I've always disliked toll-free (telephone) customer service. You have to find the number, identify yourself repeatedly, choose from confusing categories, then wait on hold until you finally get the honor of pleading your sorry case to someone who has all the power. I usually end up feeling like an idiot or a third grader asking for a bathroom pass.

Before the Internet, call center service was a necessary evil. Going forward, let's get rid of it. Self-service, whether completely automated or "guided" by real humans, saves money, and done right, can be a more satisfying customer experience.

Back to my sample of one. When I have a question, I always look for the webform, email address, or even the live chat button; anything that keeps me from dialing 1-800-IMAFOOL.

But when you want to do something at your bank that's relatively complicated, such as investigate a suspicious charge, change your credit limit, etc., it can be difficult to figure out how to do that on your own. That's why I like Capital One's "Ask a question..." box in the middle-right of all its credit card management pages (see first screenshot).

Today, I wanted to tell the bank I might be using its card internationally. I was already logged in to pay my bill, so I simply typed "travel" in the right-hand box (see first screenshot) and a link to the correct online form was delivered in the "answers" section (see second screenshot). It worked just like I expected.

So kudos to Capital One for making it easy to navigate to the right page, and more importantly, handling the entire travel notification process online. Of course, I'd prefer the bank just tracked me automatically via GPS (note 2), but we'll get back to that another time.  

-----------------------

Capital One aids do-it-yourselfers with a prominent search box on every page (28 Jan 2012)

Search results for "travel"

Notes:
1. Western Electric ad from 1959 (from eBay)
2. At FinovateEurope next week, one of the presenting companies, Finsphere, offers just such a technology. Capital One, you should give them a call.

I spent many hours in November looking at how banks and credit unions position insurance offerings online (our report here). Many banks don't even mention insurance. And those that do often bury it under an "investments & insurance" tab. Wells Fargo is the most notable example (screenshot below).

While I understand the need to keep navigation choices to a manageable number, these two really shouldn't be lumped together. It's like Amazon having one tab for "Shoes and Goats." It's confusing for both the shoe buyer and goat shopper.

Although a number of investments contain an insurance component (e.g., annuities), for most shoppers, this is unclear. Usually investing comes first, so it's unlikely the auto insurance shopper is going to pay much attention to a navigation item beginning with "investments." That's the furthest thing from the mind of someone trying to save a few bucks to keep the family fleet running.

Bottom line: If you are serious about selling insurance, it needs proper attention in website layout and navigation. Notice how Wescom Credit Union (Pasadena, CA) splits investments and insurance into two categories, with appropriate calls to action at the bottom of each column (second screenshot). The CU has some work to do on the landing page (it's cluttered and hard to find the quote I was promised), but it's still better than most.

-------------------------------

Before: Wells Fargo's personal homepage with combined "Investing & Insurance" category (13 Jan 2012)

After: Wescom Credit Union has separate columns for insurance and investments 

Wescom CU insurance landing page (link)
Note: The only thing that stands out on this page is the Purina Care pet insurance. The all-important quote function is buried at the bottom.

----

Notes:
1. Image courtesy of 1st Guard Truck Insurance 
2. See last month's Online Banking Report Selling Insurance Online (for FIs) for more info.

On the first day of 2012, we found a few financial institutions wishing their customers well, while also informing them of holiday branch closures. Always festive Amplify Credit Union (Austin, TX) had a great look as did First Federal Bank of Florida (see below). 

First Federal also remembered to address New Years Eve hours on Saturday, a more likely question. 

Final note: While you're at it, also mention holiday hours in your call center and online banking support.

------------------------------

Amplify Credit Union (1 Jan 2012, link)
Note: Amplify switches out its header graphic and logo treatment on major holidays. Here was their Valentine's look in 2010.

First Federal Bank of Florida (1 Jan 2012, link)
Note: First Florida had the best New Years graphics. They not only ran two banners, but also used subtle animation to cause the logo and top banner to twinkle when it was moused over. The bank also addressed Dec 31 hours along with those on the official holiday.

U.S. New Mexico Federal Credit Union (1 Jan 2012, link)

The browser was supposed to make web design simple, at least in terms of page layout. But it's always been tough to keep up with changing screen sizes, varying resolutions, and frustrating differences between browsers.

Liquid layouts that adjust automatically to the available screen real estate have been a huge help. But then along came the mobile browser, complicating everything both by their small size and by the two viewing modes, portrait and landscape. 

But it's not an insurmountable problem. Square is one financial company that's doing it right. It's website looks just as good on a 10-inch iPad2 screen as it does on a 24-inch monitor (see screenshot #1 to 4 below).

To make it work, copy and navigation options must be kept to a bare minimum. Square uses a catchy background image of its reader in use, then has an info box that "floats" depending on the screen size. It even works in portrait mode on the iPad (screenshot #4).

Of course, it's much easier to pull off for a one-product company like Square than for a commercial bank with dozens of business lines.

But even Square had to make compromises on its smartphone layout (see inset above). Instead of asking for contact info, the company simply instructs users to download one or both of its apps: Square or Card Case.

Relevance for Netbankers: We are about to see a flood of redesigned websites using new design and programming techniques (e.g. HTML5). Citibank was the first major U.S. bank to simplify its design. Discover just emailed users today with a sneak preview of its pared down design (screenshot #6). And it already had a relatively clean design (screenshot #5).

----------------------------

1. Square homepage on 24-inch monitor

2. Square on 12-inch laptop

3. Square iPad landscape

4. Square iPad portrait

5. Discover homepage (current)

6. Discover new (coming soon)

--------------------------------------

Note: We cover financial website and mobile design issues periodically in our Online Banking Report (subscription).

Citibank wasn't the only one with a new homepage this week. Bank of Internet also launched a new look today.

It's more traditional than Citibank's, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's more copy, but it's still pleasing to look at it, easy to navigate, and focuses attention on two core products:

• 1.25% APY rewards checking
• 4.10% APR mortgage refinance

I like the bank's new Request More Information box in the lower left corner. It allows visitors to quickly request more info on the following three topics simply by typing in their email address. 

• Deposit accounts
• Mortgage loans
• Multi-family loans

Bottom line: While most financial institutions invite visitors to call, few make it easy to leave your email address for a future discussion. I'm not sure how many people will see this box tucked away in small type below the fold. But with a little more emphasis, it could be an effective sales tool.

------------------------

New Bank of Internet homepage (6 Oct 2011)

After submitting an info request the box changes to a thank-you message

Previous homepage (2 March 2011; Source: Internet Archive)

The folks in charge of Citibank's website are sure brave. I'm not sure I've ever seen this dramatic of a change overnight in a major banking website (see before and after screenshots below). The bank rolled out the new site Sunday night and it seems to be running smoothly today.

My first impression is positive. Banking websites tend to be too cluttered. So they either overwhelm prospective customers or cause existing customers to tune the whole thing out. This seems like a step in the right direction, but only the company's web analytics team knows for sure. I'm sure it's been an interesting Monday for everyone involved.

The bank moved the majority of the previous homepage links (see last screenshot) into drop-down "mega menus" that are only displayed when clicking on one of the seven primary navigation items at the top of the page (see second screenshot). The drop-downs only appear after an actual click, so the don't cover up the page when you accidently hover over them with the mouse.

While the new site is clearly less busy overall, the bank has actually added two new items on the main (top) navigation bar:

• Rewards & Offers: Highlights the bank's ThankYou rewards program, AAdvantage co-branded card, and other programs. Given the bank's emphasis on rewards, this is a good addition.
• Services: This is a catchall leading to sections on online banking, mobile banking, and unusual features such as PopMoney p2p payments. Most items are repeated in the main Banking navigation item. While it seems redundant from a navigation perspective, perhaps it's a marketing tool for prospects looking for "banking services."

The new site renders nicely on an iPhone, displaying the login box, then navigation items in a vertical format (see inset). I'm not sure if this is a change from the previous site. Note the banner ad at the top promoting the bank's @AskCiti Twitter site.

There are also numerous changes in the online banking area, notably the addition of PFM features powered by Yodlee's FinApp development platform. I'll look at those in a future post.

