Invitation:
Switchbanks invites any INVESTORS
to become Australia’s Switchbanks
strategic major partner.
Proposal:
The newly established Switchbanks
Australia is seeking a strategic
partnership – offering the
selected institution a unique
business capture opportunity with
business growth and expansion.
Business
proposal
Unique
market proposition
Switchbanks
offers Worldwide consumers a simple
way of switching banks online
and gathering vast information
across the board. It trades on
the premise, “Switching
banks - Go Live and explore.”
Switchbanks
returns value to the consumer
by demystifying and simplifying
the process of switching banks.
The Switchbanks website has been
designed with the consumer in
mind to simplify the process of
changing banks.
This
ease of process is central to
the Switchbanks message to the
Australian consumer.
Switchbanks aims to provide a
secure, confidential, free service
that:
•
returns ease-of-choice
to consumers
• provides easy
access to information consumers
need to make banking decisions
• keeps it simple –
making an otherwise cumbersome,
time-consuming process quick and
easy.
Unique
industry proposition
Switchbanks
offers INVESTORS an opportunity
to capture new business and retain
customers, at their point-of-decision.
If
your a bank you are then in a
very strong position to set base
on directing everyone back to
your business for growth and even
more clarity of finding out what
the market is doing.
Switchbanks
makes it easy for Australian consumers
to join and switch banks, being
a partner they will not leave
without your notification. This
proposition, employing a sound
business model, provides Switchbanks
with the necessary leverage to
attract the support of banks motivated
to ensure Switchbanks works for
and not against their business
interests.
A
unique opportunity for SWITCHBANKS
AND THE INVESTORS
In
this proposal, Switchbanks invites
INVESTORS to become Switchbanks’
strategic partner, offering the
opportunity to:
•
purchase priority real estate
on the Switchbanks site
• be removed from the Switch
from list on the Switchbanks
site (in favour of a substitute
link into SWITCHBANKS’s
customer service infrastructure)
• enhance SWITCHBANKS’s
reputation for commitment to consumer
choice.
INVESTORS
would welcome SWITCHBANKS’s
support to help further establish
the Switchbanks brand and service.
The
business – in brief
The
business edge
Switchbanks
– both in name and concept
– gives Switchbanks a unique
edge that sets it apart on the
Australian market. As a business
model, however, the success of
Switchbanks will hinge on more
than its market-ready name.
Although
Switchbanks trades on its service
to Australian consumers, it relies
on its returns from banks - however
this is not needed because of
various other interests and companies
within the fireline group.
While
this seemingly ‘bi-polar’
commitment might give the appearance
of a business serving two masters;
is arguably the greatest key to
its success. Switchbanks is committed
to building a name for serving
consumers by making banking choice
and change easier.
That,
in turn, is for banks a potential
tool to be leveraged to build
and retain customer bases.
Switchbanks
is a tested concept. The market
research strategy adopted by its
creators employed both qualitative
and quantitative research methods,
including:
•
focus groups
• phone surveys
• market studies
• random sampling..
Perhaps
the most important capture of
their research for Switchbanks
investors was that 72 per cent
of those tested said they would
switch banks through an online
site.
The
‘Switch now’ proposition
is a well-proven concept demonstrating
that the principles of choice,
ease and immediacy are important
to Australian consumers.
The
market research conducted clearly
indicates that, for most Australians,
the exercise of switching banks
is seen by consumers to be too
hard. Switchbanks makes it simple.
That is good for consumers. For
banks – it can be bad or,
if they take the opportunity to
use Switchbanks to their advantage
– it can be good.
Switchbanks
is a consumer choice tool. The
proposition for banks is, ‘Will
they use it to gain leverage in
the consumer decision-making process
to retain customers, or will they
let more customers slip away unchecked?’
Switchbanks’
market profile
Switchbanks
is crafting a reputation as a
new service provider that returns
power to consumers is central
to its business success. Through
chosen media, its public message
is, Switchbanks is a simple idea
borne of the creators’ frustration
at battling red tape associated
with switching banks. Media to
date has focused on messages such
as these:
While
Switchbanks is a third-party agent,
its emphasis is not overtly on
neutrality but on upholding consumers
and their choices and, to that
end, supporting those banks that
demonstrate to Switchbanks their
commitment to looking after their
customers. On this basis, Switchbanks
is happy to consider entering
into a strategic partnership relationship
with SWITCHBANKS.
By
its very nature, Switchbanks is
uniquely positioned to gauge banks’
commitment to retaining and servicing
customers.
As
an ‘agent’ set up
to help consumers more easily
exercise choice and control over
their own banking, Switchbanks
is ideally placed to interpret
banks’ willingness to support
fair consumer choices by taking
advantage of Switchbanks’
consumer-focused services.
