in a strong position."
So far, the reviews of Citibank's community-building efforts are mixed. "I'm more optimistic than not, but I don't know [that] it's clear whether people want to be in a community around their bank," says Andrea Williams, an Internet analyst at investment bank Volpe Brown Whelan & Co. (dossier)
Citibank declines to say how many customers have signed up for its online financial products or how big of a community its site has. The nine topics on its seven-month-old bulletin boards have drawn an average of 50 messages each. PC banking, the most popular topic, drew five messages in May.
Other banks haven't quite bought into Citibank's philosophy. "This is about providing meaningful financial tools for the customer. Information-based services clearly add value, and we're looking at that, but I don't know that things like chat rooms are what customers are looking for from a financial institution," says Michael DeVico, executive VP of Bank of America (BAC)'s interactive banking division.
A survey of Web offerings from banks including Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America, NationsBank and Bank of Boston shows that most are sticking to their knitting. Only Fleet Bank comes close, offering a homework helper and a bulletin board focusing on parenting.
