New Respect for the Internet Bubble-Blowers
Mon Jan 13, 1:58 PM ET
Bob Woods, www.EcommerceTimes.com
. . .One huge multichannel company, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - news), illustrates this integrated concept. BofA maintains a corporate Web site, along with online banking and bill pay services. The bank allows customers to apply for credit cards and loans online as well. Customers also can conduct business at Bank of America by phone, ATM and in person at brick-and-mortar branches.
Online banking is big for the company. From the beginning of 2002 through September, the number of customers using the online bill pay system increased 74 percent, Bank of America spokesperson Betty Riess told the E-Commerce Times. The company says it has 1.7 million active online bill payers, and also claims to have the largest online banking service, with more than 4.6 million active subscribers.
Bank of America officials declined to specify whether their online operations achieve bottom-line profitability. Such a number is difficult to measure because revenues and costs are spread throughout the entire organization, across business and product lines, they said. Officials do consider the online channel a profitable one, though, because customers who use online banking tend to have higher deposit and loan balances, as well as a lower attrition rate. "It's a very valuable customer base for us, because of the retention and relationship element," Riess said.
Finally Bearing Fruit
Indeed, even if they lose money, Web sites are increasingly key for any business -- especially because customers often use them for research before they buy a product or service. In fact, an online presence should be viewed as an expense that is part of overall operations, rather than an isolated profit or loss center. "The old saying used to be, 'Let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages,'" Rosenblum said. "Now people tend to let their fingers do the walking through the Internet."
Although victory came too late for many failed dot-coms, the Internet has become part of mainstream business culture, fulfilling its promise as a medium that connects consumers and enterprises and cuts red tape from transactions. Now, armed with solid business models and financial backing from a parent company, the e-business survivors are ready to move to the next level.
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