FRAMINGHAM, USA: Leading independent research and advisory firm, Financial Insights, an IDC company, released a new report, Assessing CRM Strategic Initiatives in US Banking: Run after Catch. The report provides a holistic perspective of the re-emergence of CRM initiatives among banks and credit unions in the United States. The research found that financial institutions are moving to a more customer-centric product and delivery model.

"Active and high-level participation from our surveys allowed us a statistically significant view of the industry's strategic direction with 47 percent of respondents coming from Tier 1 institutions," said Christine Pratt of Financial Insights. "While more than 60 percent of respondents said that their CRM solution had been in place for more than two years, many indicated a new urgency to make greater strides that had very little to do with customer satisfaction or building relationships, but instead was all about organic growth and the challenges posed by a lackluster economic environment."

The report profiles successful strategic efforts of several institutions including Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU), and Bank of America (BofA) that are in the lead for the ideal CRM payback. The report is the culmination of a multi-faceted, in-depth research effort based on interviews with senior bankers and credit union executives.

Financial Insights found improvements in financial institutions supporting multi-channel strategies as well as integration of other enterprise applications and processes including; loan originations, fraud management, deposit account opening, payments and document management.

Christine Pratt, Research Director, Consumer Banking and Credit and author of the report, will be discussing these findings at the annual BAI Retail Delivery conference in Las Vegas, November 13-15, 2007.