-------------------------

1. New: 3 Oct 2011
Note: The main graphic, a young woman feigning delight over a bag of gift cards from Citi, is the same in both the before and after shots. But the new version is a mirror image of the old. 

2. New design with Banking "mega menu" displayed over graphic

3. Previous: 30 Sep 2011 (from Google cache) 
Note: The yellow highlights are on Google's cached copy only, they would not have appeared on the actual Citi website.

You may not be changing your corporate name like BillShrink (press release), but you can use their technique any time you do a major website remodel. Throw a splash page on top of your old design highlighting the change(s), then redirect users to the new site (note 1).

The explanation on the splash page will reassure users that they have not landed on a fake site. And it provides an opportunity to highlight improvements and do some brand reinforcement.

You could use the same technique with major promotions, but the key word is MAJOR. It should be used VERY sparingly, or you will annoy customers while diluting its effectiveness.

----------------------------------------------

Truaxis/BillShrink splash page (15 Sept. 2011)
Note: In this case, BillShrink is still operating its old site. So consumers clicking on the right button will be sent to <billshrink.com>. Merchants and financial institution visitors will go to the new corporate site, <truaxis.com>.

BillShrink consumer site

Trueaxis corporate site
Note: Naturally, we love the Finovate Best of Show logos at the bottom (note 2), even if they are below the fold.

Notes:
1. In BillShrink's case, they are still operating the old site. But they want their B2B prospects (merchants/banks) to visit their new corporate site, Truaxis.com.
2. Truaxis will be busy next week, presenting a new twist on in-statement rewards at our Finovate (see our sneak peek post). It's also a finalist in Innotribe's competition (here).

It's been years since we did a deep dive into what I call "site search," trying to find answers using a banking site's own search and navigation tools. While things have gotten much better, most financial sites still have plenty of room for improvement (note 1).

And it doesn't seem like a monumental problem. Even a large bank has how many retail products? 50? 100? Even if five times that, it's TINY compared to other ecommerce sites. Amazon.com has 9,070 results just for "toaster."

Consumers should be able to quickly find appropriate banking products by inputting four or five data points: age, ZIP code, family size, home ownership, annual income (for credit products), and average balance (for deposit products). Then, a list of relevant products should be returned in tabular format with a clear link to more details.

To see how this works, stripped of all ads and cross sales, check out the side project of Seattle entrepreneur Adam Doppelt, PickHealthInsurance.com. Users enter four pieces of info: ZIP code, age, family size, and whether they smoke. A few seconds after pressing Find Plans!, the site returns a table of potential choices (second screenshot).

It's a very Google-like experience, something you can't say about most banking sites.

----------------------------------------

PickHealthInsurance input form (14 Sept. 2011)

Results page

Plan details page

Note:
1. Many financial institutions have sophisticated product comparisons, but it's not always easy to find the tool to begin with.

The banking website is a unique animal. Part account management. Part service. Part sales. Part consumer. Part business. And it all must pass muster with the CEO, IT, marketing, customer support, heads of business lines, the board, and about 2,000 regulatory agencies. It's no wonder that it can be difficult to keep up with ecommerce Web-design standards. 

When I started this post, the intent was to show how American Express had overcome typical banking shortfalls and was doing ecommerce right. I liked what I saw at first glance. But after diving in and actually using the gift card site, I have to say that the company still has quite a ways to go to equal Amazon.com, Buy.com or even Etsy.

My take: Overall, it's a good structure for selling gift cards. But there are a number of things to clean up, mostly in the purchasing and fulfillment process. And the mobile option didn't work at all, at least on the iPhone 4. For now, I'll give it a B+ for layout/design and a C- for execution.

Let's start with the good parts:

• New virtual gift card costs $1 less ($2.95), has no shipping charges (which range from $2 to $8.95 per order), and can be emailed in near real-time
• Option to create a "gift card account" to save payment info and make purchasing into a "1-click" process (only available to AmEx cardholders though)
• Easy to find business or personal options by choosing the correct tab near the top
• Shopping process uses cart system to order multiple designs and denominations
• Ability to shop for cards for specific occasions (birthday, wedding, etc.)
• Signup for email offers (bottom of main page)
• Mobile shopping link to open a mobile-optimized site (bottom of page...which actually didn't work on my iPhone 4, see below)
• Personalization options including uploaded photos and recipient name embossed on card
• Click-to-call (powered by Oracle) offered when arriving via Google AdWords ad
• Link to purchase gift cards with Membership Rewards points
• Unlimited next-day shipping option. Pay $99, and for the next year, all gift cards will be delivered for no charge via next-day shipping
• Link to buy Gift Cheques for old-school users

What needs to be improved:

• Inconsistent fee disclosure: Although the site discloses the $2.95 to $6.95 processing fee as items are selected, this fee is NOT shown in the cart totals before checkout. And I couldn't find an answer on the site to the simple question I had: Is it $3.95 per card or per order?  
• Card terms not explained: There is lots of confusion in the gift card market about expiration dates, monthly fees and such. In the traditional plastic gift-card area, AmEx does virtually nothing to help users understand what they are buying; however, it's new virtual gift card is explained well.
• Lack of direct customer service: When navigating to the site through organic search, there is no way to get a quick question answered via live chat or email. Users must follow the Contact Us link in the upper right to find contact info.
• Obtrusive banners: The banner section (in upper left) is too large for a focused microsite and distracts from the task at hand. And one of the three is way off topic, touting an AmEx award from PayBefore for the "Best Web Sales Channel." That has absolutely zero interest to buyers and is one of the odder banner ads I've ever seen run on a major financial website (although I expect AmEx tested it and found some sales lift). 
• Clunky checkout process: The form-design itself is adequate, but is missing a few features such as an immediate error message if you type in a dollar amount that does not work. I also found myself clicking Continue at the bottom of the page which won't work until you first press Add to Cart.
• Slow website: I tested the site several times over a two-day period and consistently had trouble completing an order. Without more research, I don't know if it's an AmEx issue or just unfortunate timing on my part; in either case, it was pretty frustrating. 
• Too many navigation options: The top of the gift card page contains AmEx's normal page navigation options: My Account | Cards | Travel | Rewards | Business
  While those are helpful for cardholders looking to access other services, they distract from the task at hand, selecting a gift card(s). 
• Boring gift card email (screenshot #3): The email went out right away and there was nothing technically wrong with it. But I would have expected a little more excitement and design pizzazz. After all, it's not every day that someone sends you real money. Also, I was really surprised that the email did not contain the amount of the gift card or the personal message that I composed. That info eventually shows up during the activation process.
• Bizarre activation screen using Google Chrome for PC (screenshot 4): At first the page came up with a congratulations message, and an error message, even though I hadn't completed the authentication step of entering the captcha info. However, after the page fully loaded, all the extraneous messages disappeared. Also, it looked fine on Chrome on my Mac (I didn't test other browsers).
• Virtual card itself is a "low-tech" PDF (screenshot 5): I'm not sure what I was expecting at the end of the process, but having a PDF version of my virtual gift card seems anti-climactic. And the PDF popup (again in Chrome) doesn't have the usual save/print function along the top, so initially I was stuck as to how I would remember the card info to actually use it. By accident, I found that if I moved my mouse over the lower right part of the popup, that the print/save functions all of a sudden appeared as floating controls. It would be a whole lot better for the user if the card info was simply contained in the original email or if you could at least email the info to yourself after activation. I think a lot of these cards are going to end up lost as PDF files on the hard drive, the modern equivalent of the old paper travelers cheque being socked away in a drawer for decades.
• Mobile site was unusable (unless logged in): On the online site, there's a link promoting mobile ordering of gift cards by navigating to <americanexpress.com/gift> on their phone. I manually entered that URL in my iPhone 4 and was taken to a site dominated by a login screen (screenshot 6). There is a link to gift cards below the fold, but pressing it just reloaded the same page (evidently you have to log in first). This was a total mobile fail.

---------------------

1. American Express Gift Card landing page <americanexpress.com/gift-cards> (8 Sept. 2011)

2. Personalized photo gift card order form
Note: Shipping fees are disclosed at the bottom, and the purchase fee pops up after you select a dollar amount.

