Internet Banking in Asian Banks - Literature review Example

Financial services continue to grow in the economies of the whole world, pressures are mounting for more effective marketing management of the financial services on offer. Banks and financial institutions have use marketing strategies to improving the strategic position of banks. Allen (1989) said financial institutions began concentrating more resources on marketing, which is becoming mandatory in the competitive environment of today’s financial services. Dawes and Brown (2000) have concluded that changing consumer behavior as well as changes in the operational environment that have been instigated by the Internet have made traditional marketing techniques inadequate, especially in the context of banking services.

Segmentation is one of the essential ideas in marketing discipline, however, it has evolved over time from purely descriptive factors of customers to benefit segmentation as a tool to identify factors that may influence future purchasing behavior. (Haley, 1968). The contemporary environment requires that segmentation must keep abreast of new changes and utilize sensitive, sophisticated methods such as an ad hoc clustering method of benefit segmentation. Technology is now an essential dimension of financial service and Internet banking is, therefore, a crucial aspect of delivery strategies employed by banks, with differentiation in the provision of banking services forming a vital aspect of retaining a competitive advantage.

(Alfansi and Sergeant, 2000) Financial services are different with products, they are intangible and inseparable. Financial services always have highly individualized marketing system since financial services are very different service organizations with others. All of the financial services organizations have to similar services, they are lack of special identity, and all of them have a wide range of products/ services. for example, Barclays and HSBC, they both have a full range of financial services for individual customers and business, they also have international branches in the world.

There are only small differences in the interest rates or operating systems. Financial services are all geographical dispersion and their growth must be balanced with risk. Their services are fluctuation in demand and responsibility is fiduciary. The financial services sector is still highly labor intensive, which increases the costs of production and affects the price of financial products.  Since there are many banks doing similar services, banks want to have more profits must become better at attracting and retaining top customers.