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2003 Annual Report: Raising the Bar in Product Innovation


In 2003, Bank of America enabled more than 1,000,000 customers to purchase or refinance a home or tap into their home equity

By any measure, 2003 was an extraordinary year for mortgages. But beyond the burst of business caused by rock-bottom interest rates, Bank of America found ways to create a better experience for customers seeking loans to buy or refinance homes.

Our approach to product innovation always begins with listening to customers. We quickly identified two opportunities to improve the mortgage process in the ways that customers told us would be most important to them: reducing the amount of paperwork required for a loan application and shortening the time it takes to approve a loan. Research showed that incremental improvements in convenience and speed wouldn't do the job for our customers.

We needed to reinvent the mortgage experience. Seizing the opportunity to innovate, we created a whole new delivery process that can eliminate most of the paperwork and cut waiting time from days, and sometimes even weeks, to just minutes. As a result, Bank of America in 2003 made mortgage loans and home equity loans to more than 1 million families.
Giving Students an Edge
Giving Students an Edge
We surveyed college students and found that they want a checking account that's low-cost, convenient and easy to use. So in 2003, we introduced CampusEdge Checking,™ a flexible account with no minimum balance requirement and a fee waiver for students who set up a monthly direct deposit or whose parents bank with us. Students also told us that "stuff happens," so we took CampusEdge a step further by including a special card, good for a one-time refund of an overdraft charge or other fee associated with the account.
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  • We designed LoanSolutions® to make it quicker and easier for customers to finance their homes.
  • Customers can get loan approvals on the spot with 80% less paperwork.
  • More than 7 million customers now use our online banking channel, and use of online bill payment increased 84%.
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