Boston Globe November 22, 2008
Citigroup is selling Financial Research by Ross Kerber
Financial Research Corp., a well-known Boston mutual fund data company, is being sold by parent company Citigroup Inc. to another Boston firm in the financial services sector. (more)
Business Week November 21, 2008
Analysis: It’s About Building Relationships
The smartest strategy is to understand the needs of your potential customers and earn their trust (more)
The Bridge October 7, 2008
Playing the Wireless Card An SMB Comer?
Mercatus managing partner Bob Hedges tells The BRIDGE, “Just as how cell phones already dominated and drive the social life of consumers between the ages of 18 to 25, we will see mobile commerce become the dominant means of conducting financial transactions for these same consumers with five years.” (more)
BusinessWeek September 26, 2008
Moving Money Online Still Needs Work by Stacey Higginbotham
Credit cards and PayPal notwithstanding, there is still room for new approaches to Web payments, particularly in the mobile realm. (more)
American Banker September 24, 2008
Mercatus: Handset Payments to Climb by Steve Bills
“Consumers older than 45 will be much less likely to adopt mobile payments,” said Robert B. Hedges Jr., the managing partner of Mercatus, a Boston financial consulting firm. "It's going to be an excellent new-customer acquisition tool among a category of consumers who are willing to consider an alternative provider."
NPR.org June 25, 2008
Rising Bank Fees Squeeze Consumers by Yuki Noguchi
"Banks charge consumers more in fees every year. Last year, banks collected $38.6 billion in service charges, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp." (more)
Wall Street Journal July 30, 2008
IRA Rollover Ads Criticized by Senator --- Two Vendors Target Government Plans; Fidelity Stands
Pat by Jennifer Levitz
As a flood of baby boomers head into retirement, mutual-fund companies have begun a marketing blitz to
encourage people to roll over their workplace 401(k) plans into Individual Retirement Accounts run by the
fund firms.
Digital Transactions July 10, 2008
Obopay Maps a Strategy for Mobile Payments in 'Niche' Markets by John Stewart
"One of the things Obopay is looking at is a much broader set of use cases," says Robert B. Hedges, managing partner at Mercatus LLC, a Boston-based consulting firm that has worked with Obopay on finding partnerships in the various payment niches. MasterCard was one of the first of these partnerships." (more)
American Banker June 16, 2008
Technology is Mass-Affluent 'Differentiator' by Steve Bills
"Robert B. Hedges Jr., the managing partner of Mercatus LLC, a boston based consulting firm, said banks face a challenge to their thinking in trying to bring the one-to-one private banking relationship for a customer with #$2 million of assets or more to the mass affluent."
American Banker June 2008
Pop Quiz: How to Prepare for a Retirement Wave by Chris Costanzo
Robert B. Hedges Jr. of Mercatus says that if he were grading the industry, he would give it an "I" for incomplete."
Bank Investment Consultant
A Mass (Affluent) Retirement Market by Howard Stock
"The good news for banks is that they have a home advantage. Many Mass affluent customers consider their bank their primary financial institution. "That existing relationship is the most powerful element," said Teresa Epperson, a partner at Mercatus."
ISO&Agent Weekly April 3, 2008
Report: Use of Wireless-Payment Devices Unlikely to Surge by Kevin Woodward
"The problem facing wireless payment and adoption of it is that people
have not figured out the way to reach the merchants who are going to use
these terminals," Friedman tells ISO&Agent Weekly.
American Banker March 6, 2008
Mass Mutual: Deal First Phase of Expansion Plan by Steve Garmhausen
Ms. Epperson said insurance companies have been slow in their efforts to
capture retirement business, and are focused on catching up. "I think we are going to see a lot more action in this space on the part
of insurers," she said.
Bank Investment Consultant December 2007
Banks, Pick Up Your Game by Howard J. Stock
Despite all of the industry chatter about retirement income planning, banks are significantly behind the curve in capturing the retirement assets of their core demographic: the mass affluent. (more)
TechandFinance.com November 2007
Banks Could Capture Retirement Funds – But How? by Tom Groenfeldt
Banks, which have been real laggards in capturing US retirement funds during the accumulation phase have a real chance to acquire a chunk of the money once people retire and are less interested in investment performance than surety of regularly scheduled payments. And banks do know payments. (more)
Financial Times November 5, 2007
Room to muscle in on retirement by Rebecca Knight
The retirement market in the US is worth $16,600bn (£8,000bn, €11,000bn), so it is no surprise that financial services companies of all shapes and sizes are scrambling for a piece of it. However, according to a study to be released this month, retail banks face intense competition to capture affluent consumers' retirement assets. (more)
Digital Transactions July 2007
Processing Domino Effect by Jim Daly
Wall Street has discovered consumer electronic payment transactions, and now, with one deal after another, the business may never be the same. (more)
