Blog Archives
Geezeo: FS Vendors’ Vendor of the Week
What is your company name?
Please give a short bio of your company
Geezeo is a leading Online Financial Management (OFM) solutions provider for banks and credit unions. We help organizations engage their base, reach new markets, and increase wallet share.
Our primary focus is to provide services and technologies that enable our clients to activate their target audiences—to participate in sound financial decision-making, engage in community discussions, take advantage of relevant products and services, and create a more valuable customer experience. This increased activity has a straightforward result: our clients are able to better monetize their base and attract new customers.
When was your company started?
2006 Geezeo was founded. In 2009 the company shifted to a white label model, focused on serving financial institutions.
What is your targeted market?
Credit unions, banks and other financial institutions.
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
Geezeo integrates with a number of core processors and online banking solutions. Our open API offers vast opportunities.
How many current customers do you have and what is your estimated yearly growth?
Geezeo currently serves over 110 clients, with assets ranging from $25 million to more than $115 billion.
What types of products and/or services do you offer?
Our primary focus is to provide services and technologies that enable our clients to activate their target audiences—to participate in sound financial decision-making, engage in community discussions, take advantage of relevant products and services, and create a more valuable customer experience. This increased activity has a straightforward result: our clients are able to better monetize their base and attract new relationships. Geezeo offers:
Personal Financial Management
Referral Engine
How many employees and/or freelance contractors do you currently have?
20
What else is interesting about your story?
We see the worlds of finance, community, marketing, and technology continuing to meld, thus creating numerous exciting opportunities for financial organizations. Geezeo sits comfortably in the intersection of these opportunities, by providing experience, creativity, and technological expertise.
Do you have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.?
Website: http://www.geezeo.com/
Twitter: @geezeo
Geezeo PFM: FS Vendor’s Product of the Week
Please give a short bio of your company
Founded in 2006, US-based Geezeo offers an integrated suite of Online Financial Management (OFM) tools and services including Personal Financial Management (PFM) software for banks and credit unions. Geezeo’s unique Engagement Banking platform helps financial institutions develop online customer dialog while generating growth through customer acquisition and increased wallet share. For more information on the privately held company, visit www.geezeo.com.
What is your product or service?
Primary product is Personal Financial Management (PFM). Geezeo also offers an online referral product called Referral Engine.
Please give a brief synopsis of the product/service
Our Personal Finance Management software provides a robust set of out-of-the-box solutions for almost any financial institution.
• Budgeting
• Account Aggregation
• Alerts
• Categorization Tagging
• Split Tagging
• Cash Flow
• Bill/Income Calendar
• Net Worth Calculator
• Goal Management & Tracking
• Expense Tracking
Why would a bank or credit union use your product/service?
Our primary focus is to provide services and technologies that enable our clients to activate their target audiences—to participate in sound financial decision-making, engage in community discussions, take advantage of relevant products and services, and create a more valuable customer experience. This increased activity has a straightforward result: our clients are able to better monetize their base and attract new relationships.
How could you effectively use this product/service?
Aside from enhancing a bank or credit unions online banking experience, Geezeo includes an integrated marketing platform. This provides an FI the ability to present targeted communications and marketing content directly to online account holders. A marketing platform can create segments based on demographic profile, types of financial accounts, and transaction data. Geezeo’s Integrated Marketing Platform 1.0 is included, at no additional cost, with Geezeo PFM.
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
It is difficult to gauge our competition, as we are one of the only 100% white-label PFM providers on the market. Geezeo has taken great strides to work closely with large and small core processors to allow for easy, seamless integration.
Are there different pricing levels? Do you offer a free version?
Several pricing options are available to banks and credit unions.
When was the product/service officially launched?
Geezeo started in 2006 and moved to a white label model in 2009. The firm is 100% dedicated to serving the needs on retail financial institutions.
What is the number of current users? Estimated yearly growth?
Geezeo presently serves over 85 clients. We expect to have over 150 bank and credit union clients by EOY 2012.
What type of help support is offered?
Several levels of support are offered at the FI and end-user level.
What else is interesting about your product/service?
Geezeo Interactive, a division of Geezeo, offers services centered on the Geezeo mission of reinventing online banking experiences while leveraging PFM as a tipping point of an engagement banking strategy. Products and services support a FIs growth and retention strategy, with a particular emphasis on increasing PFM adoption. The organization will also work with clients to bridge the gap between online and offline experiences.
Are You Asking The Right Questions For Banking Advice?
Over the past couple of years I’ve heard more and more about bank and credit union customers wanting their FI to provide more financial advice. A recent post by Jeff Marsico brought this issue up again. In his post, Jeff described his latest insurance shopping experience. In the end, he ended up dropping his agent because he was able to find a 20% cheaper rate on his own. Rightfully so, he felt his agent should have been a bit more proactive and had his best interest in mind.
This prompted him to wonder about customer service levels at financial institutions. He also mentioned that a competitor did a survey of FI customers and concluded that “both businesses and individuals wanted advice from their FI.” My question is, “exactly what advice do customers want?”
Let’s be honest, most people really aren’t overly concerned about their finances. What I mean is, they aren’t actively making and following budgets, tracking their expenses and updating their asset allocations. I’m sure quite a few resolutions were made this year about getting finances in order. But I don’t think FIs are asking the right questions.
For all those polls that say customers want financial advice, I don’t see any that mention what type of advice customers actually want. From what I can gather through online searching, banking advice seems to consist of:
1. How to save money, in general
2. How to save money for specific goals (house, car, education, vacations)
3. Using direct deposit
4. Using budgeting tools
5. Avoiding fees
6. Finding the right checking or savings account
7. Finding a good loan/credit card rate
Now I know that most bankers and credit union employees will happily discuss any of those topics with their customers. But are customers meeting with their bank or credit union to go over these topics? Given the low branch traffic, I’m confident in saying “no”.
However, this brings up another question. How do said customers want to receive this financial advice? Generally, most people tend to meet face-to-face with the person they want advice from. I know PFM can be used to offer goal management, products and services that customers may be interested in, but that’s not really “advice”. Is online a better channel? What about workshops or lunch-n-learns?
If financial institutions really want to go down the road of proactively offering advice, they first need to find out what their customers want. Instead of tweeting generic advice, send out some direct mail and surveys to get their opinion. In this environment, getting to know your customer better can only be a good thing.
Photo by Oberazzi
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