One point that I was triggered by Dirk in your original posting was the point of “tapping into community”. i have known in the back of my head that BofA is big in community development, but only recently learned a little more about some of the kinds of programs they support through my recent studies in school. A woman named Gail Snowden ( a boston native) who worked at Bank Boston/Fleet through the mergers started the Community Bank Investment Group, a specialized bank within the bank that went into depressed communities (starting in massachusetts and new england) and started this bank tha focused on creating products to meet the needs of the community and therefore help in community develpment. Today BofA still continues to work in this field. http://www.bankofamerica.com/community/. Not only do I find this a great activist interest, I think they are uniquely creative in thinking about how to develop and define products that meet user needs as well as their business needs and strengthen community all at the same time!!

Their mission in this area is “to offer lending and investment products that

- Serve low- and moderate-income individuals and families
- Improve underserved low- and moderate-income communities
- Create sustainable practices for the long haul ”

Those three key points are easily translatable into the work we do every day if you think about user needs as serving those who are underserved and not tapped into and creating sustainable practices. Some interesting things i’ve started to think about.

BOA was also quick to get a mobile site for the iPhone (for that alone I will always be loyal!).

My only complaint is that their billing notification is a bit clunky…it doesn’t always update my due dates which is problematic for someone as forgetful as myself.

Tax preparation would be incredible, as would a virtual financial advisor.

However, the website fails to address the mobile nature of its customers. For instance, when one travels abroad, 1-800 numbers aren’t very valuable. Yet, those are the numbers they provide you (both on the back of their cards and on the website). Finding 24 hour help numbers that work abroad is nearly impossible. And, when I did find them, they were disconnected.

When you travel abroad, BofA computers may deactivate your debit/credit cards to protect you from fraud (they’re really only protecting themselves, but that’s another story). Unfortunately, if your BofA experience is like mine, when you land in a foreign country and your credit cards/debit card don’t work, you can’t get a hotel room. And, without a hotel, you may find it hard to contact the bank (even if you knew the number and how to dial it from another country), especially if your cell phone stops working, too. Without a hotel room, there’s often no internet and no phone.

So, while BofA website is very good (and useful), it’s still not good at providing relevant information on-demand based on the actual situation of individual card holders. And, much of the service offered is based on the profiles of customer groups, not your individual profile.

Scott Abel
The Content Wrangler

You’re right though, I think tax preparation is a killer feature.