Today, virtually all banks offer online banking and bill paying services. Most banks offer these services for free because it helps reduce the need to build "bricks and mortar" branches. Attracting younger customers who've grown up with the Internet, however, has been more difficult.

The members of "Generation Y" (born from 1980-1994, roughly) have never known a world without broadband Internet access. They like their online experiences to be colorful, clear, and easy to use on any device in their backpacks. (http://tinyurl.com/rk8gf)

They move seamlessly from desktop computer to notebook, from office to wireless Internetequipped coffee shop, to webenabled cell phones. They want—and expect—online vendors to support all these tools.

PNC Bank of Pittsburgh has built a new "Virtual Wallet" product (www.pncvirtualwallet. com) around the expectations of younger consumers. The bank has coupled a checking account and two kinds of savings accounts into a single online product with graphically attractive tools that the bank hopes will attract younger users.

"We really believe it fits the mental mindset of the way they look at money," said Michael Ley, vice president of e-business for PNC. "We call it the 'high definition' view of their money, and we think PNC is the first bank to really get Gen Y."

The Virtual Wallet account centers on a calendar where you list your recurring bills and paydays. It includes three linked accounts. You get a "spending" account for debit card and online bill paying of normal expenses (only a limited number of paper checks are allowed), a "Reserve" account for short-term savings, and a higher-yield "Growth" account for long-term savings. The reserve account is also the first line of overdraft protection for the spending account. Funds are automatically transferred, if available, to cover spending. As you build account history, the calendar will warn you of "Danger Days" when you are at risk of overdrawing your account.

The account interface looks like a social media website. It features the bright colors and clean, simple graphics favored by younger web surfers, but the bank says the product is also attracting unexpected attention.

"It's the only product where, if I'm speaking with a customer, and someone else is listening, that customer actually comes over to find out what it is I'm talking about," said Donna Ackerman, manager of the PNC branch on Route 70 in Erlton. "I've never had a banking product that that's happened with before."

Virtual Wallet has an interactive Money Bar showing how a customer's money is divided between spending and reserve accounts. To transfer funds you move a slider on the Money Bar. Move to the right and you add money from reserve to the spending account. Move to the left, and money goes into reserve.

Users can create a wish list of short-term purchases, and keep track of their savings toward those goals. It's a clever way of capitalizing on what behavioral experts have noted about Gen Y members: They often need more reassurance and reward feedback than older generations.

The Growth account incorporates an online piggy bank feature. Users choose a piggy bank icon in one of several colors. To transfer money to longterm savings, you "Punch the Pig," by clicking on the pig icon. The transfer amount can be preset, and when you confirm, you get an audible confirmation in the form of an "oink" or one of several other customizable sounds, including a crowd applauding.

PNC Bank's Virtual Wallet requires a $25 minimum to open the account, has no minimum balance or service fees. Customers can use any of PNC's 3,900 ATM machines (that includes the ones at Wawa) at no fee.

NOTE: With this column, we're launching the first CompuSchmooze video podcast, or "vidcasts," a short feature about the PNC Bank Virtual Wallet. You can see the vidcast at www.compuschmooze.com or at http://professionalpodcasts.blip.tv/posts/1200294. Let us know what you think!  steve@compuschmooze.com