3. Recipient email notification they've received an eGift Card

4. Activation process starts with a bizarre screen that eventually renders correctly, but not before thoroughly confusing the user
Note: Eventually the lower half of this screen disappeared and only the top activation portion remained

5. The virtual card is downloaded as a PDF which can be printed or saved by the recipient

6. The American Express "Gift Card site" as seen through an iPhone 4

Unless it was mission critical, or compliance mandated, there is a good chance your pet project was put on hold during the 2008-2010 financial crisis. Most website-redesign projects, despite good ROI, drop into that "discretionary spending" bucket.

But as we approach the one-third-mark of 2011, we are starting to see the results of design projects green-lighted in the last budget cycle. Bank of America, the most-visited financial website, rolled out its new design late last year.

But smaller financial institutions are also doing great work, ofttimes offering a better user experience than the big brands, which must be all things to all people. The Financial Brand rounded up a half-dozen great examples in a March 23 post.

One that I particularly liked (note 1) is Salem Five's new homepage (shown below). Not only is it gorgeous, the navigation is outstanding with a large box containing key info (see points A and B below) and drop-down mega-menus (second screenshot) for everything else.

A few highlights of the new design (letters correspond to those shown on the screenshot):

A. The small outlined box on the left contains important info including the online banking login and current rates for key products.

B. The bank makes it easy to find contact info by listing the toll-free number at the bottom of the box. The bank also features LivePerson-powered click-to-call, one of the recommendations from our most recent report (note 3).

C. Despite the minimalistic design, the bank still has four low-key, text-based promos running across the screen.

D. Users can choose from 19 background themes to use as the backdrop (note 2).

Salem Five homepage with customizable backgrounds (18 April 2011)

Salem Five uses drop-down "mega menus" to help users navigate to the far corners of its website

Notes:
1. I'm a bit biased because I've been following Salem Five since the summer of 1995 when we both spoke at the first-ever conference on Internet banking.
2. I'm not sure many users really want to choose their homepage backdrop; I personally prefer that the images be randomly rotated. However, it does show considerable web-savvy that the bank offers a customizable design option. After Salem Five is done showcasing the feature, the option to change pics should probably be taken off the homepage. It's taking up prime real estate in the upper-right corner. 
3. For more info on click-to-call and other "live help" techniques, see the most recent Online Banking Report (March 2011).

Yesterday, I visited Chase Bank's checking account sales page (screenshot 1 below). Overall, I was impressed. The page is attractive and the bank lays out the options well. I especially liked the icons across the page emphasizing the free benefits applicable to all account types: online/mobile banking, alerts, ATMs and the debit card. Finally, it's easy to figure out how to apply for an account online.

However, the bank's "help me choose" function is flawed (though wisely buried at the bottom of the page, so it may be lightly used). It starts out fine by asking two simple questions:

• What is your estimated deposit balance you'll keep at Chase?
• Are you interested in checking account benefits for students age 13-24? (Yes/No)

But things quickly go off the rails.

Flaw #1: Bad form design

Since I have two kids in the student bracket, I naturally chose "yes" to the second question (see second screenshot). I wasn't looking for a student account, but sure, I'm interested. And I thought it was pretty smart of Chase to try to sell me on a kid's account from the get-go.

However, the bank assumed that was all I cared about and pushed me towards student bank accounts even though I'd said I was keeping $15,000+ on deposit (see third screenshot).

So I went back to that page to change the student selection and discovered that once your selection is made, it cannot be changed. Even when you click the "clear" button, the radio button stays set to "Yes." You have to choose "cancel," which sends you all the way back to the previous page, and then start over from scratch. By that time, many (most?) customers will have moved on. 

Flaw #2: Not enough info gathered to make meaningful recommendations

While I applaud the simplicity of the wizard, the bank can't really make a solid recommendation knowing only my anticipated deposit balance. There has to be some understanding of how the customer values the features of the deluxe checking account options such as no-fee non-Chase ATM usage, free OD transfers, free companion checking accounts, free safety-deposit box (see recommendations, screenshots 4 and 5).

Flaw #3: Doesn't identify existing customers 

And speaking of missing info, the bank is neglecting a huge part of the equation, whether I'm an existing customer or not. In fact, I do have a business account there and just a few days ago an in-branch account rep had pitched a free companion personal checking account to me. But the checking account wizard doesn't ask if I'm an existing customer (and the bank apparently is not using cookies to hone in on that either).

Bottom line: Chase does a good job engaging checking account prospects, but it's missing an opportunity to help them choose the right account.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Chase Bank's main checking account page (28 March 2011)

The help-me-choose wizard

Results page when checking the student box on the wizard

Results page if student not checked (and balance equals $15k+)

Results page if student not checked (and balance is less than $15k)

----------------------------------------------

Note: For more on online account opening, see our Online Banking Report: Online Account Opening (June 2009).

How did USAA become the most innovative bank in America? I guess its big-bank competitors have been kind of preoccupied with other matters the past few years. And because USAA serves most of its 5 million banking customers remotely, it stands to profit from pushing the envelope in online/mobile delivery. 

The latest proof that the bank is both innovative and adored? Posting user reviews right in the middle of the homepage, an inventive and unique approach. And with an average score of 4.7 out of 5 for both checking and auto insurance, the reviews serve as a transparent and effective mass endorsement.

Here's the breakdown of scores received on 6,350 total reviews for USAA's free checking account (as of 12 Aug 2010):

     5 stars (excellent) >>> 5,550  (87% of total)
     4 stars (good) >>>>>>    329  (5%)
     3 stars (average) >>>>   154   (2%)
     2 stars (fair) >>>>>>>    110   (2%)
     1 star (poor) >>>>>>>     214  (3%)

Relevance for Netbankers: Frankly, I never thought I'd see user reviews posted anywhere on a bank site, let alone the homepage (note 1). If your customers love you, I mean really love you, customer reviews posted directly to an in-house site is a great way to prove it (note 2).

USAA homepage (12 August 2010)
Note: Ad on top for its new Auto Circle car-buying service, complete with its own iPhone app.

Notes: 
1. Bank of America also posted user reviews on its site, but the feature appears to have been discontinued a while ago. The last reference I could find on Google about the reviews was in Jan. 2008.
2. This would not be an easy project and would require a significant investment in ongoing monitoring and maintenance. More importantly, it requires a thick skin; your organization would have to be comfortable with a certain amount of complaints being posted. As good as USAA's overall score is, there are still 314 poor reviews posted, 3% of the total. But allowing customers a salient vent-fest on your website may keep them from doing so in more public venues such as Twitter. It also gives you a chance to respond to and resolve posted problems.

The bank that everyone's talking about, and no one is using, finally released a few peeks at its user interface. Based on these screenshots posted on the bank's homepage (see last screenshot), it looks like a killer iPad app (note iPad logo in upper left of first screenshot).

The startup also unveiled a new logo, moving from the trendy gray/red (left) to a bolder font in a very bank-like and comforting blue.

Finally, the startup has purchased the .com version of their URL, an important, albeit expensive, pre-launch move. Currently, banksimple.com redirects to the old .net version.

Screenshots

1. Safe-to-spend balance appears to incorporate future scheduled payments and displays goals to help users keep the bigger picture in mind, rather than spending the $1,208 on drinks and dinner out.

2. The bank's customer service focus illustrated in chat screen with co-founder Alex Payne. On the right you can get a glimpse of the transaction flow.

3. My favorite screenshot. It indicates the bank will use out-of-band authentication, a must-have these days. It also demonstrates that BankSimple is really thinking through the UI. Instead of tiny little digits requiring reading glasses, the bank provides the 5-digit code in big, bold numbers. They are also rendered in an attractive flipboard style.

---------------------

Note: HT to Keith Caswell @kthcswll for the tip.

I have been using my new PNC Virtual Wallet account for a week now (previous coverage of the application process). The account takes a novel approach to core online banking and money management. Honestly, the user experience is so different, I’m still digesting it.

I think I love it, but I want to make sure it’s not just the novelty I’m attracted to. And that it really makes sense for users to interact with their bank accounts this way. I cover the PFM/OFM features in the most recent Online Banking Report and will publish a complete analysis in the future. But <spoiler alert>, I’ll reveal the account’s secret now.