Switchbanks’
clear intention is to give consumers
ready access to information they
need to make banking decisions;
and ensure that effecting those
decisions is simple and straightforward
for consumers.
Switchbanks
invites banks large and small
to support that commitment to
consumers by committing nominal
funds to ensure that their account
service details are readily available
to consumers via the Switchbanks
site. Switchbanks depends on those
notional funds – meager
memberships fees insignificant
to any bank – to fulfill
its mission.
The
site
The
site is designed for ease-of-use,
and to establish the Switchbanks
image as both a switching tool
and a one-stop site for information
relevant to those making financial
and banking decisions.
The
vast amount of information available
to visitors to the site will keep
them perusing online at Switchbanks.
Switchbanks will invest in the
public to gather relevant, concise
and up-to-date information from
a variety of sources on the site.
One core aspect of Switchbanks’
business is its commitment to
keeping up-to-date information
streaming online 24/7. This information
will offer the user comprehensive
knowledge of the banking industry
– relevant to switching
or closing, opening other accounts
– that they may well otherwise
be unaware of, and will give them
an important opportunity to read
the terms and conditions relevant
to their switch. Online banking
help forms, and information aids
such as the Stock Exchange ticker
also play a part if the user has
difficulty accessing or viewing
certain aspects of the site. Links
to the correct sites have also
been uploaded for downloading
programs such as ADOBE Reader
9 or JAVA SOFTWARE MANUAL DOWNLOAD
for the Java Runtime Environment
Version 5.0 Update.
Switchbanks
is committed to maintaining a
secure, reputable, reliable site
and service. No personal banking
details are retained by Switchbank
at any time, and details of customer
traffic on the site are not recorded.
This commitment to consumer privacy
is central to Switchbanks’
business integrity.
How
Switchbanks works
Membership
All
banks – member and non-member
banks – are retained on
Switchbanks’ Switch
from list. However, only
member banks will be retained
on Switchbanks’ Switch
to list.
For
the first 12 months of business
trading, Switchbanks will retain
all banks on its Switch to
list, and banks will be invited
to become a Switchbanks member
bank. If a bank declines this
opportunity, their name will be
removed from the Switch to
list.
Switchbanks
will link to member banks’
websites, directly into the banks’
relevant account processing pages.
Member
banks will also be offered free
advertising space on the Switchbanks
site.
Strategic
partnership
Switchbanks
will offer selected institutions
an opportunity to join Switchbanks
as strategic partners. Further
to membership privileges, these
banks will be offered prime advertising
space on the site. As Switchbanks-endorsed
banks, strategic partners will
be removed from the Switch
from list. This first and
only invitation is on offer to
SWITCHBANKS.
The
following table outlines Switchbanks’
service commitment to members,
and its intended support of SWITCHBANKS
as a Switchbanks strategic partner.
A more detailed description is
provided below.
Member
banks
Non-member
banks
Strategic
partner bank SWITCHBANKS
New
account requests
(Switch
to)
Retained
on Switchbanks’
Switch to list. Switchbanks
responds “SWITCHBANKS
welcomes your business.”
Customers
are linked directly into
back end of member bank’s
website.
Removed
from Switch to list.
Non-member banks are not
linked from the site and
do not have an option
on ad space.
Strategic
partners will have prime
real estate on Switchbanks’
Switch to list.
Switchbanks
responds “SWITCHBANKS
welcomes your business.”
Customers are linked directly
into back end of SWITCHBANKS’s
website – and into
SWITCHBANKS's preferred
direct customer service
process.
Close
account requests
(Switch
from)
Switchbanks
will process close a/c
requests and advise “SWITCHBANKS
wants to keep your business.
Switchbanks
will process your close
a/c request and submit
this application to SWITCHBANKS
for their attention.”
Customers
are linked directly into
back end of non-member
bank’s website for
a/c closure.
Non-member
banks have no built-in
response from Switchbanks,
or customer response mechanism.
Removed
from Switch from list in
favour of a direct link
into SWITCHBANKS’s
customer service infrastructure.
Switchbanks
Switchbanks
members
Switching
from member banks
Close
account requests
Switchbanks
members receive a close account
request notification. Switchbanks
will direct close account requests
into member banks’ nominated
customer service processes, to
give its member banks an opportunity
to retain their customer before
the account is closed.
When
a customer of a member bank submits
a close account request, Switchbanks
is designed to respond: “SWITCHBANKS
wants to keep your business. Switchbanks
will process your close account
request and submit this application
to SWITCHBANKS for their attention.”
