By Josh Sledge, CFSI Innovation Analyst

At times, I can be almost comically absentminded.  On a number of occasions, I’ve prepared a letter for the mail, stuffed it into my bag as I leave for work…and then proceeded to walk by every mailbox in my neighborhood without remembering to drop it in.  I’ve sheepishly walked into parties for friends and family members with nothing but the sudden realization that the gift I picked up for them remained sitting on my kitchen counter.  Fortunately, my miscues usually don’t cost me too much – just an extra trip to the post office or some mild embarrassment.  But how many times has a similar lapse in memory overcome a person’s intention to pay a bill and resulted in a late fee?  More broadly, how many times has being absentminded cost someone a hit to their pocketbook or a chance to act on a good decision?

Every step you have to make in order to accomplish a task (say mailing a letter or paying a bill) represents an opportunity to make a misstep.  In the case of your finances, these missteps can wind up costing you a good chunk of change or lead to a missed opportunity to better your financial health.  This fact of life is what makes the Active Path email banking platform such an appealing idea.  Active Path’s software allows banks to send alert emails that contain embedded links customers can click to take immediate action to address a financial concern or take advantage of an opportunity.

As an example, let’s say it’s your payday.  You receive an email from your bank alerting you that your hard-earned money has just been deposited in your account.  But that’s not all.  The email also asks you if you’d like to put a portion of the deposit into your savings account and, in order to do so, all you have to do is click on the bright red button right there inside the email.  That’s that.  Money saved.  No logging into your online banking platform or going through the online account transfer process.  Those may not sound like particularly difficult steps, but they might be enough to deter you from taking action if you’re pressed for time or on a public computer.  And how many times has “I’ll do it later” or “I’ll do it when I get home” led to nothing being done at all?

ActivePath’s platform appears to be relatively new, so there’s not much information on how the platform is actually being used.  There is certainly the possibility that banks will use it primarily as a means of cross-selling products within a customer’s email account (“Click here to be preapproved for a credit card!”).  But the concept of email banking is an intriguing one that might help consumers make better decisions and improve their financial capability.  The fact that internet access is becoming increasingly available to households across the income spectrum suggests that the platform could be used as part of asset-building strategies for low-income families.  Can the concept be extended to mobile platforms?  Can it be applied to prepaid card accounts to reach the underbanked?

I’m certainly not the first one to take notice of ActivePath’s innovative solution – the company presented at the Finovate Fall 2010 conference – but I share in the interest others have taken in the email banking platform and concept.  I believe there are some real opportunities to leverage the technology in a way that promote financial capability.

And on that note, I have to run.  I just realized I locked my keys in the car.