Calendar view.

PNC did not invent the calendar approach to tracking finances. Most of the OFM/PFMs and online banking platforms we’ve had on stage in Finovate during the past three years, eg. Mint, Fiserv, Metavante, Intuit and others, have it. 

But Virtual Wallet (VW) defaults to calendar view. And they don’t let you change that. If you are a VW user, you will be managing your finances in calendar-flow mode. The designers took a risk here, but I think it pays off. They are targeting younger users, who have not grown up viewing reverse-chronological transaction lists, so why not train them from the get-go in how to manage the past, present, and future on a single page.

The first time you log in, the software asks when you get paid so it can add those happy events to your cash-flow calendar. Then as soon as you start making transactions they show up on the calendar along with your current balance in a blue bar at the top of each date (see screenshot below). Also, future events such as bill payments, are shown on the appropriate day to keep you from overdrawing your account.

It’s a good way to see what’s happening. But it also seems like a little more work. Like I said, I’m still evaluating the user experience tradeoffs here.

The Pig
As much as I enjoy exploring the big-picture ramifications of this new user experience, the real reason I finally opened a VW account is for the pig. Maybe it’s the Iowa boy in me, but I’m a sucker for pigs.

VW has a cute feature, admittedly aimed at somewhat younger customer than your typical banking industry analyst, that allows you to make a checking-to-savings transfer by punching the pig graphic at the top of the screen (note 2). And the oinking sound, followed by a the cash register, kaching, punctuates the transfer perfectly.

But it was a little annoying to have to confirm each punch with a popup window asking if I really did want to send $1 to my savings account (see note 1). How about just building an undo button to protect those who get a little carried away clicking that little oinker (see the pig in the upper right in screenshot).  

Notes: 
1. Users can change the default transfer amount so that punches are equal to more than $1. 
2. Users can customize the look and sounds their pig makes. I switched mine to an orange flame motif, which I’m not sure my farming ancestors would approve of.
3. We awarded PNC’s Virtual Wallet with an OBR Best of the Web in our recap of the most important innovations of 2008 (OBR here).
4. For more on adding appropriate online financial management (OFM) features to your online banking offering, see our latest OBR published just yesterday: Online Financial Management 3.0.

There's a new "banking entity" in formation, Brooklyn, NY-based Bank Simple operating (temporarily I assume) at the .net version of its name <banksimple.net>. I chatted with the founders, Josh Reich and Shamir Karkal earlier this year and am anxiously awaiting more info on the launch.

From reading its trademark application, website, and blog, I have a feeling Bank Simple will launch as a banking front-end (eg. Mint, Obopay), and not as an actual bank. Given the market's (and Washington's) appetite for startup banks right now, they may have little choice. But who knows where they go from there. It sounds like they want tight control over the user experience, so they may eventually need to be a bank.

But from their FAQs and a few tidbits found through deep Googling, it sounds like Bank Simple will be much more than web-based software. Initially, it is launching a card-based service with combined debit/credit and rewards built in (de-coupled debit again?). Here's what they say in the About section:

We will launch later this year with a simple card with in built checking, savings, rewards and a line of credit. As we add more competitive banking services, you can personalize your features as your needs change.

Bank Simple talks about customer service (answering the phone), taking deposits by mail (and this is a rumor, by mobile remote deposit) and other traditional banking activities. So that is much more than an online PFM (can we agree to call that OFM?).

They made the tech press this week when they added a new co-founder, Alex Payne, one of early engineers at Twitter. So expect streaming information, ala Blippy and Swipely, and social networking to be a crucial part of the mix.

The startup is looking for summer marketing interns, but there are no permanent jobs posted, another reason to believe they will not be operating a full-blown bank in the near term.

It sounds like a good plan. Marry the utility of PayPal with user experience of ING Direct. Throw in a little Mint-like design and some Twitter hype, and it's a VC's dream. 

Bank Simple's pre-launch placeholder homepage (18 May 2010)
Note: Site is in closed beta, request an invitation through the "join" button

Note: In Online Banking Report, we have written about creating a virtual bank, sans the charter, several times in the past 15 years. The most recent full report was in Oct. 2000, Creating the Amazon.com of Financial Services. But we updated the tables (now called Creating the Facebook of Financial Services) last year in our 2010 Planning Guide.

Although U.S. Bank has long held a state-of-the-art online banking design, its homepage and public website haven't kept up with modern standards. From the looks of the preview unveiled earlier this week, that will change when the bank rolls out on Friday a major site redesign.

The bank is wisely inviting online banking customers to take an advance peek at the new site. I learned about it Monday via a splash screen after logging in to online banking (see first screenshot below). The preview is also featured in the upper-left of the current homepage (see second screenshot below).

U.S. Bank is one of the last big banks still using a homepage dominated by a list of products and services. Presumably, the bank will move to flyout menus on the tabs across the top of the page (see third screenshot). Another expected improvement: liquid display.  

For existing online banking customers, the biggest change is the repositioning of the login box from the middle-right to the upper-left, the industry standard.

Lessons: It's important to give online customers advance notice of login changes so they  don't think they've arrived at a fake site. In fact, I think U.S. Bank should have gone further and simply included the preview in the splash page so everyone was forced to see it. Or at least the bank should have a prominent link to the preview within online banking. As it stands now, once you skip past the splash screen, there is no way back to look at the redesign (other than going to the homepage).    

Login interstitial ad announcing the coming redesign (12 April 2010)

Before: current site
Notes:
1. Upper-left announcement of coming site redesign, with link to preview shown above
2. Login box placed in non-standard location mid-page on the right

After: Preview of new site design coming April 16 (link)

Every year at this time, I poke around the financial Web looking for holiday themes. While Mercantile Bank of Michigan hasn't posted a virtual Santa snow globe, it's done something more useful: posted holiday hours on the top of its homepage. The bank should also note its telephone and online support hours, if different. 

Mercantile Bank of Michigan homepage (22 Dec. 2009, 2 PM Pacific)

These days, most major banks and credit unions do a pretty good job of exposing their various products and services to website visitors. But when it comes to actually moving visitors through the sales process, it's a mixed bag. The best have account selection tools, online applications (see note 1), readily available help, good benefits-oriented copy, and so on.

But you still won't mistake banking sites for a retailer. Most banks still assume that visitors are already familiar with their brand and are predisposed to buy. While that thinking works fine with walk-in traffic to bank branches, on the Web it's a different environment, with near-infinite choice.

You need to quickly impress visitors, then provide incentives to get them to take action. I always go back to the AIDA framework from Marketing 101: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Many financial sites are effective only for consumers already ready to take action. They are missing crucial financial AID (sorry for the weak effort at banking humor).

HSBC diverts customers to a lower-cost checking account
However, there are many exceptions. For example, HSBC's U.S. website. The site really sells. There are dozens of little things they do right, and a few that could be improved, but here's something I've not seen before.

When looking at checking account options, I clicked on the Basic Banking package. Instead of telling me about the account, I was greeted with a popup, on top of the grayed-out screen, explaining how I could save the $3 per month charge by choosing Choice Checking (see screenshots below).

I never thought I'd see a major bank, or large retailer for that matter, trying to push me into a lower-cost option (see caveat below). But it makes a ton of sense. HSBC knows that most website visitors are expecting a no-monthly-fee checking account. So why not direct them that way instead of just hoping they find it before heading off to ING Direct or other online options?

But I wonder how many visitors are happy with this recommendation? Choice Checking is only conditionally free (which is disclosed in the popup). The account has a direct-deposit or minimum balance requirement to avoid the $8 monthly fee. Customers unable to muster those hurdles would be better off with the account they were originally looking at, Basic Checking. And, many visitors, especially outside the branch footprint (note 2), might prefer the Online Payments Account from HSBC Direct.  

Only HSBC knows whether the end results are positive, but it's a great marketing technique regardless. 

HSBC Basic Banking landing page (8 Dec. 2009)

Landing page for "lower cost" option
Note: It's only free if you have direct deposit or maintain a $1500 combined balance (highlights below are mine).

