CompuBank

www.compubank.com

CompuBank touts its number one rating from SmartMoney. It’s also adopted a new slogan,
“Real-Time Banking Online,” much better than the old “get out of line.”

CompuBank (Houston, TX; $5 million) has made great strides since its launch nine months ago (OBR 10/98). They have corrected every major deficiency noted in our analysis, except a huge one, the lack of loan products. While we realize its burdened with a regulatory hurdle, the bank’s initial approval as a national bank precluded it from offering loans, it still needs to be corrected before the bank can move to the next level. And there is no reason why the bank cannot partner with a credit card company to at least offer overdraft protection on its well-priced checking accounts.

The bank earned the prestigious number one ranking from Dow Jones’s personal finance magazine, SmartMoney, in its third annual look at online banks (see table on right). CompuBank wasted no time putting out a press release and posting the logo to its Web. This should be worth about a million dollars in free publicity, as they can claim number one status for an entire year. Consumers won’t know that only 19 banks were reviewed. It’s one of the advantages of being an early mover. Given the criteria used by SmartMoney, we think the bank deserved its ranking.

Nearly every page carries the
VeriSign, BBB Online, and SafeWeb logos.

Besides a number of innovative and pioneering features outlined in our previous overview (see OBR 10/98), the bank has added the following:

Third-party security assurances: The first bank we’ve seen with the VeriSign Secure Site and BBB Online logos on most pages.

Call-Me Button: The first bank to prominently post a “Have a Question” button on its home page that allows users to schedule a call back with a bank service rep.

Contacts: Jonathon Lack is EVP Marketing, (713) 479-1074, jlack@compubank.com .

Smart Money Internet Bank Rankings

Source: SmartMoney.com, 7/99; Gomez Advisors, 7/99

Note: For the complete article, go to smartmoney.com and search for “online banking;” only 19 banks were reviewed by SmartMoney compared to 58 by Gomez Advisors, www.gomez.com