Email alerts 7,000 R.I. bank customers about hurricane Irene.

• Position: Brief article

WHEN HURRICANE IRENE CAME CRASHING UP THE EAST COAST into New England in late August, some banks were faced with closing some or all their branches. Two banks in Rhode Island--Bank Newport (assets: $1 billion), Newport, R.I., and Washington Trust Company (Assets: $3 billion), Westerly, R.I.,--used their email service provider to notify their customers about the situation.

The banks' marketing teams were able to send branch closing notification through their provider, ClickRSVP, just before power was lost for many state residents. Despite impaired communications, the messages were opened by more than 7,000 bank customers. (Because the message lines included the information that branches would be closed, there was no need to open the email, so the actual readership was probably higher.)

With more people checking email on smartphones, the message continued to be effective even after power was lost, says...