Egg has none of the ingredients of a real bank

Let’s be straight: Egg is not a bank, it’s a credit card. Same with Mint.

Let’s be straight: Egg is not a bank, it’s a credit card. Same with Mint.

Short-term debt products advertised and managed online, using novelty – the internet, brand name, even shape of card – combined with aggressive rates is a viable, if difficult, business model. But pure online banking is not. Why? Because money matters to people more deeply than most marketers realise.

I am sure that in the focus groups that drive the “innovation” within Egg and its competitors, respondents moan about their current banks and dream of a better service. But at the heart of any banking proposition must be stability, credibility, and a trusted expertise in money management.

Brands such as Egg, Mint and Cahoot will only ever appeal to a niche, youth market where debt is big and credit small – and that doesn’t work to create a bank. Like all brands, Egg needs to realise what it is, and has been good at – and that’s flogging funny-coloured, or -shaped, or -named credit cards, not building full-service, cross-product banking services.

Justin Basini

Global head of marketing and communications

Global Banking

Deutsche Bank

London EC2