Notes:
1. For more information on the online sales process, see Online Banking Report: Online Account Opening.
2. We have several HSBC branches in the Seattle area, so the results of this cross-sales experience could have been different if I'd been searching from a different IP address. It's possible they had a cookie on me from present visits as well.

I finally finished our latest report on small business online banking last night. Just as I was about to upload it, I realized there was something missing in the "dream online banking solution" for small businesses.

So I stopped the "presses" and added it to the report. What was the missing piece? A financial and business management dashboard integrated with online banking.

I poked around the web today and found a few interesting products (see update below), none of which were quite what I was looking for, and had no direct connection to financial institutions:

• MyBizHomepage has a dashboard that integrates with QuickBooks and sounds pretty slick. But there website hasn't been updated for more than a year, so not sure if this is a viable business or just a hobby site. I have an inquiry in to the owner.
• DreamFactory Software also offers QuickBooks-integrated dashboards. I found it in the new Intuit App Center for QuickBooks add-ins (here). It's a powerful program, but not the kind of plug-and-play dashboard I'm looking for.
• iDashboards: Has impressive sample dashboards to view. None integrate directly with online banking, but many include financial data (see screenshot below).

So I'm still looking for financial institution examples. Know any? Comment below or email me. It's too late to make our report, but we'll report it here.

iDashboards mockup of a healthcare "billing scorecard" (link, 28 Oct 2009)

Update (29 Oct 2009):

Here's another QuickBooks dashboard from QuickGauge.com:

Isn't business banking supposed to be all about the people? Then why don't financial institutions use their websites to publicize their business banking talent? None of the several dozen business banking sites I recently reviewed allows prospective business clients to connect with an actual human being in advance of calling or emailing a general number for more info.

The only bank I'm aware of that actually puts its business bankers on its website is Cascade Bank headquartered in Everett, WA, a few miles north of Seattle. The bank has posted the following info for years (see screenshot below):

• Headshot
• Name, title, location
• Short mission statement/bio (note 1)
• Phone number and email address

That's a respectable start. But with today's virtually free Web-based tools such as Twitter, blogs, and Linked:In (note 2), every business banker should have their own online presence. Sure, the bank or credit union will need to provide guidance and oversight, but it's not like these sales folks don't know how to put their best foot forward.

Cascade Bank Commercial Banker Directory (link, 20 Oct 2009)

Notes:
1. Unfortunately, the bio area is blank for 3 of the 12 business bankers listed. That looks pretty bad, especially with 2 of the first 3 blank. Come on Lar, Cynthia and Patrick, get those bios over to marketing ASAP.
2. Those Cascade listings would look much more impressive with Linked:in links by each name.

Two days ago (here), I wrote about Citibank's smartphone banking awareness campaign on its homepage. Coincidentally, ABI Research yesterday published a rating of 17 U.S. major retail banks plus a dozen community banks (see note 1) on "discoverability" and "accessibility" of their mobile banking services (press release).

Surprisingly, ABI rated Citibank "average." I'm not sure what Citi did wrong (note 2) to get a "C," but one common technique of all ABI's A-students (see table below), is a "mobile banking" link on the homepage (see screenshots below).

Observations:

• Wells Fargo is the only bank to publicize a short mobile URL, wf.com (see final screenshot)
• USAA is the only one of the six with an iPhone-optimized page rendered for users visiting its regular URL (see note 3) from the iPhone browser; this would be a minimal requirement for an A on our scorecard (if we were to make one)
• Two of the six A-rated banks, BB&T and Northeast Bank, were also rotating a mobile banner ad on the homepage (see screenshots below).

Here are the ABI Research ratings:

The A students (all screenshots from 10 Sep 2009)

BB&T

Eastern Bank

Fifth Third Bank

Northeast Bank

USAA

Wells Fargo

Notes:
1. Another community bank with great mobile awareness is Farmers State Bank (click on inset right for a larger screenshot). Thanks to Laurie Goodlock at the bank for the tip.
2. We've requested the full report.
3. wf.com visitors also see a mobile-optimized site in their iPhone browser
4. Reference: Online Banking Report on Mobile Banking (Feb 2007) and Online Banking Report: Mobile Banking via iPhone (Mar 2009)

Yesterday, Apple announced it has shipped 50 million iPhone/iPod Touches in the past two years. And they are not even the smartphone leader. You can bet that many (most?) new smartphone-owning-online-banking-using customers haven't a clue how to connect to their financial institution through their mobile. And even if they know how, there's still that nagging doubt as to whether it's a safe/smart thing to do.

Therefore, if you want to drive significant mobile usage, there are a number of steps to take (see note 1). But one of the most important is user education, especially through online information, screenshots, and demos. 

Citibank recently elevated general smartphone awareness to its homepage (see first screenshot below). Yesterday, the bank was rotating an "Introducing CitiMobile for Smartphone" banner across the top of the homepage. The banner led to an educational page (see second screenshot, note 2), that led to clear instructions on how to bank via a mobile browser:

• Open browser
• Go to citi.com (note 3)
• Log in using your same online banking credentials

While brevity is admirable, I think customers need a little more info than that. For a non-user, the process sounds almost too good to be true. The bank should elaborate on some key questions such as:

• Is it secure? (see update below)
• What does it cost?
• Does it work on my phone?
• What if I lose my phone?

Luckily, interested users can go to the well-designed demo that takes users through a semi-guided tour of the mobile banking functions. The Flash-based demo is partially interactive, allowing users to click buttons on a smartphone emulator (see third screenshot). After clicking on a new function, the demo takes over, completing the data entry and going forward to the next screen. Check it out here. 

Update (22 Sep 2009): An email from a Citi Mobile employee pointed out that I missed the security and other info in the right-hand column of the landing page below. I apologize for the omission. 

Citibank homepage (9 Sep 09)

Citi Mobile for Smartphones landing page (link)

Citibank mobile demo with interactive emulator

Notes:
1. For more info, see Online Banking Report on Mobile Banking (Feb 2007) and Online Banking Report: Mobile Banking via iPhone (Mar 2009)
2. The bank has separate pages for: Citi Mobile for iPhone and Citi Mobile for Other Models
3. Citi still has some work to do on optimizing the mobile Web experience (see update below). I navigated via my iPhone to its homepage (see inset) which looks terrible: The page is rendered impossibly tiny (requiring finger zooming), and because the two Flash-based animations don't work on iPhones, the top of the page is dominated by two empty boxes.

Update (22 Sep 2009): The site is now rendering perfectly on my iPhone. I see a mobile-optimized site similar to the Citi iPhone app. I'm not sure what was going on Sep 10 when I took this screenshot. It's possible I got the wrong page by navigating to Citi through the Google app. 

Evidently, there is still a disconnect between the print and online advertising groups at major advertisers.

Case in point: American Express kicked off a new campaign (press release) with an impressive full-page ad (p. A9) in Tuesday's WSJ (see inset) and other print media (note 1). It was a timely ad, playing on money fears and overall security concerns. It concluded with the company's new tagline:

Don't Take Chances. Take Charge.

The call-to-action uses a new URL <takecharge.com> that leads to a new microsite (see second screenshot below). Wanting to look at it, I did what I always do, typed "take charge" into Google. Nothing (see first screenshot). I even Binged it. Again, nothing. Searches at Twitter and Facebook also came up empty. Even at American Express's own website, site-search results do not include the microsite (note 2).

It's hard to understand why AmEx would spend millions on a new campaign and microsite without Google AdWords support to help people find it, at least until the microsite starts appearing on the first page of search results (note 3).

But after looking at the Take Charge microsite, I can see why the company might not be ready to direct search traffic there. The site is a good example of what NOT to do. The Flash-based site is slow-loading (note 4) and sparsely filled with ten testimonial videos (notes 5, 6), a list of seven benefits for using a charge card, and a couple links out to the main AmEx site.

So far, the microsite looks like a pure branding play. There's little there that would motivate someone to apply for a card on the spot. But with millions being spent on other media using that URL, it seems like a wasted opportunity, so far. It will be interesting to watch it evolve.

