QR codes: scan to learn more: if you place Quick Response (QR) codes on your print ads and posters, further information. Here's how marketers at community banks across the country are experimenting with these codes.

• Author: Albro, Walt

THEY LOOK LIKE A CROSSWORD PUZZLE that hasn't been filled in with letters: funny little clusters of squares arranged on a white background. They are called Quick Response (QR) codes, and they are starting to show up on bank print ads, posters, brochures--even e-mails and business cards.

What are they?

QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes. If customers have a smart phone with a camera and have downloaded software to read a QR code, they can scan the code image to directly access a website or a YouTube video or to display a telephone number, e-mail address or an SMS message. They are the latest tool to help banks better connect with their customers.

The appeal of the codes is that they are easy and inexpensive both to generate and use. Many customers already have smart phones. And customers with smart phones can quickly download a QR code reader at little or no cost.

"We're real excited about them," says Eddie Woodruff, CFMR chief marketing officer at Forcht Group of Kentucky and Forcht Bank (assets: SI billion), Lexington, Ky. "You can't beat the price. They're free. Why not use them?"

Woodruff first noticed local retailers and other businesses employing the code. He asked himself, "Why aren't banks vising these?" He attended a seminar to learn more. This July, the bank launched a "brand refresh" campaign and Woodruff introduced QR codes in print ads and on drive-through banners.

The 90-day campaign included a "Choose Your Own Direction $5,000 Vacation Sweepstakes." Customers or prospects who opened any new personal checking or savings account during the promotion period were automatically registered for the drawing. The QR codes direct the user to a portion of the bank's website that contains additional sweepstakes details.

When the financial institution--which has 34 banking centers in central Kentucky--tried a similar sweepstakes (without the use of QR codes) four years ago, it successfully pulled in new customers. The drawing also encourages existing customers to sign up for new products.

Forcht Group considers itself a technological progressive institution. It was one of the first community banks to introduce mobile banking in the state, something that happened a year ago. Woodruff says the introduction of the codes was a logical extension of mobile banking services. "We believe it will help us attract the younger/tech-savvy customers."

The bank is currently tracking how many people go to the website by scanning the QR codes. "It's another way that we try to stay connected both with customers and potential...