Bank of America 2005 Annual Report Download - page 14

Bank of America 2005 13
How We Grow: Operating Excellence
ustomer convenience and ease of
use established Bank of America’s
leadership in online banking. In
2005, we focused on expanding our
online offerings and relationships.
With the largest active online subscriber base
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in the world—nearly 15 million customers—the bank has
more than 34 percent of all online banking customers in the
country. Our 7.3 million online bill payers represent more
than 58 percent of all U.S. online banking bill payers.
Associates from marketing, technology, product groups,
sales and e-commerce worked together to generate a
161 percent increase in online sales over 2004. Successes
included checking, savings and debit cards from the Keep
the Change™ program (see “Helping People Grow Their
Savings” on page 18).
Bank of America has a history of online innovation,
having pioneered free bill pay in 2002. Online customers
have higher balances, higher retention rates and a lower cost
to serve. Today, we’ve created more advances like text chat
so customers can learn about buying products during real-
time, online discussions with our associates. Ultimately, we
want customers to be just as comfortable purchasing online
as they are in a banking center.
One example of the bank’s success in expanding
products and services to online customers is the experience
of Dr. Andrew Bertagnolli, a psychologist for a health-care
provider in Northern California. Soon after signing up to
pay bills online in 2005 to save time, Bertagnolli joined
the Keep the Change program and also opened a savings
account online.
Each online customer is a candidate for buying a
new product. With 1.6 billion site visits annually and a
ranking among the top 50 U.S.-based sites for unique
visitors—more than Dell, Capital One or Citigroup—
bankofamerica.com is a prime source for sales leads.
From left, Sanjay Gupta, e-Commerce and ATM executive; Diane E.
Morais, Deposits and Debit Products executive; and James C. Jackson,
East Division executive, Global Consumer and Small Business Banking,
work closely to constantly improve customers’ online experience and
increase sales.
Doing business around the clock
Customer-focused enhancements drive growth for bankofamerica.com
Buying products online is faster and easier for customers
because of the bank’s innovative solutions:
• Streamlined applications and faster processing
for personal and small business accounts, reducing
deposit account decisions from two days or more
to less than a minute
• New page designs with a retail approach and
testimonial-style layouts to direct customers to
the fi nancial solutions they’re looking for
• Guided selling to offer customers the products
and services that are the best fi t
• Preapproved products for online banking customers
With all these efforts—developing, diversifying and
offering more products; cross-selling; and Internet adver-
tising, along with quick and easy-to-use applications and
fast fulfi llment—bankofamerica.com is adding shareholder
value with every transaction. The result is higher sales
through a convenient, cost-effi cient channel.