Google search results for "take charge" (9:30 AM Pacific, 1 Sep 2009 from Seattle IP address)

AmEx Take Charge microsite (1 Sep 2009)

Notes:
1. Here's the initial media buy according to the company's press release:

The marketing campaign launches (Sep. 1) with print advertisements in national newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today. On September 2, print advertisements will run in major regional newspapers, including Boston Globe, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. Television advertising will begin to air on major broadcast and cable stations such as CBS, FOX, NBC, TNT, A&E and the Discovery Channel breaking during the U.S. Open on September 5.

2. The search results do provide relevant links, just not to the microsite.
3. I haven't tested it on other computers, but AmEx's TakeCharge.com site just about brings my 3-year-old Thinkpad to a grinding halt. It's not a good first impression. The company either needs more server bandwidth or a less demanding page, or preferably both. There should also be a link to a lower-bandwidth version.
4. Currently, the AmEx site does not come up within the first 10 pages. There's also a remote possibility that Google won't let AmEx use "take charge" in search ads due to the similar-sounding TakeCharge Financial. But I have to think AmEx lawyers have worked through that issue already. 
5. There are small "apply now" links displayed at the end of each video.
6. Once it loads, the site is visually interesting (see screenshot above).

Too often we don't give online business banking the coverage it deserves, both here and in Online Banking Report (note 1). Online services can be far more valuable for a business customer than for the average consumer. But consumer services, with bigger advertising budgets and much more press coverage, tend to be more visible when we search for examples of financial innovations.  

That's why I was especially intrigued with the PNC Bank ad in the Aug/Sep issue of BusinessWeek SmallBiz magazine. Not only had PNC Bank shelled out for a full-page ad (p. 20, see inset; note 2), the creative was interesting and included a tease for the CFO product combined with easy-to-recall URL <pnc.com/cfo>.  

The new account, cleverly dubbed PNC|CFO, an acronym for Cash Flow Options, covers all the major headaches of business owners:

• Accelerate accounts receivable
• Improve your outgoing payments
• Invest your cash wisely
• Access information online
• Ensure access to cash (note 3)

Analysis
Naturally, I was most interested in the second-to-last bullet, online information. The audio-visual online banking demo is thorough, but surprisingly neglects mobile banking services. The only mention of mobile banking is at the end of the last paragraph on the online banking landing page. With business owners increasingly tethered to their businesses via Blackberry or iPhone, mobile capabilities should be front-and-center. 

The other thing missing from the web-based marketing: a human connection. The main call-to-action is the big orange Contact Request button (see screenshot below). Presumably a biz banker will quickly get on the horn and make that connection. However, the bank should make it clear that they have a bevy of qualified bankers available to usher new clients into the CFO account.

Simply changing the button to Contact a Business Banker would be an improvement. But I'd also like to see a bullet point that talks about customer  service. The only thing I saw was a few generic screenshots in the online demo which talked about responding to most questions "within 24 hours." That doesn't make the reader feel particularly special.

Finally, a small rant about the bank's contact form. I received error messages the first three times I attempted to submit it. Evidently, commas are not allowed in the company name or address fields. That not good programming and creates a needless poor first impression. There's is also no space in the form for comments from prospective customers. PNC Bank has been on the web for 14 years, it should have flawless forms (note 4).

Grade: Overall, I really like what PNC is doing so I'll give the marketing site an A for design and B- for execution.

Landing page for PNC's Cash Flow Options service (link, 19 Aug 2009)

PNC new account "contact me" form with error message

Notes:
1. Our last report on Online Small Business Banking is available here (June 2004).
2. Key Bank (p. 9) and Bank of America (p. 29) also bought full pagers.
3. The bank is referring to credit lines and loans; I'm not sure why they didn't state that more clearly. Access to cash sounds more like a checking account feature.
4. While I'm at it, here are a few more minor flaws: (a) Even though I made two errors in the form, the error message only identified the first one; (b) When an error is made, the form automatically clears the checks in the bottom column of boxes; (c) The bank has neglected to turn off auto-fill (at least in Firefox 3.0) in the "confirm your email" field. 

ING Direct's (USA) paperless-checking account, Electric Orange, will get a new bill-pay user interface over the weekend (see first screenshot). The direct banking giant has also jazzed up the logo (inset) for its online checking option introduced in early 2007 (previous post).

The new GUI attempts to make bill payment more understandable. With paper and electronic delivery to merchants, person-to-person payments (also paper or electronic), and expedited payments thrown in the mix, it was hard for users to know exactly which option to select (see second screenshot for old user interface). 

ING Direct has reorganized payments into four functions and clearly identified the free (#1-3) vs. fee (#4):

1. Bill pay (paying merchants)
2. Person2Person (sending to an individual's bank account)
3. Send a paper check
4. Overnight a check (for $20)

The company is also adding the following features (see third screenshot):

• Electronic bill statements (ebills)
• Email due-date reminders
• New sorting options
• Expanded recurring payment options
• Simplified navigation
• Clearly shows estimated payment arrival date

Customers have been notified through two emails that various aspects of bill pay will not be functioning beginning over the three-day weekend as the system is converted. 

Analysis: Overall, it's a significant improvement, but there are still confusing aspects for novice users. For example, how do I decide between Person2Person and Send a Check? (see note 1) Why should I pay $20 for overnight, when the same delivery terms seem to be available in free bill pay? I'll withhold final judgment until I have a chance to use it next week.  

1. New bill-pay interface (link, begins 25 July 2009)

2. Previous user interface (22 July 2009)

3. Landing page describing the changes (link, 23 July 2009)

Notes:
1. Answer: You have to have the person's bank account info to use the P2P option.
2. For more on bill payment, see our Online Banking Report on Epayments (also part 1) (published in 2005) and the Online Banking Report 2009 through 2018 Forecast (published Jan 2009). 

One problem with most websites, as compared to the offline world, is that they are relatively static experiences. Unless you are already familiar with the brand, you don't know if you are the first visitor this year or if 10,000 others are banging away on the servers right now. There's no online equivalent to the "line out the door" that signals you arrived at a popular restaurant or night club.  

That's why I like online tickers that show user activity. In financial services, the best example, active for many years, is Progressive Insurance's scrolling window of rate quotes (see inset). Geezeo, Zillow and ING Direct (see note 1) have also used the technique (see previous post).

And just this month, two financial providers added similar tickers to their homepages:

• BillShrink: The personal finance tool, and FinovateStartup 2009 Best of Show winner, shows potential savings in its "live feed" in the middle of its home page (screenshot below).
• MoneyAisle: The online deposit auction site, and Finovate 2008 Best of Show winner, scrolls auction results with a 15-minute delay (screenshot below, see note 2)

Both newcomers have neglected to "time stamp" the activity to demonstrate how recent it was. That's an important aspect for credibility.

BillShrink homepage with Live Feed (16 July 2009)

 MoneyAisle's Live Ticker was recently added to its homepage
(16 July 2009)

Progressive's Rate Ticker (16 July 2009)

Notes:
1. Behind the login screen, ING Direct used to have a counter showing the total amount of interest paid to depositors. But it was discontinued last year at about the $9 billion mark. 
2. Industry participants can purchase MoneyAisle's real-time deposit pricing data stream for $1,500/year (here).

Business runs in cycles and right now many of the large financial brand names are a bit tarnished. Over the next few years, we'll likely see community banks and credit unions turn up the volume on marketing campaigns emphasizing their low-key, low-risk community-based services.

We ran across this good example two weeks ago at $930-million (assets) Alpine Bank of Illinois. The bank uses a clever escape theme that should resonate with hard-core computer users and novices alike (see screenshot 1 below). The eye-catching banner sequence (see screenshot 1a) asks a serious of three questions, then culminates in an escape key (ESC) inviting users to click to a landing page with more info.  

Then on the landing page, the "Esc key" in the lower right (screenshot 2), takes users to an online Contact Me form (screenshot 3) that includes simple contact info to be used for a followup call or email (customer's choice). This is a nice high-touch alternative to regular online app, that can take 7 to 10 minutes to complete and are abandoned at alarmingly high rates (see note 1).  

