KeyBank, a large regional bank based in Cleveland, Ohio, has added checking to its digital banking venture Laurel Road.
Laurel Road was initially launched targeting healthcare providers – a top industry in the Cleveland market as it is home to the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. While the digital bank provided many banking services on its App, missing was a checking service.
Yesterday, Laurel announced new checking account features, including:
- Cash bonus: A limited-time offer of a $500 cash bonus when making direct deposits totaling $2,500 or more within 60 days of opening the account
- Student loan rate reduction: Discounts of up to 0.55% on refinancing your student loan with Laurel Road when you open up a Laurel Road checking account and make recurring monthly direct deposits
- Overdraft protection, no minimum opening deposit, and no account maintenance fee, along with World Debit Mastercard benefits, including chip capabilities and no monthly or annual fee
- Access to 40,000+ ATMs nationwide + new mobile app includes an ATM finder, mobile check deposit, P2P/Zelle, and more
Laurel Road says that research indicates that 38% of young Americans would be encouraged to switch to a new bank because they’re looking for better savings options. It is well known that younger people want to avoid visiting a bank branch as much as possible by managing all of their finances on their smart phone.
KeyBank has offered a digital banking app for years with the service beginning as a pretty slim digital offering to a more robust platform today. Yet, KeyBank still suffers from far too many brick and mortar locations it must support – something that must be rectified in the not too distant future. By providing a purely digital, differentiated product, Key get’s to compete with itself and, hopefully, avoid the innovators dilemma.
