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New at Meridien Research for October 24, 2001

1. Online Mortgages: Appraising the Options
2. Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment: The Key to Lockbox
3. Invest in Wireless Payments

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Latest Findings from Meridien:

1. Online Mortgages: Appraising the Options
(Retail e-Financial Services Client Access)
http://www.meridien-research.com/doc.asp?docid=799

For most individuals, a mortgage is likely to be the largest loan they ever incur. For this reason, it is not hard to imagine why, to date, many mortgage seekers have hesitated to use the Internet as a channel for loan origination. Concerns about the validity of data, use of a new technology, and security contribute to this hesitancy. However, with mortgage interest rates near 30-year lows and consumers refinancing existing mortgages at high levels, the current economic conditions have created a positive environment for online mortgage lending to flourish. This report describes four potential business models a financial institution may adopt when implementing its own Internet strategy for mortgage lending.


2. Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment: The Key to Lockbox
(Wholesale e-Financial Services access)
(e-Payments Client access)
http://www.meridien-research.com/doc.asp?docid=800

Banks have traditionally handled the collection and processing of remittance information and payments for their corporate customers through physical lockbox facilities. Corporations, however, are increasingly moving their payment function online. In the process, they are losing the paper-bound connection of payment to remittance; now they are looking for ways to keep their collection information integrated with their billing information. Electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) is one solution to their problem, and it brings both challenges and opportunities to banks. While EIPP does threaten the lockbox revenues of banks, it offers them the means to expand their involvement in their customers' payment and collection processes by completing the invoice-payment-remittance-settlement cycle. This report explores the roles that exist for banks in the EIPP space and the strategies they can employ as they look for ways to continue serving their corporate customers.


3. Invest in Wireless Payments
A Meridien/FSTC report (Meridien clients - all services - only)
http://www.meridien-research.com/misc/fstc/invest_in_wireless_payments.asp
Financial institutions and mobile telecommunications firms in Europe and Asia are already introducing wireless payment capability. We see opportunities in the United States as well for financial institutions and telcos to work together to develop wireless payment solutions that can both meet corporate goals and address the structural issues existing in the American wireless environment. Telcos are now urgently assessing strategies to attain profitability; wireless payments are a key element to meet that goal. Financial institutions that act quickly can participate as new wireless payment capabilities are developed, thereby ensuring that solutions also meet the needs of their industry and their customers.


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