Analysis: Overall, the campaign is clever and well presented (note 2). But the bank could make several landing-page changes (screenshot 2) to improve conversion rates: 

• Increase the visibility of the $25 account-opening bonus. It's currently buried in the first paragraph. I didn't even notice it until the third time we looked at the page (note 3).
• The account opening link on the landing page should be enhanced with one or more brightly colored Open Now button.
• While the "escape key" is clever, users may not realize that's how they are supposed to request more info. The bank should add a More Info button and/or add "more info" to the Esc key graphic.
• On the Contact Me form, their should be an Open Now button for users who decide they are ready to open immediately.

For more info on improving your online account opening results, see our latest Online Banking Report: Opening Accounts Online, published last week.

1. Homepage (16 June 2009)

1a. Homepage banner ads (they cycle through in this order)

2. Landing page (from homepage banner; link)

3. Contact Me form (link)

Notes:
1. For more info, see Online Banking Report: Opening Accounts Online, published last week.
2. One small nitpick on the design: The banner ads should only cycle one or two times per visit. There's no need to keep cycling the banner ads over and over, it's annoying for someone trying to find something on the homepage.
3. The $25 bonus does have a small banner on the homepage, lower right. But visitors attracted to the large escape banner could easily miss it.

There's been substantial progress made in website design by banks. Sure, there's still the occasional clunker, but most we look at today (see note 1) rate solid grades in the B+ to A- range. That's up from many Cs and Ds at the turn of the century.

However, as good as banking websites have become, they still tend to be relatively busy, making visitors spend more time than necessary finding their way through the site (note 2). It's rare to find a financial institution that dares to follow Google's "less-is-more" approach.

The lone major bank in the U.S. with a 25-word or less homepage is ING Direct, which like Google, has maintained the same look and feel since launch (see screenshots below, today and eight years ago). NextCard (prior coverage) also did less is more, but in its case, that mantra unfortunately was also embraced by its underwriting department, and the company failed in 2002.

But now we have another example: Progress Bank (note 3). While the depth of its online capabilities could be improved (how about online account opening?), the homepage is brilliant (screenshot below).

The Florida-based community bank uses just 26 words to describe its five major areas AND pitch a high-yield checking account. Each major area: online banking login, personal banking, business banking, and About Us, has its own circle. And as you mouse over each one, the image in the center circle changes. It's quite striking.

In addition, the brightly colored circle in the lower left contains a pitch for the bank's featured product, its green 5% APR checking account (note 5).

Bottom line: I love the look, although I hope they did some A-B testing before springing it on users. It's a great branding statement, but it is also so different, there's a risk that customers might not perceive the bank to be as trustworthy as one with a more traditional layout.

Progress Bank homepage (11 May 2009)

ING Direct homepage (12 May 2009)

ING Direct homepage (2001)

NextCard homepage (2001)

Notes:
1. Online Banking Report All-Access subscribers are entitled to a complimentary high-level website review. Please email our website analyst to schedule a  review.
2. The exception is online banking login visibility, which is very good. Most financial institutions follow the industry standard of displaying a prominent login area in the upper left or right.
3. Credit Jeffry Pilcher at The Financial Brand for the find.
4. For more info, see our Online Banking Report on Website Usability.
5. Unfortunately, the ingenuity disappears as soon as you click on the offer. The pitch is then delivered via a bloated 2-page brochure in PDF format. And there is no ability to apply or inquire about the account online.

Zions Bank joined the very short list of major financial institutions that bother to alter their homepage during major holidays. ING Direct usually posts timely messages on its otherwise spartan homepage, most recently on Halloween (see also last 4th of July, last Christmas).

While the launch of a mobile-optimized version of your online banking site is no longer news on the national level, it's still important for your customers. And the launch will generate many questions starting with "How much" then, "Is it secure" followed by, "How tricky is it to use."

That's why I love Central Florida Educators' Federal Credit Union's landing page for its new mobile service (thanks to Brandon McGee for the link, see note 1). The CU makes it easy for users to get questions answered with three choices:

• Video tour for the YouTube crowd, those willing to sit still for a few minutes while it downloads and plays
• Live demo, where the DIY/ADD crowd can get right at it, plugging their username/password into the emulator and accessing their own account data
• FAQs where the "manual readers" of the world can check out all the do's and don'ts before trying it

The CU makes it clear the offering is FREE but overlooks a key member concern: security. It is question number three of the mobile FAQ, but for those of us who don't read manuals, a graphical security icon or link would be a good addition to the page.

Note:
1. CFE's mobile service is available at <mobile.mycfe.com>.

With consumer confidence diving, the banking industry reeling, and even Starbucks closing 600 stores, what we need is a national holiday! Well, happy Fourth of July to U.S. readers, and happy Friday to everyone else.

What are the big banks doing to celebrate the holiday online? Not much it seems. We are 25 hours away from the birthday, and of the 30 largest banks, only ING Direct and WaMu (in the Seattle area at least) are showing the red, white and blue.

Anyone else know of a financial institution with an Independence Day theme on its homepage? Drop it in the comments. Enjoy!

ING Direct's homepage features a fireworks animation (2 July 2008)

WaMu trumpets its July 4 Seattle fireworks sponsorship (2 July 2008)

Salt Lake City's Beehive Credit Union is launching eight microsites, one for each of its eight branches. The sites are based on a blogging template and are nearly identical.

As you can see in the screenshot below, the only differences are:

• Branch name and photo across the top
• Branch name inserted into various headlines and copy throughout the site
• Contact Us page lists only the specific branch

URLs are based on the main site, with the branch/city name in place of the "www":

• Murray >>> murray.beehivecredit.com
• Parley’s Way >>> parleysway.beehivecredit.com
• Provo >>> provo.beehivecredit.com
• Salt Lake City >>> saltlakecity.beehivecredit.com
• Sandy >>> sandy.beehivecredit.com
• South Jordan >>> southjordan.beehivecredit.com
• St. George >>> stgeorge.beehivecredit.com
• Taylorsville >>> taylorsville.beehivecredit.com

What it means
The Beehive sites illustrate two trends: 

• Developing a full Web presence from a blogging template
• Creating custom websites for geographic areas or individual branches

While I like what Beehive is doing, I hope they take it to the next level and create a more customized experience by letting branch employees add content themselves or at least control some aspects of the microsites.

The CU is working with Listpipe for content creation. Thanks to Jeffry Pilcher for the find.

Beehive South Jordon site (1 July 2008)

Beehive Taylorsville site (1 July 2008)

Every time I visit Quicken Loans, I find something else to like about this lender's online efforts (previous coverage here). Here's the two latest from today's homepage:

• News flash on homepage announcing today's rate action at the Fed, complete with brief mortgage sales pitch (middle of page). This screenshot was taken at 3:30 PM Pacific Standard Time, about four hours after the Fed decision was announced.
• Call center wait times posted. Each time I've checked (today and last week), it said "Wait time is less than 10 seconds." (upper right corner ... see also closeup below). The 800-number is part of the header across every page.

Close up of call center area in upper right:

You don't have to be Google, NBC or Steve Jobs's cousin to get your logo placed on one of the most coveted pieces of real estate on the planet, the main screen of Apple's iPhone. Now anyone can do it for about the cost of phone service for a month. 

When we first wrote about the iPhone a year ago (here), we created a fake picture of it with a Wells Fargo logo superimposed on the main screen (see inset). At that time, we would never have guessed that a year later Apple would enable any website to create an iPhone main screen icon by simply dropping a line of code into their website. 

It's as simple as creating favicons, those little symbols that appear next to your URL in the browser address bar. Here's a simple 25-word explanation of how to do it. For more info, consult the Apple iPhone Dev Center here.

Once you have the code installed, users with updated iPhone software will be able to install your icon by navigating to your page, clicking on the plus button at the bottom of the screen, and selecting "Add to Home Screen."

In our annual Christmas/New Years survey of bank websites (note 1), we once again find little use of holiday themes, especially among the very largest. Scrooge would be pleased with the homepages of the top four: Citi, BofA, Wachovia, and Chase which have no holiday images or messages.

Wells Fargo is the only top-5 bank with a holiday message. The bank wishes its customers Happy Holidays (see below) in a top-of-the-page banner rotating with two other messages: a savings promotion that also uses holiday imagery (below) and an investments banner (not shown). 

