In April, we introduced the Financial Services Monthly Performance scorecard produced by Compete. It summarizes the overall performance of 23 large U.S. financial institutions and lead-generation sites. Refer here for the detailed methodology as well as companies tracked. 

Commentary
In August, the continued rise in interest rates led to a drop in home equity, mortgage refinance, and credit card applications while deposit accounts and purchase mortgage applications were up.

Some highlights from the monthly activity: 

• Credit Card applications were down 2% overall, but Chase (27%) and Capital One (5%) grew applications and conversion compared to July
• Savings applications were up across the group with the exception of Citibank which posted a 13% decline
• For high-yield savings, only HSBC and ING Direct saw both application and conversion growth
• Home equity application/lead volume and conversion dropped across the group with declines observed at 9 of 16 providers
• Purchase mortgage  application/lead volume was up over July with Countrywide and Capital One both showing notable growth
• The refinance mortgage market was flat overall, masking strong application/lead growth at Countrywide, E-Loan and NexTag while declines were recorded at LendingTree/GetSmart, LowerMyBills and Low.com