High-tech statements: get the message? Bank statements--both e-statements and those printed and mailed the traditional way--are evolving into advanced delivery vehicles for more effective and targeted marketing messages. Multimedia e-statement ads are the newest trend.

• Author: Mason, Guy

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY NOW PROVIDES A COST EFFECTIVE VEHICLE for producing bank statements that reach customers consistently with the right message at the right time Through customized messaging capabilities, reformatted designs, and a call-to-action, bank statements are a viable marketing tool that not only cross-sell products and services but promote the brand as well.

In the past, there were three stumbling blocks to the use of these types of high-tech statements, First, many financial institutions either accumulated too much of the wrong kind of information on their customers or, conversely, not enough of the right information. Either way, this put banks at a disadvantage because they were unable to tailor statements for every customer. Second, some banks relied on antiquated core systems and found it difficult to segment the data correctly or make the information easily accessible to the marketing staff. Third, the marketing department and operations departments were sometime at odds over changes to bank statements. In many environments, making change or adding account level marketing messages to statements requires operation: personnel's time and budget. This was compounded by the belief on the part of operations personnel that customers ignore bank statements and, therefore, placing marketing messages on a statement was a poor use of their resources.

Each of these issues resulted in the ineffective use of customer information as well as wasted opportunities to use statements to promote services and products.

The power of bank statements

Statements are opened and read by more than 90 percent of customers. Thus, statements provide banks with unique opportunities to reach a captive audience monthly. By analyzing the customer data, banks can formulate a plan to appeal to and entice customers to purchase additional products or services.

In tough financial times, it is more important than ever for banks to use existing customer data and communication streams to up-sell and add to the number of products sold to customers.

Let's look at what can be done with new technology.

Focus groups with bank customers conducted by a statement design firm provide insights for banks that want to enhance their communications with customers. Many participants stated that they were most interested in a "large" account summary on the front page to easily see how much money is in their accounts. They also said that they tend to ignore the additional pages in a...