Goode.</p> <p>Article Source: <a href="http://www.emarketer.com">www.emarketer.com</a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Small-Business Owners Learn to Adapt in Economic Downturn</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:48:10 GMT</p> <p>Many small businesses are feeling the pinch from a shaky economy, climbing prices, and low consumer confidence. Small business experts say small businesses looking to survive difficult times must react to the times and stay nimble, watch their costs, and be innovative. Innovation does not mean reinventing the company, but rather looking for new ways to sell products or services and expanding to new markets. </p> <p>Last month, for the first time since the early 1980s, small business owners cited inflation as their leading worry in a monthly survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business, with rising fuel costs cited as a particular concern. Fortunately, access to business credit in this tight economy is not a major concern for most small business owners. </p> <p>In the survey, 35 percent of small business owners reported regular borrowing activity, which is a typical result in surveys taken over the past 15 years. Only 2 percent of owners cited the cost and availability of business credit as their No.1 business problem. </p> <p><span class="cite"><b>"Small-Business Owners Learn to Adapt in Economic Downturn"</b><br /><i>Kansas City Star (07/21/08) Goforth, Alan </i></span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Strategies: How to Keep Your Business Bank Accounts Safe</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:36:23 GMT</p> <p>The recent collapse of a major U.S. bank highlights the need to understand the federal government's deposit insurance protections. The U.S. government, through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), protects up to $100,000 per individual, but that applies to all accounts an individual has at any one bank, including both business and personal accounts if the individual is the sole proprietor. </p> <p>Small businesses can easily have more than $100,000 in their business bank accounts, which can include a business checking account, a money market account, and a certificate of deposit. Some retail operations and restaurants can have tens of thousands of dollars going through a bank account every month that could quickly exceed $100,000. Additionally, many small business owners use the same bank for their business and personal accounts, as it is easier, and often necessary, to transfer funds between accounts. </p> <p>To make sure all your assets are protected, it is important to know a few specifics. The FDIC covers only $100,000 per bank per "entity," which includes individuals, corporations, and legal partnerships, each of which can have separate FDIC insurance up to the $100,000 limit. Sole proprietorships are not separate entities from the individual, so if your business is not incorporated or a LLC, your business accounts are not covered separately from your personal accounts. However, if a spouse is on a personal account, he or she is also insured up to $100,000. Legal corporations, LLCs, and legal partnerships are separate entities. A legal partnership is a single entity with a $100,000 insurance limit, no matter how many partners are in the legal partnership. </p> <p>If you have more than $100,000 in all your business and personal accounts, consider switching some funds to another FDIC-insured bank.</p> <p><span class="cite"><b>"Strategies: How to Keep Your Business Bank Accounts Safe"</b><br /><i>USA Today (07/25/08) Abrams, Rhonda </i></span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Collection Agencies -- Not Just for Big Business</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:20 GMT</p> <p class="articletext2">One of the reasons small businesses write off a great deal of loss is that they don't realize how easy and affordably it can be to hire collection agencies to recover bad debt. Developing a success-driven mindset and taking action like your larger competitors is the first step to growing your business. Many of today's collection agencies are small business friendly and can improve your company's bottom line drastically with smart solutions for collecting bad debt.<br /> <br /><strong> Look for collection agencies that offer several collection tier levels</strong><br /> Small businesses often don't utilize collection agencies like their larger competitors because they feel the debt owed may be insignificant to large collection agencies. Small businesses should look for collection agencies that offer different collection amount tiers. Debts as low as $1000, regardless of the size of the contacting business can be easily recovered by collection agencies. <br /> <br /><strong> Verify that the collection agency uses legal collection methods</strong><br /> The days of collection agencies harassing friends and family and calling late at night in an attempt to collect unpaid debt is long gone. To comply with today's regulations, collection agencies must adhere to strict laws that require them to use more brains than brawn in an attempt to collect debt. Check to make sure that the collection agencies you're considering belong to either the International Association of Commercial Collectors or the American Collector's Association. Admittance to either requires that collection agencies adhere to the legal standards and ethics of third party collection agencies. <br /> <br /><strong> Collecting the debt yourself verses contracting a collection agency</strong><br /> First party collectors (i.e. business owners) are not bound by the same set of federal regulations when it comes to collecting debt. However, attempting to collect debt if not handled properly can result in poor client relations at best and a hefty fine at worst. A systematic, proactive first party collection approach works well for the first 30-60 days of delinquency. If the client hasn't paid by that point, you're at risk statistically for losing a substantial part of the balance.<br /> <br /><strong> A timeline of diminishing returns</strong><br /> Statistically, the longer a debt becomes overdue, the less likely that you will ever recover the full amount from the customer. Figures from collection agencies show that after 3 months of non-payment you can expect about a 73% return on every dollar, 50% on every dollar after 6 months, and 25% after one year. If you've got bad debt that's piled up over long periods of time, your time may be better spent by hiring a collection agency to recoup some of your old debt and implementing a plan to prevent new bad debt. <br /> <br /><strong> Partnering with a collection agency</strong><br /> Some collection agencies offer an accounts receivable management program to help businesses manage their AR effectively. With this service, collection agencies print and send letters on your letterhead, contact clients under your name, handle disputes, and send the payment directly to your company. Most business owners don't enjoy trying to track down their payments. It's draining, frustrating, and most would rather spend their time working on creative ways to bring in new clients. For collection agencies, securing payments is what they do best. <br /> <br /> Small businesses, perhaps more so than their larger competitors, can't afford not to have a solid plan for collecting bad debt. Small businesses often operate on much tighter budgets and just one or two delinquent accounts can stop a small business in its tracks. Fortunately, modern collection agencies are small business friendly and are often just what small businesses need to become more profitable and take their business to the next level.</p> <p class="articletext2"><strong>About The Author--</strong> Ruben Soliman is a freelance copywriter. For more information about what a <a href="http://www.aabusa.com/">collection agency</a> can do for you, visit <a href="http://www.aabusa.com/">www.abusa.com</a>.</p> <p class="articletext">Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesisland.com/profile/ruben-soliman-310.html">Articles island - Free article submission and free reprint articles</a></p> </article> </main></body></html>