The card issuing industry is becoming increasingly competitive and commoditized, with current economic conditions driving issuers to implement more stringent controls surrounding lines of credit, and product differentiation opportunities becoming negligible. Cardholder acquisition and the overall growth in the portfolio, however, remain the lifeblood of the business. This report, utilizing Javelin quantitative consumer data and analysis, provides insight into consumer preferences for selecting card issuers and also choosing a card for payment transactions. Specific attention is paid to six prominent issuers-American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. They provide case studies for the issuer community as a whole and reflect sufficient breadth to represent cardholder satisfaction levels for various features. Readers of this report responsible for card product development, marketing, and rewards program management can utilize the information and analysis to enhance cardholder acquisition, increase loyalty among existing cardholders, and drive usage for their card products. Report Preview

58 Million US adults received at least one mobile marketing message on their mobile phones in the last year. Mobile marketing provides an opportunity for financial institutions (FIs) to interactively reach on-the-move consumers closer to the purchase decision in a one-to-one communication. Mobile doesn't change the purpose or goals of marketing campaigns; it adds a new, often more effective, channel to reach consumers. However, FIs which overstep the boundaries of privacy or inundate consumers with unhelpful messages risk incurring their wrath. Additionally, little is known about the preferences of consumers for receiving such messages. This study provides a solid framework for FIs to integrate mobile into effective marketing campaigns. Strong consumer and industry data back the conclusions of the report and demonstrate why this is the right time to consider including mobile in marketing strategy. Report Preview

Since Javelin Strategy & Research extolled the environmental benefits of online banking and bill-pay in 2003 with what we believe was the nation's first research report on green banking, environmental issues have grown in importance with bank customers. Green-banking habits have yet to take hold, however. That's largely because consumers aren't aware of how they can make a difference and partly because financial institutions have yet to find the incentives and action steps that will compel indifferent consumers to join the green parade. Javelin's analysis suggests that consumers can be divided into three camps -- Greens, Moderates and Skeptics -- based on their inclination to respond to green marketing and value green banking initiatives. Report Preview

Javelin's 2008 US Mobile Banking Benchmark Study examines banks and credit unions on consumer mobile banking offerings within three categories: Access, Security and Features. Top US financial institutions (FIs), asset-ranked were mystery-shopped for their mobile banking service offerings, using Web and phone data collection methods. Of the 135 FIs searched in early 2008, 23 provided mobile banking solutions widely accessible to consumers. Offerings were reviewed for twenty functions in all: three forms of Access -- Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)/browser-based, SMS/Text, and downloadable/embedded applications; four security formats and thirteen banking features. Report Preview