Independent Banker - April 2017 - 50

Meet the
: Part II
form and either mail it or bring it to the offi ce. Some didn't
own printers or stamps. One didn't even own a computer,
doing everything from his phone. The bank's website said
to download the bank's mobile app for the best experience,
so he did-only to discover that he couldn't open a new
account through it.
" To me, that was eye opening, " says Husic. " I don't want
feedback fi ltered. I want to hear it. I may cringe when
I hear it, but if we don't know the hard truth, we're not
going to be able to change this. "
In the end, it took 18 minutes to print the paperwork to
open the account, not including the time to fi nd the link.
When they tried a credit union site, the process took 10
minutes, with no printer or stamps necessary.
" For younger people, technology [allows us] to use time
more effectively, " says Whitesel. " From the consumer end,
I think oftentimes the majority of the population is not
really looking to take time to go into the bank. We want to
be able to have an easy experience going online and doing
most of the same things as going into the bank. "
That was just one exercise, with more to come. Perhaps
Centric will discover fi ndings to further support Howe
in his belief that mobile banking is just a prerequisite for
doing business with millennials-not an end. The digital
experience needs to go deeper, he says, with millennials
particularly responding to gamifi cation that lets them
measure achievement and reach new levels, whether that's
FICO scores, saving scores or some other measurement.
Finding authenticity
But it has to be real, and that's where community banks
may have an edge.
" It starts with having something that's not just big
Free Go Local toolkit
ICBA is no stranger to authenticity. Through the Go
Local initiative, ICBA helps community banks support
the local shops, restaurants and other businesses
that make their communities unique. The Go Local
toolkit includes marketing tips, fl iers, graphics and
stickers to help your community bank promote Small
Business Week (April 30-May 6) and even ideas for
launching your own Go Local campaign. If your bank
has a community involvement story you would like to
share, email golocal@icba.org and join the conversation
on Twitter with the hashtag #GoLocal.
Download the Go Local toolkit at icba.org/go-local/
spread-the-word/marketing-toolkit
____________
marketing, but something that is really authentic to what
the company stands for and what it does, " says Andrei
Cherny, CEO of Aspiration, a fi ntech fi rm offering socially
conscious investing and checking products using a " pay
what's fair " model. Aspiration is not a chartered bank,
so it provides checking accounts through Radius Bank,
a Boston-based community
bank with $850
million in assets.
With trust in fi nancial
institutions at an all-time
low, Aspiration is meant
to be an alternative that
puts customers' interests
fi rst and proves it by
putting faith in those
customers. They are
free to pay Aspiration
what they like for its services,
and almost all its
customers do pay something,
Cherny says. It also donates 10 percent of revenue
to " charitable activities expanding economic opportunity "
while making it easy for customers to give and track charitable
giving.
_________________________
" Because of that, they have a sense of empowerment
and ability to make choices for themselves; they are not
just going to pick the bank that is closest to them with
branches, " Cherny says. " They are going to pick the institution
they can get excited about. "
When asked why Aspiration chose economic opportunity
for its charitable giving, and if it had used surveys
or focus groups to determine what charity would best
50 ICBA IndependentBanker April 2017
" I don't want
feedback fi ltered.
I may cringe when
I hear it, but if we
don't know the hard
truth, we're not
going to be able to
change this. "
-PATTI HUSIC,
CENTRIC BANK
http://www.qmags.com/clickthrough.asp?url=www.icba.org/go-local/spread-the-word/marketing-toolkit&id=20215&adid=P50E1
Independent Banker - April 2017

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