Impersonalisation of electronic money: implications for bank marketing

This paper examines the mismatch between the impersonality of electronic money on the one hand and Australian customers' desire to have a personal banking relationship on the other. This gap is illustrated by a critical appraisal of literature relating to the sociology of money, the adoption of information and communication technologies and self-service technologies. The paper argues that bank-marketing professionals adopt an activity-centred social marketing strategy. This strategy places customers and their activities at the centre to help ensure a fit between payment activities, services, and values relating to money within different cultural contexts. The strategy has managerial implications for, when payments services are tracked according to customers and activities, the data required are different from data generated by following customer segments and products. An activity-centred social-marketing strategy has the potential to increase trust in banks and halt the shift of financial relationships to intermediaries such as brokers and financial planners.