Returns on investment from superior customer-centric strategies easily can exceed 20 percent in the first year of implementation. However, this number is compounded exponentially in subsequent years due to repeat business, new customer referrals and customer loyalty. Learn more about the design and deployment of holistic retail bank customer-centric strategies that synthesize critical information and qualitative banker insights. Source: Implementing differentiated customer-centric strategies: Retail-banker-friendly strategy development that resonates with your customers and shareholders, an Experian white paper.

With the constant (and improving!) changes in the consumer credit landscape, understanding the latest trends is vital for institutions to validate current business strategies or make adjustments to shifts in the marketplace.  For example, a recent article in American Banker described how a couple of housing advocates who foretold the housing crisis in 2005 are now promoting a return to subprime lending. Good story lead-in, but does it make sense for MY business?  How do you profile this segment of the market and its recent performance?  Are there differences by geography?  What other products are attracting this risk segment that could raise concerns for meeting a new mortgage obligation?   There is a proliferation of consumer loan and credit information online from various associations and organizations, but in a static format that still makes it challenging to address these types of questions. Fortunately, new web-based solutions are being made available that allow users to access and interrogate consumer trade information 24×7 and keep abreast of constantly changing market conditions.  The ability to manipulate and tailor data by geography, VantageScore® credit score risk segments and institution type are just a mouse click away.  More importantly, these tools allow users to customize the data to meet specific business objectives, so the next subprime lending headline is not just a story, but a real business opportunity based on objective, real-time analysis. Explore the features from one such tool available.  

Six states are the top producers of turkeys: Minnesota at 46 million, North Carolina at 36 million, Arkansas at 29 million, Missouri at 17.5 million, Virginia at 17 million and Indiana at 16.5 million. This accounts for nearly two-thirds of turkeys produced in the United States as of September 2012. The average wholesale price for frozen whole turkey during fourth-quarter 2012 is projected to range from $1.10 to $1.14 per pound — similar to the 2011 fourth-quarter average price of $1.11 per pound. The average retail price for whole frozen turkeys in September 2012 was $1.62, about 6 cents lower than the average retail price for whole frozen turkeys in September 2011. Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).