This blog post was written by our guest blogger Marc Bovenzi, Business Development Associate at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) a bank and credit union market research firm. RMS partners with banks and credit unions to improve marketing and management agendas through market research. Are you ready for 2014? Use research to reach full market potential Read more

Direct Banks are financial institutions that operate without branch locations. Services are offered through online and mobile banking, as well as telephone and mail.  Direct banking has been around for a while, however when it was first established, customers banked through just telephone and mail.  Direct Banks have become more of a consideration for people Read more

Background: A local financial institution recently partnered with Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) to assess its retail and business customer satisfaction, loyalty, and needs. Additionally, the bank wanted to use the market research to measure changes from the prior study conducted with RMS in 2009, awareness level of products and services at the bank, product Read more

Background: A credit union located in the Northeast wanted to better understand in-branch member experiences at its multiple branch locations. The client partnered with Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) to conduct market research to help address these objectives and other secondary objectives. The market research was targeted to help the client better understand staff members’ abilities Read more

The Net Promoter Score (NPS®) is a widely used measure that looks at the likelihood of customers recommending a company. NPS is a customer loyalty metric developed in 2003 by management consultant Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company in collaboration with the company Satmetrix. While there are still many important factors beyond likelihood to recommend, NPS Read more

With a variety of emerging channels in the financial industry, it’s nice to know where banks and credit unions are truly placing their efforts.  One study that we’ve found to provide these insights is an annual survey conducted by The Financial Brand among banking/credit union marketing executives (which can be viewed here). As expected, the Read more

Companies have come to realize that social media has potential for most any industry.  Most organizations are learning by example, watching what industry leaders do with social media and then attempting to move along similar lines if the strategy is applicable to their organizational goals.  The usage of social media by financial institutions has slowly Read more

When organizations are seeking new technology, they’re most often looking for something that will not only streamline its internal processes, but also help it serve its customers better.  The financial institution industry has been readily taking advantage of some of the new technology available today.  Internet and mobile banking have been two of the largest Read more

This is a blog post that summarizes a completed project at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS). Objective: A financial services client wanted to understand why customers voluntarily closed checking account(s) with bank. The bank also wanted to identify any unmet needs of those former customers and identify where those former customers currently obtain their banking services. The Read more

Mobile Banking is becoming more and more utilized among banking customers. This banking trend is moving along hand-in-hand with the increased adoption of smart phones and tablets, especially among the younger generations. A study conducted by the Federal Reserve last year found that nearly 21 percent of mobile users have used mobile banking in the past 12 months, Read more