Nothing frustrates a Web user more than clicking the browser's back button during the middle of an online form, only to be hit with a browser-error message, followed by losing all the data previously entered.

There are a number of website-design techniques to reduce this problem, such as disabling the browser navigation, but those solutions can impact overall usability.

We like GetSmart's approach (click on inset for closeup). Rather than hiding the back button, the LendingTree unit (owned by IAC/InterActive), delivers a pop-up message with two choices:

1. Continue: Users that inadvertently used the browser's back button are provided instructions on how to use the navigation tools within the webpage.
2. Exit: Those truly wishing to leave the application are transported to the About Us page in case they need reassurances about the authenticity of the company.
3. Search: Users not opting for doors one or two can go directly back to searching the Web through an Ask.com search box. GetSmart earns a few pennies on the transaction and keeps their name in front of prospects with a co-branded search screen at sister company Ask.com.

Action Items
Financial institutions could use a similar strategy on their forms. Any customer abandoning a form, either on purpose or by accident, should be greeted by a pop-up screen containing several of the following choices:

• Talk to a specialist via phone, chat, or email
• Go back to read more about the product's features and benefits
• Save the form to complete later
• Review other product options
• Go to a special landing page designed to encourage completing the application
• Search the bank's website for more info

Finally, one of the most important functions of the popup, something missing from GetSmart's, is snagging the customer's email address and permission for follow-up communications.

--JB

GetSmart

www.getsmart.com

GetSmart’s full-service Business Finance Center includes a wide variety of finance options.

GetSmart’s (Burlingame, CA) new business financing referral center received a prominent mention in The Wall Street Journal’s Thursday Watching the Web column (10/1/98). GetSmart’s business area, launched in July, covers loans, lines of credit, real estate leasing, equipment loans/leases, factoring, and credit cards. The entire GetSmart site is generating 40,000 applications a month from more than 750,000 visitors.

GetSmart

www.getsmart.com

GetSmart (Burlingame, CA) unveiled a new banner ad (Yahoo 8/12/98). Note the three terms it uses to grab attention: home loans, credit card balance transfer and debt consolidation. You would be wise to incorporate those into your Web as well.

After reviewing the latest research and projections from various technology companies and research organizations, we are sticking close to our January 1998 (OBR 1/98) forecasts for online banking usage, although we’ve slightly broadened and clarified the definition of “online banking household.”

In the past, we only counted users that had banking or bill payment activity during the past months. We’ve lengthened that window to 90 days. We also now include the relatively small number of users who access credit card and loan data online, but are not yet hooked up to their checking accounts. These changes had the effect of increasing projections by 5% to 10%.

Definition: Online Banking Household

For the purposes of our forecast, we consider a household to be using “online banking” if they have done any of the following during the past 90 days*:

•  Registered for online** access to checking, credit card or loan (including mortgage) data.

•  Signed up to pay bill(s) online.

•  Paid a monthly fee for an online banking or bill pay program.

•  Accessed balance or transaction data online for a checking account, credit card, or loan (including mortgage).

•  Authorized a bill payment online.

* Households that haven’t used the system for more than 90 days are considered non-users.

** Online is defined as any use of a computer and modem connection through a private line, proprietary dial-up connection, Quicken, Money, Managing Your Money, or the Internet; access can be from home, work, school or public terminal.

It looks like we are on track to hit our mid-range projection of 7.5 million U.S. household users by year-end 1998. Here’s what’s going on:

Negative Impacts to Forecast:

•  Bill presentment looks like a non-starter this year. We figured MSFDC, Checkfree and other bill
  
  presentment providers would have contributed a half million new users by year-end 1998.
  (Note: To fit our definition, a user need only pay a single bill online every quarter to be counted). Next year should be different, barring any unforeseen catastrophes. We figure 1 to 1.5 million incremental users industry-wide by year-end 1999.

•  Y2K debugging/hysteria is sapping more resources than anticipated.

•  The merger mania among the banking titans has diverted resources from some of the larger online banking programs, especially NationsBank, Bank of America, and Bank One.

Positive Impacts to Forecast:

•  Low mortgage rates and the proliferation of solid mortgage and home buying sites such as GetSmart, QuickenMortgage, and NextCard have resulted in higher-than-expected adoption of online lending services (see OBR 5/98).

•  Despite merger uncertainties, Internet banking has finally arrived at a number of major banks including NationsBank in February, First Chicago and Citibank in June, Fleet, PNC and National City in July; and BankBoston in August.

With the usual annual fall marketing blitzes, total online banking enrollment will likely near 10 million by year-end, resulting in 7 to 8 million households meeting our definition of “online banking” (see sidebar at left). When and if the enrollees are converted to actual users depends on how well the industry executes activation and education programs.

More importantly, migrating your online program from a pain-in-the-budget cost center to a growing profit center hinges on marketing and delivering credit products, preferably on a preapproved basis, to your captive audience of Web users.

GetSmart

www.getsmart.com

New Look: GetSmart moved upscale with its revamp debuting the first week of May. We find it far more appealing than the previous iteration (below).

Old Look: The 1970’s color scheme was good enough for 100,000 mortgage leads in its final 90 days.

GetSmart (Burlingame, CA) a division of BFC Inc., is the leader in the field of mortgage lead generation. While Intuit was garnering all the press with 10,000 prequalifiaction forms submitted during its first four months, GetSmart was quietly generating five to ten times that volume on its innovative Web.

GetSmart has pioneered a whole new industry: financial services lead generation. The company is generating thousands of mortgage leads per day that are fed to 82 lenders for as much as $40 a piece. In the three-month period ending the first week of May, the company reported 114,000 leads generated, 100,000 of those were for mortgages. The company also collects credit card, second mortgage, student loan, and car loan leads. A mutual fund area was removed in the latest iteration of its Web site.

