Banks Seek to Leverage Surveys to Build Small Businesses Engagement

May 12, 2017

In recent weeks, a range of leading national and regional banks have carried out small business surveys, many of which were timed to coincide with 2017 National Small Business Week (April 30-May 6). These include new surveys from Citizens Bank (Small Business Pulse) and Fifth Third Bank.

These surveys are designed to:

Generate brand awareness among small business owners
Underline the bank’s commitment to this market
Position the bank as a thought leader in the small business space
Promote the bank’s small business solutions

The following are six approaches that banks are using to leverage small business surveys to drive engagement with their small business clients and prospects:

Establish a branded index. Many banks measure small business optimism via an index. This enables them to both track this metric over time, as well as generate general business press attention. Citizens recently-published survey includes the Citizens Business Pulse Index, which is its measure of the small business climate. Other indexes include the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index and the Capital One Small Business Growth Index.
Create a recurring survey. Many of the leading banks now conduct surveys on a quarterly, biannual or annual basis, which enables them to track small business metrics over time. Capital One has been tracking a Small Business Confidence Score consistently since 2008.
Survey topics of interest. Most surveys focus on small business optimism and outlook. However, surveys also look to differentiate by covering other issues that should be of interest to small businesses. The U.S. Bank Small Business Annual Survey studies small business owners’ personal satisfaction as well as the desired attributes they want from their business bank.
Use infographics to summarize survey findings. Presenting key findings from the survey (which will typically include a series of statistics) in a visually-appealing format allows readers to quick grasp important points the bank wants to make. Wells Fargo published a lengthy survey report, but it also created a one-page infographic that summarizes key takeaways.
Version the survey for target markets. Bank of America creates versions of its Business Advantage Small Business Owner Report for 10 target markets (Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas/Fort Worth; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; Miami; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C.). Similarly, PNC publishes its Spring Economic Outlook Survey findings for 10 regional markets.
Position the bank (subtly) as a small business solutions provider. Fifth Third’s recent small business survey included findings on funding growth, while also positioning the bank as “committed to the development of small businesses throughout the Bank’s footprint.“

Credit Card Issuers Looking to Grow Loans Across the Credit Spectrum

March 6, 2017

An analysis of 10-K SEC filings by EMI Strategic Marketing has found that leading credit card issuers are looking to grow outstandings across a wider range of FICO Score segments.

In the aftermath of the Financial Crisis and Great Recession, issuers narrowed their focus, moving away from lower FICO Score segment, and concentrating their efforts on prime and superprime consumers. In recent years, issuers have reduced charge-off rates to very low levels. With the steady growth in the economy and rising consumer confidence, issuers see an opportunity to grow their credit card outstandings and many are willing to take on more risk in order to achieve the desired growth.

The four largest credit card issuers—Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and Capital One—all reported growth in each of their FICO Score categories in 2016. Three of these issuers (the exception was Citi) had strongest growth in their lowest credit score segment. Citibank had double-digit growth in large part due to the acquisition of the Costco portfolio from American Express, and this acquisition influenced the relative growth rate of different credit score segments. Note that 36% of Capital One’s outstandings are held by consumers with credit scores below 660, compared to only 14% of Chase’s and 15% of Citibank’s (Citi-Branded Cards unit) outstandings.

Leading monoline credit card issuer Discover followed a similar pattern, with stronger growth for the <660 FICO Score segment, which accounted for 18% of total outstandings at the end of 2016.

Among the regional bank card issuers, Wells Fargo reported very strong growth (+19%) in the <600 segment, and consistent growth across most other segments. However, it had a 7% decline in the 800+ segment, as it does not appear to have an affluent credit card that can compete effectively with American Express, Chase (which launched Sapphire Reserve in 2016) and Citibank.

Other regional bank card issuers are also looking to drive growth across the credit spectrum. SunTrust, KeyBank and Regions have some of the strongest credit card loan growth rates in the industry, with very strong growth at the lower end of the spectrum. In contrast, PNC had strongest growth in the 650+ FICO Score segments.

The following are some key considerations for issuers looking to grow outstandings across the credit spectrum:

Compare the FICO composition of the issuer’s credit card portfolio to its peers. Assess the organization’s appetite to expand into new credit score segments.
Understand the financial needs, characteristics and behaviors of different credit score segments
Have products, offers and pricing in place for a range of consumer segments.
Invest in new marketing channels (and develop messaging) to reach different segments
Partner with other bank units that have strong connections with particular segments (e.g., wealth management and consumer financing units) in order to drive cross-sell to underserved segments
Ensure that company underwriting reflecting company objectives (while maintaining underwriting discipline).

Banks ramp up advertising and marketing spend in 2016

March 1, 2017

According to EMI Strategic Marketing’s analysis of data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), U.S. banks spent $17.1 billion on advertising and marketing in 2016. This expenditure represented 2.4% of bank revenues. Five banks (JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Citigroup, Capital One and Bank of America) each spent more than $1 billion, and together accounted for more than half of the industry’s total expenditure. The following chart looks at 2016 marketing-to-revenue ratios for 20 leading U.S. banks (note that for JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, marketing spend data is provided for both their retail bank charters and card-issuing units).

Most banks grew their marketing spending in 2016, as they looked to drive revenue growth in an improving economy. 10 banks reported double-digit percentage rises in their advertising and marketing budgets. In some cases (e.g., KeyBank and Huntington), the strong increases were in part the result of significant bank acquisitions.

13 banks grew their marketing-to-revenue ratios in 2016.

Half of the banks in the chart (mostly branch-based banks) have marketing-to-revenue ratios of between 1.5% and 3%.
Several banks have been ramping up their marketing spend in recent years. Between 2014 and 2016, Santander Bank’s spend nearly doubled between 2014 and 2016, and its 2016 marketing-to-revenue ratio of 4.0% was the highest among branch-based banks.
At the other end of the scale, both Wells Fargo and BB&T have ratios consistently below 1%.

Credit card-focused banks/bank charters have the highest marketing-to-revenue ratios.

Chase Bank USA (JPMorgan Chase’s card-issuing bank) had a ratio of almost 20% in 2016. The sharp rise in the ratio from 2014 and 2015 was due to both a 6% rise in advertising and marketing spend (to support the launches of Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Reserve), as well as a sharp decline in noninterest income.
American Express increased in its advertising and marketing spend by 15% in 2016, and its ratio rose to nearly 12%.

As banks look to scale back their branch networks both to save costs and adapt to changing bank channel usage (in particular for everyday banking transactions), they are also cognizant of the potential loss of the branch’s role as a branding beacon in local markets. Therefore, it’s likely that a portion of the cost savings from branch network reductions will be diverted to advertising and marketing budgets. As a result, we may expect banks’ marketing-to-revenue ratios to gradually increase in the coming years.