Online Storage Vaults The Electronic Safe Deposit Box Brings Opportunities for Loyalty and Fees, but Can It Overcome Daunting Challenges?

Transcription

1 October 2008

2 Audience: Financial institutions: Online banking and e-commerce and billers such as utilities. Vendors of online storage vault vendors, online-banking platforms, bill-pay services and data-storage providers. Author: Mark Schwanhausser, Research Analyst Contributors: Stephen Matava-Knighten, Research Analyst Mary T. Monahan, Managing Partner and Research Director James Van Dyke, President and Founder Publication date: October 2008 Price: $995 Overview The banking industry is watching carefully to see if Wells Fargo has developed a winner with the national rollout in October of its vsafe online storage vault, believed to be the first offered by a large U.S. bank. While there is clearly demand for products that will help consumers cut through the financial clutter in their lives, it is too early to tell if such vaults will pay off for banks and credit unions in terms of revenues, cost savings or increased loyalty. This report analyzes consumer sentiment regarding the need for online vaults, shows that banks and credit unions have a temporary edge in this market, delves into how consumers are likely to use such vaults and outlines why vaults are not likely to catch on overnight. It also profiles five banks and vendors who are taking different approaches to the online storage market: Wells Fargo, Vault Street, Morgan Street, CheckFree and egistics. Primary Questions Length: 28 pages 8 charts/graphs What is the business case for offering vaults? Can banks charge for such services? Will banks shave costs if vaults induce customers to switch to electronic statements? Will vault services lead to increased customer loyalty? Why would consumers use an online vault? What features are most compelling to consumers? What hurdles are holding back consumers from using online vaults? What kinds of services and features do competing banks and vendors offer? How do their philosophies about vaults differ? Methodology The consumer data in this report is based on data collected online from a random sample of respondents in March The household survey targeted 2,350 respondents based on representative proportions of gender, age and income compared to the overall U.S. online population. Overall margin of sampling error is ±2.02 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

3 Table of Contents Overview... 4 Primary Questions... 4 Findings and Analysis... 4 Methodology... 5 Executive Summary / Recommendations... 6 The Need for Online Storage Vaults is Clear... 9 How Do Consumers Feel About Online Vaults? Do Banks Have an Edge Over Other Vault Providers? Why Would Consumers Use an Online Vault? What Is Holding Consumers Back? Online Storage Vaults Face Numerous Hurdles Five Approaches to Online Storage Vaults: Wells Fargo, Vault Street, Morgan Street, CheckFree and egistics Wells Fargo Stakes Claim to First-to-Market Bragging Rights Vault Street Targets Big Banks and Billers Morgan Street: An Online Switzerland for the Rich, Powerful and Anonymous CheckFree s Vault 1.0 is Under Construction egistics: Business is the Best Target, Not the Consumer Related Research Companies Mentioned... 28

4 Table of Figures Figure 1: Paper or Electronic? How Consumers Receive Their Checking Account Statements Figure 2: Top Motivations for Consumers to Turn Off Paper Statements Figure 3: Likelihood That Consumers Will Use Online Storage Vaults Figure 4: Likelihood That Consumers Will Use Online Storage Vault (By Age) Figure 5: Consumer Preferences for Management of Their Online Storage Vaults Figure 6: Consumers Top Preferences For Management Of Online Vault Services (By Age) Figure 7: The Most Appealing Features of an Online Storage Vault to Consumers Figure 8: Consumers Main Areas of Concern With Online Storage Vaults... 18

5 Companies/Organizations Mentioned in Report Companies Mentioned AOL Morgan Street CheckFree Vault Street Google Wells Fargo egistics Sample Chart & Excerpt From the Report 65 and older 44% 22% 33% Nearly two-thirds of consumers ages % 8% 26% 16% 47% 45 to 64 said they were unlikely to % 8% 25% 17% 46% use a vault, while nearly half said they were very unlikely the % 12% 31% 15% 35% strongest negative response % 15% 30% 16% 32% available. About 22% of consumers who were ages 55 to 64 and one % 11% 36% 14% 30% third of retirement-age consumers All Consumers 6% 10% 30% 16% 37% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 5 - Very likely Very unlikely Q40: If this online storage vault was available,how likely would you be to use an online storage vault to store and protect your digital documents(tax refund, passports)? Let 1 represent "very unlikely" and 5 represent "very likely." April 2008, n = 1,500 Base: All consumers Javelin Strategy & Research said nothing would persuade me to try a vault.. Younger consumers are more open to the idea of a vault, but many are still doubtful.

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