Each lead can be sold to up to three times if the user comes back through the site for a new quote. This puts the pressure on lenders to take care of its leads immediately. According to the company, 15% to 20% of all leads result in a funded loan. Doing the math, the average acquisition works out to $200 to $267 per closed loan. That’s far less expensive than most retail lending operations supported with traditional direct mail.

GetSmart recently revamped its Web site from top to bottom. The new home page is quick loading, uses more upscale green, blue and tan colors and gets right to the point. If you don’t have a name brand name, you must tell Web surfers what you are about, right away. GetSmart accomplishes this with a 33-word mission statement prominently displayed in the left-hand portion of the screen:

GetSmart’s Mission Statement:

• GetSmart is a free, objective information service that helps take the complexity out of borrowing.
• With GetSmart, you can see more options so you can make the most of your time and money.

GetSmart has wisely opted not to run banner advertising on its site. Banner ads would detract from the company’s “unbiased advisor” positioning and pull users off the site before the $40 lead was booked.

GetSmart’s displays this screen when users click in from a mortgage-related banner ad (next page).

GetSmart’s banner advertisement on Yahoo!

GetSmart’s Web has several entry points depending on your path to its site. For example, clicking on the Loan Finder box on Lycos leads you directly into the MortgageFinder at www.getsmartinc.com/mlycos001banksandloansbox Three new buttons have been added to the MortgageFinder: About Us, Privacy Statement, and Why Should I use GetSmart? There is also a testimonial from Tom Proulx, cofounder of Intuit, which could be considered misleading since it’s not disclosed (until deep in the Web site) that he is a company board member.

GetSmart’s Why Use pop-up window.

Clicking the Why Use button causes a window to
pop up (above) with a concise pitch offering three reasons for using the company’s services (paraphrasing, with the italics ours):

•  We are not a lender so we can give you free and unbiased advice. The company also says, “We receive no financial incentive for steering you to any particular lender.” Given that the company is selling leads for $40 a pop, we think that’s a trifle misleading.
•  We provide more loan options by assembling the “largest” lender network with more than 15,000 individual loan products.
•  We are secure and confidential and your “personal information will remain confidential and never be sold to an unauthorized third party.” Considering the company’s business is built on selling your information to third parties, we also find that statement somewhat misleading, though not technically incorrect.

In early May, the company announced aggressive marketing commitments totaling $13 million for 1998 and $50 million during the next three years. Recipients include DoubleClick, the Internet advertising network, Lycos, Yahoo!, Wired Digital (owners of HotBot), and Infoseek. If the company follows through with these commitments, it may become one of the largest advertisers online, perhaps even the largest advertiser in the financial services sector. Estimates of total Web-based advertising in 1997 range from $300 million to $900 million.

Contacts: Bill Fisher is Founder & CEO; John McNamara is SVP Marketing (650) 685-5937.

Mortgages may be the first traditional banking product to lose market share to Web-based competitors. Why? It’s a significant consumer purchase, estimated to consume more than 80% of a household’s disposable income in the year of purchase. Second, with thousands of unregulated and highly competitive mortgage brokers scrambling to grab another tenth of a point of market share, innovation is a certainty.

The pioneers are making their moves!

As we reported last month, the market for online real estate and mortgage information is rapidly gaining critical mass. We estimated that already 10% to 15% of mortgage applicants are at least influenced by information gathered online . But with less than one in ten of those following through with an online application, you could reasonably conclude that user demand is low.

We don’t think that’s so. Web users may not be knocking down your door trying to submit an online application. But why? Is it because they like you so much they crave a one-on-one experience with your loan officer? Perhaps. More likely, they are borrowing elsewhere, either from a competitor feeding off the flow of leads from GetSmart and others, or simply responding to whatever direct mail solicitation arrived the day they needed some cash.

There’s another reason why U.S. online mortgage loans funded is a paltry 20,000 to 30,000 per month (OBR estimate plus 100%, minus 50%). Lenders have done a poor job reassuring users that online applications will be handled in a safe, secure, and timely fashion . Many lenders are driving users to more expensive channels, or into the hands of the competition with lackadaisical Webs and uninspired marketing.

However, there are exceptions:

•  Although not a mortgage lender yet, Nextcard from Interactive Access Financial Corp. has the best sales-oriented financial Web site we’ve seen.
•  E-Loan, the centerpiece of Yahoo’s new Loan Center, has made mortgage shopping interactive, enjoyable, and understandable.
•  GetSmart, a wildly successful lead-generation site which recently announced a $50 million online marketing commitment.
•  Countrywide, a leader in direct Web-based mortgage lending, is building a full suite of online customer service tools including account access, refi reminders, and personalized email alerts .

Just 12 months ago, most consumers feared entering a credit card number on the Web. While those concerns have mostly been overcome, it’s a much different situation when you ask someone to enter their entire financial history into a Web form, especially if you are an unknown entity. Although, we are surprised at how many will do it. Case in point: prior to its Web site overhaul the first week of May, GetSmart www.getsmart.com provided few details about the company, no privacy statement, and little else that would help a user determine whether the company was legitimate. Despite these drawbacks, during the last three months 114,000 consumers turned over private financial details to the company in the hopes of getting a good deal on a credit card, mortgage or car loan. But we think GetSmart could have done even better had they addressed some of the consumer concerns listed in the following table: (Note: GetSmart’s new Web site now includes a prominently posted privacy statement.)

How to Overcome Online FUD*

* FUD = fear, uncertainty and doubt