For the last six years, Bankers As Buyers has focused on what to expect in the coming year from the banking community in terms of spending on technology, information and related services. If you are a news junkie and your mood swings with the market indices, it has been a rough year and 2009 doesn’t look much better. If you look at the details of the banks that folded in 2008, you will see decisions that increased their institutional risk and brought them down.
The good news is that the banking industry fuels every other industry. Albeit less, people are still running businesses; buying homes or refinancing loans; investing; making payments; saving; replacing cars; using credit/debit cards; and more. There are financial transactions occurring and customers/members using financial institutions.
The run up in the economy and spending of the last few years fueled growth and led to inefficiencies. Today’s current economic environment is causing many of us to renew our focus and make more measured, strategic decisions in order to run better businesses. If you are a vendor to the financial industry, you need to make sure you sell using an ROI model; keep year-
one affordable for the institution; tie your product or service to the institution’s strategic objectives; reduce fraud or eliminate waste; and lastly, improve the experience for the customer.
It is our pleasure to provide you with this 2009 edition of Bankers As Buyers. While the material is copyright protected, you have our blessing to share this document with your business associates, clients, prospects and friends within the industry.
Sincerely,
Scott Mills, APR
President
William Mills Agency
2. There are currently 16,448 financial institutions (7,146 commercial banks; 1,238 savings banks and 8,064 credit unions)
3. Unless you have avoided news, the economic meltdown has led analysts to predict a negative growth rate for financial industry technology spending (a first for the industry)
4. However, mobile banking is red hot. TowerGroup predicts 150-300 bank/credit union contracts for solutions in Q1.
5. ICBA study puts securing customer data as a top priority. McAfee Virtual Criminology Report says cybercriminal activity is on the rise, often preying on people distracted during difficult times.
6. Financial Insights said banks are looking to reduce head count. Financial Insights, Aite Group and TowerGroup all predict outsourcing and SaaS will grow in 2009.
7. There is a lot of bank consolidation occurring (and in the future). This will drive a lot of technology activity – migrating platforms and such.
8. Regulators and government will increase pressure on banks later in the year. Spending on compliance is a “have to have,” not “nice to have.”
9. Smaller institutions are benefiting from larger bank troubles. ICBA said 70% of their banks have seen an 11.6% increase in deposits (last 12 months). Credit unions, which avoided exotic mortgage loans, now own a 4.5% share of mortgages.
10. If you serve and sell to financial institutions…hope is not a strategy.
11. 1. Selling with an ROI model will help you stand out from the crowd.