Switching
to member banks
New
account requests
Member
banks are retained on Switchbanks’
Switch to list.
When
a customer of a member bank submits
an open account request, Switchbanks
is designed to respond: “SWITCHBANKS
welcomes your business.”
Customers are linked directly
into back end of member bank’s
website.
Switchbanks
non-members
Switching
from non-member banks
Close
account requests
Close
account requests are processed
without alerting non-member institutions.
Non-member banks have no built-in
response from Switchbanks, or
customer response mechanism. Customers
are linked directly to back end
of non-member bank’s website.
Switching
to non-member banks
Open
account requests
After
the first 12 months of business
trading, non-member banks that
have declined Switchbanks’
invitation to join will be removed
from Switchbanks’ Switch
to list.
Non-member
banks are not linked from the
site and do not have an option
on ad space.
Building
the business
The
Switchbanks team is committed
to staying true to the Switch
concept, employing a model that
preserves the power of that simple
premise.
Any
potential for business growth
and development will be tested
against the Switch principle.
If that principle can’t
be applied to a new business idea,
it’s not viable against
Switchbanks’ business model.
The
Switch concept could successfully
be carried across sectors and
industries – insurance,
energy, superannuation, telecommunications
for instance. However, agreed
core business is to build the
Switch brand in the finance sector
through Switchbanks.
The
communications and media strategy
Switchbanks’
planned communication strategy
crosses print and electronic media.
November
2011: Commencing high-end telemarketing
campaign targeting industry –
focusing on selected institutions
Dec
2010: Developing features to be
placed in industry magazines
Dec
2007: Developing high end media
kit
Feb
2008: Media release to accompany
launch distributed to newspapers
and to radio and television broadcasters.
Angle
for media at launch phase: statements
about the banks’ enthusiasm,
as gauged by Switchbanks to date,
for a service that makes switching
banks easier and that makes more
accessible the valuable information
consumers require in order to
compare banks and make informed
decisions.
March
2010: Production of Switchbanks
enewsletter distributed via a
list serve and linking to website.
October
2012: Production of marketing
collateral (DL consumer brochure,
cover letter, 210 x 210 member
proposal brochure (‘Welcome
to Switchbanks) for targeted mail
distribution to industry including
banks, lenders and financial advisors.
Also producing other collateral
such as posters, hats and t-shirts.
Longer
term: Developing concepts for
TV ad campaign for production
after 12 months if viable.
TO
INVESTORS and TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
The desire of Switchbanks has
been to provide Australians with
a simple and effective way of
switching banks online. At Switchbanks
www.switchbanks.com.au we have
online and manual forms to suit
the needs and desires of all.
The following link is an example
of a manual switch www.switchbanks.com.au/manualswitchmanual.html
Put simply, switching
banks has never been so easy.
You will also notice a link designed
for closing accounts to simplify
that process. http://www.switchbanks.com.au/closeaccount.html
As
also discussed, our intention
is to provide Australians with
services other than those marketed
and promoted by the traditionally
larger banks or institutions.
We have further developed the
site to accommodate those wishing
to switch companies in the fields
of insurance, energy and even
experiences etc. You will note
these fields and more as you peruse
the website. With this in mind
we will provide all the relative
information to INVESTOR the customer
to switchbanks or switch other
services.
Perhaps
most importantly though, we are
not a lender, or a banking institution.
Therefore we do not retain any
customer information and will
soon be adding a direct link to
the customers to contact their
bank of choice direct. The Switchbanks
site was due for release in June/July
08 however interest and pressure
from media outlets has hastened
this process. Advertising and
promoting this site Australian
wide will be a priority for our
team, to ensure every Australian
has the opportunity to make a
switch online.
Our
intention is to see Switchbanks
become Australia's first point
of call for those wanting to switch
companies within a selected number
of industries, primarily in the
sectors of banking, insurance
and energy. Furthermore, Switchbanks
is proudly 100% Australian owned
and operated, and focussed singlemindedly
on people and choice.
Once again, no client information
is held on site. We at Switchbanks
would like SWITCHBANKS to successfully
apply the knowledge for Australians
to arrange insurance throughout
Australia.
Select from the listings above
and below www.switchbanks.com.au
apply for a Switchbanks product
or service. Now you're ready to
begin the switching process.
Please note that I have added
the first stages on statistics
below for you to view. These statistics
are a reflection of the high level
of interest and participation
that we have received, purely
through word of mouth, and prior
to the mid year release and consequent
promotion.
With this in mind we have already
received number one status on
many search engines "without
even trying".
I trust that this information
is helpful and that the future
between INVESTORS and SWITCHBANKS
is a long and fruitful one.
