Washington Trust Co. chooses a third party vendor to produce online video.

• Author: Brown, Ron

The Washington Trust Co. (assets: $2.9 billion), Westerly, R.I., offers a variety of online videos on informational topics such as online banking, bill pay, CDs, remote deposit capture, options to first-time homebuyers, home equity and reverse mortgages.

Why did the bank decide to use online video? An increasing number of the bank's customers conduct their business online, a trend that executives attribute to the Internet's growing accessibility. At the same time, the bank's branch visits have declined an average of 34,000 during the first half of the year in each of the last several years.

Online videos are a way for people to quickly and easily view information at their own convenience, says Elizabeth Eckel, senior vice president of marketing.

The bank's goal is to provide a quick, educational overview on the ease of using such services--which add convenience and cost savings to the bank and customer--to ultimately increase product adoption.

Most of the bank's customers are slightly older and more upscale, a group that increasingly is spending time online. Many of the products being promoted via the bank's online videos--CDs, home equity, reverse mortgage--are geared to an older audience and their need for information on these services.

The bank also uses video as a teaching tool to educate small-business owners and the bank's commercial audience about remote-deposit services. Eckel noted that video is appealing to many business owners whose time is limited and are hard-pressed to read through sales materials.

One cost-effective aspect of online video is that material can be changed and updated quickly and at a lower price.

The bank had experience producing television spots and employee videos, so it was aware of the work, time and expense involved in quality video production. The bank enlisted a third party to research, produce and edit the videos. The vendor offered the service at a favorable price because it will use the videos to create "generic" versions, which can...