Banking services ease the squeeze

With economists predicting a rocky 2009, consumers are searching for ways to ‘ease the squeeze’ financially. Charis Palmer, editor of Online Banking Review, looks at a number of new banking applications designed reduce financial stress.

According to Palmer, the top seven consumer banking services to look out for this year include: mobile banking, social saving, banks on Twitter, account aggregation, social lending, financial comparison sites and speech recognition.

While the uptake of mobile banking has been slow, the opportunity to view balances, recent transactions and ATM locations on the go, means that customers can avoid unnecessary bank fees, according to Palmer.

“Receiving alerts when your bank balance falls below a certain level … is the kind of tool consumers can really use to help avoid unnecessary bank fees.”

Also on the rise is social saving, where young people can create a savings goal online; and banks utilising social networking sites such as Twitter to gain important feedback on their services from customers, in order to improve operations.

Palmer also points to personal financial management services being offered by banks, as ways to help customers keep track of their finances.

“With consumers under more pressure to manage their spending, personal financial management sites will grow in popularity, particularly if they can help people save money.”

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