Bank differentiated and cut down costs by focusing on savings and mortgage accounts

On blueoceanstrategy.com, I came across a link to an interesting article about ING Direct, that broke away from the competition by focusing on savings and mortgage accounts. Here’s an extract from the article:

"Instead of fighting to capture 100 percent of customers’ banking needs, ING Direct completely did away with offering current accounts. Current accounts often have low balances and extensive operational costs because of the number of transactions that run through them. Instead ING Direct drastically reduced the number of products and services to the bare minimum with a focus on savings and mortgage accounts. By simplifying the complexity of operations and lowering its own cost structure, ING Direct was able to offer savings rates up to four times higher than the industry average. This also made ING Direct’s website simple and easy to use and made financial decisions easier for people to make. At the same time, it enjoyed one of the lowest cost structures in the industry."