The logoff page is one of the most important marketing platforms available to financial institutions (see note). The latest example: PNC Bank's logoff screen delivered last week after leaving my Virtual Wallet (VW) account (see first screenshot below).

I like the two-column design with useful info on the left side for someone who's just logged out and on the right a simple eye-catching advertisement for the bank's free rewards program, PNC Points. A single Enroll Today button makes it easy to figure out what to do next, although that direct approach is not carried through on the landing page (second screenshot).

Overall, it's a good effort, but I noticed something slightly off -- the lack of VirtualWallet branding after logging out. The page is branded PNC Online Banking, and the two choices in the left box are:

• Return to PNCVirtualWallet.com
• Return to PNC.com

At minimum, the second choice isn't worded correctly since I just left my VW account. Worst case, it leaves customers wondering why the bank doesn't know where they came from. I assume the bank is using the same logout screen for both regular and VW customers and that everyone is accustomed to it by now. Still, it would be better to continue the VW experience all the way through logout.

PNC Bank logoff screen (24 June 2010)

Landing page (link)
Surprisingly, after choosing Enroll Today on the logout page above, users go to another sales page, with a less prominent Enroll button buried in the lower right. Instead of this roundabout process, users should go directly to the enroll page. 

Note: For more information on login/logoff marketing see our Online Banking Report: Selling Behind the Password published April 2009.