Annual “Best of Breed” in Financial Services Awards Released Today

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Corporate Insight, the leading provider of competitive intelligence to the financial services industry, today released its 2009 annual Monitor Awards. Corporate Insight presented Gold, Silver and Bronze awards to firms providing the best online offerings in the banking, brokerage, credit card, annuity, mutual fund and mutual fund advisor segments of the financial services industry. Firms were evaluated in several categories, including account information, educational content, transactional capabilities, account security, and other website capabilities designed to help consumers meet their financial goals in the current economy.

“The Monitor Award winners truly set the standard for the industry and help lead to overall improvement in the development of an outstanding customer experience.”

After analyzing the websites of over 70 financial institutions, Bank of America was recognized as the overall winner with the most accolades, receiving 16 Monitor Awards related to its banking, credit card and brokerage websites. Fidelity received the greatest number of Gold awards, receiving nine “best of breed” prizes.

The following companies received the highest number of Corporate Insight Gold Monitor Awards in their respective award categories:

--		Advisor Monitor Awards*		--		Credit Card Monitor Awards
		American Funds				Bank of America
		MFS
				--		e-Monitor Awards
--		Annuity Monitor Awards				E*Trade Financial
		John Hancock				Fidelity
--		Bank Monitor Awards		--		Mutual Fund Monitor Awards
		Bank of America				Fidelity

“The Monitor Awards present clear benchmarks to the financial services industry when it comes to online capabilities,” said Tim Ullrich, Vice President of Monitor Services. “Our holistic and hands-on look at the customer experience allows us to highlight the best practices in this space, showcasing the industry’s positive developments and providing a bar that other firms should seek to meet or raise.”

Three firms that were added to Corporate Insight’s Monitor coverage in 2009, BlackRock, Capital One and SunTrust, received either Mutual Fund Monitor – Advisor or Bank Monitor Awards for unique offerings in several categories.

Recovery was a major theme across the financial services industry, as companies took an optimistic position about the future of the economy and presented customers with a hopeful and confident outlook. Many firms in the online brokerage, mutual fund and advisor industries revamped their websites and introduced a number of new educational and research tools to empower investors. Those firms that have improved their educational resources have helped to better position themselves as customer advocates in these difficult times. Corporate Insight recommends that firms continue to develop their educational materials, to provide objective, informative and impactful content in the coming year.

Corporate Insight was pleased to see the mutual fund industry begin to embrace social media in 2009, led by such firms as Vanguard, American Century, Putnam and Franklin Templeton. Savvy mutual fund companies are employing Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, blogs and third-party networking and social bookmarking sites to interact with their investors and advisors, while being careful to remain within FINRA guidelines.

Mobile banking also picked up steam in 2009, as firms introduced a number of new applications, websites and text-based services. Chase, Citibank, E*Trade and KeyBank introduced mobile programs for the iPhone, while Wells Fargo introduced an application optimized for BlackBerry. Corporate Insight expects that the banking industry will continue to invest heavily in developing better wireless capabilities in 2010, given growing consumer interest in these services.

“It is always interesting to see which financial services firms make a strong effort to evolve and refine their online capabilities, especially in light of the current economic environment when customer needs are greater than ever,” said Michael Ellison, Executive Vice President of Corporate Insight. “The Monitor Award winners truly set the standard for the industry and help lead to overall improvement in the development of an outstanding customer experience.”

*American Funds and MFS received the greatest number of overall Mutual Fund Advisor Awards, however, seven firms, including the aforementioned, each received one Gold Award.

Editor’s Note:

For a complete version of the Monitor Awards or to arrange an interview, please contact Stephanie DiIorio or Ashley Bowles at Intermarket Communications.

About Corporate Insight

Corporate Insight currently provides a comprehensive selection of syndicated research to 90% of the top financial service companies within the Fortune 500, representing 70% of the brokerage industry and 60% of US banking assets. Our expert analysts compile highly detailed research audits that deliver a unique, firsthand understanding of financial service product offerings. All of our research is compiled through personal interaction with each website. Further information from Corporate Insight is available at http://www.corporateinsight.com.