Appeal to Your Customers' Emotions
It is becoming so difficult for Banks to differentiate themselves these days. All seem to be scrambling to appeal the emotions of customers – we don’t sell mortgages, we sell homes; we don’t sell loans, we sell dreams! Yes, all true – but now with everyone focusing on a similar theme – it has become even more of a necessity to offer customers unique products and services that appeal to their emotions.
We are starting to see Banks trying to appeal to customers by enabling them to develop and design their own products that are both fun and meaningful to them. The Credit Card has been a starting point for many Banks….
- ANZ Bank in Australia allows customers to through designmycard to personalize their ANZ First Visa, MasterCard or Access card with an image that is chosen by the customer. What a great way to make it fun for customers and appeal to their emotions.
- American First’s Picture Perfect Visa enables customers to design their own credit or check card with a “personal picture that tells your story”.
- The My Custom Card by Orchard Bank card lets customers customize their own card. They decide what rates and fees they want to pay. They can even decide your own payment due date! As well, customers can choose their card design to make sure their Orchard Bank card truly is your own.
- The Union Bank of California allows customers to customize their credit card. They can put their favorite photo on the front of the card.Bank of America allows customers to personalize their credit card with Photo Expressions.Turkey-based Garanti Bank has gone even further. With its Flexi Cards does not only allow customers to personalize the look of their bank cards, but also to develop the entire own banking product. Flexi Cards are Visa cards that let the cardholder make a few key decisions, allowing them to set over ten parameters. When applying for a card, customers can manipulate variables like reward rates and types, interest rate and card fee. The rewards system is especially flexible, not only letting customers determine reward ratio and type (cash or points), but also enabling them to choose which payments will earn them extra rewards.
So what? We believe that Banks will need to continue to appeal to the emotions of their customers. One way of doing this will be to appeal to what is important and meaningful to each customer – pictures of their friends, family, or pets. Another way will be to personalize checks and other products that will create meaning for them. Banks need to think about how they can make their customers feel special by appealing to what is important to them.