However, this year there is one top-20 bank fully embracing the holiday spirit. ING Direct homepage (screenshot above, download flash in note 2, below) features a full-screen animation that first strings Happy Holidays across the page followed by the ING Direct orange ball rolling across the screen, bumping into the tree trunk, and dumping a load of snow on top. It's very well done.   

Also, honorable mentions to:

• Fifth Third and its $10,000 holiday sweeps
• Regions Bank, which is running a Toys for Tots banner across the top
• PNC with its annual tongue-in-cheek Christmas Price Index

Additionally, WaMu and Key Bank use winter imagery. And HSBC, US Bank, SunTrust, BB&T and Citizens are all running small banners for prepaid gift cards.

Wells Fargo

Fifth Third

Regions

PNC                                                              WaMu

Key Bank

HSBC                          SunTrust            US Bank

Citizens Bank

BB&T

Note:

1. Websites observed at 9 AM Pacific Time, Dec. 24, from a Seattle IP address.

2. View the ING Direct holiday animation (here)

Finally, we have someone using a blog to have a little fun (note 1). Carolina Postal Credit Union's blog, I Love My Hoopty, is using humor and user-generated content to drum up car loan business. Through its website and blog, the CU asks users to write about and post pictures of their first cars, and the more rickety the better. I wasn't familiar with the term, but apparently in this context "hoopty" means an old rickety car. 

The hoopty theme is also used on the CU's homepage to promote vehicle loans (see second screenshot below). 

Analysis
Since I'm twice the age of the target market here, it doesn't matter that the blog's content doesn't resonate with me. I LOVE the creativity and I'll bet the younger, Colbert-Report-watching crowd thinks it's pretty cool that a bank/credit union would do something this irreverent. 

Unfortunately, the follow-through doesn't look nearly as good as the creative. I first noticed this blog a few months ago, and until last week, it hadn't been updated since July. It doesn't really make sense to have a blog that's only updated a few times per year. If the CU doesn't have the resources to add something at least once per month, it should pull the blog down and incorporate the content into its main website.

Also, I question the prominence of the campaign on the CPCU homepage. Is that really the main message you want displayed to your members for several months? Even if does fit the overall brand strategy, the CU should change the banner ad's hyperlink. Currently, it goes to the hoopty blog (after a short detour to acknowledge that they are leaving the CU's website), which is not an effective landing page. The CU should first take users to a dedicated lending page that explains loan options and prices and invites members to apply.

Carolina Postal Credit Union blog (20 Nov 2007) 

CPCU homepage (20 Nov 2007) 

Note:

1. UMB used a similar approach in its My Ugly Room contest a year ago. 

Ever since receiving a private beta-invite a month ago, I've been meaning to run new personal finance site Mint through its paces. Then, after it won Best of Show at TechCrunch40 and our FINOVATE conference, I really wanted to see if the product could possibly live up to the expectations created while watching CEO Aaron Patzer give a demo (see previous coverage here, see note 1 below).  

But it takes time to really analyze a website, and I hadn't got around to it until today, when I was inspired by Ron Lieber and his team at the new Dow Jones/IAC site FiLife (press release here) as they reported on their individual results using the Mint's online personal finance tools (see coverage here).

I will file a series of reports as I use the program over the coming weeks. Today, we begin with the first impressions.

First Impressions
Homepage: One thing you notice when you visit Mint.com is that it looks nothing like a banking site (see first screenshot below). That can be good or bad. It's good because it sets the site apart from a normal financial services site. But that can also be a problem because the first, second, and third things users care about at a new financial site is whether it's secure or not. And a bankish "look and feel" can increase consumer trust.

But Mint does an admirable job walking the fine line of creating an engaging look while still reassuring visitors that it fiercely protects their data and privacy. The three large benefit statements in the middle create interest in the product, while the bank logos and the TRUSTe at the bottom provide visual clues that Mint is a serious player.

And the graphic design, leveraging the clever "Mint" name, combined with the light green color scheme, create an inviting site that should do well converting lookers into registered users (active users is another matter, more on that later).

Copy is concise, just 60 words above the fold (see note 2), and completely benefit oriented. Learn more button allows users to drill deeper, and you can't miss the call to action, Sign Up Now in the middle of the page.

Features page: Navigating to the feature page is simple, either click on the "Learn More" blue button in the middle of the page or use the "Features" tab at the top. The page does a great job laying out the key benefits with good use of headers and concise, bulleted lists supplemented with clear, attractive screen-captures of key points (see second screenshot below). Also note the prominent placement of big-name financial brands, Chase, Discover, and E*Trade, to increase trust.  

While the page does a good job highlighting features, it doesn't provide any interactive way of learning about the tool before signing up. Video and audio help goes a long way in demonstrating the features (see Jwaala/Amplify CU Money Tracker video here).

Mint.edu: A nice touch. Instead of calling it "education" or "blog" or something else no one would ever click on, Mint uses the clever Mint.edu (see third screenshot below). That's a URL that will resonate with its younger members and anyone familiar with higher education domain names. And once at the .edu site, engaging blog entries allow users to dig deeper into what is going on with the company and read about personal finance topics in general. RSS and email subscription options are clearly presented in the right-hand column.

Grade: A+

Mint Homepage (19 Oct 2007)

Mint Features page (also accessible via "Learn More" button on homepage)

Mint.edu page (19 Oct 2007)

Notes:

1. The video of Aaron Patzer's FINOVATE demo will be online within the next week at FINOVATE.com. In the meantime, you can see him on the Channel 5 SF news here.

2. Red line in screenshots 1 and 2 indicates the bottom of the screen using 1024 x 768 display on 13.3-inch laptop screen.

Is there anyone left in America that doesn't have an account at Bank of America? Probably a few, maybe even some of our readers. But if you haven't logged into your account lately, you might have missed the subtle "green marketing" the bank is using to encourage customers to go paperless.

In the screenshot below and closeup above, you can see the little green leaf next to the words "Go Paperless." It's subtle, as good green marketing should be. The leaf not only makes the link stand out, it provides a small reminder that customers can do a little something for the environment, and the bank's bottom line, while they are online.  

Also of interest (by the second arrow), since I only have a credit card, is link cross selling a free "MyAccess Checking Account." 

BofA "account overview" page (23 Aug 2007, Washington state credit-card-only customer)

Finally, the bank doesn't ignore the important logout page, a often-forgotten piece of real estate that can be far more effective than a homepage banner ad. This month, the bank is promoting it's No Fee Mortgage Plus.

BofA logout page (23 Aug 2007, Washington state credit-card-only customer)

PayPal is offering visitors the option of using a newly designed homepage, calling it a beta version. A small link notched into the top of the screen handily allows users to switch back to the original look.

The design change was needed. PayPal's homepage, which had been so good I often used it as an example of how to focus on user needs, became cluttered over the years. The company now uses "personal" and "business" tabs, a common banking convention that allows the very different constituencies to more easily find what they need. 

The new homepage (below) is dominated by a safety theme, with a large blurred image of a credit card number meant to reinforce its point of being a "safer, easier way to pay without exposing your credit card number." It's a good idea, but the huge blurred image makes me feel like I'm having eye trouble. 

PayPal has also pulled the credit card logos out of the main graphic and put them on their own line. They are easier to see now and will help new users understand they can use PayPal with their existing payment cards.

They also made two subtle changes in the login area:

• Changed the wording from "member login" to "account login," a more accepted phrase. Most people don't really feel a membership bond from their payment device, and it probably confused a few infrequent users.
• Added "PayPal" in front of "password," again to make it more obvious to novice users as to what to enter here.

Finally, PayPal finally added a search box (top right), ending its reign as one of the last major holdouts for this common website utility.

Overall, it's a great improvement. And should help with navigation, sales, and support. Given its position as one of the busiest financial destinations on the Internet, we recommend taking a look and comparing it to your own website design. 

For more info on financial institution homepage design, see our Online Banking Report on the subject here.

New PayPal homepage (beta)

Current PayPal homepage

Last week, we published an article about how a bank could leverage all the hoopla surrounding Apple's iPhone (here). Surprisingly, Steve Jobs made that job much easier this week, when he told the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference that standard website coding that works on its Safari browser will work on the iPhone out of the box. No special development tools are necessary.

However, at this time Apple is NOT allowing programmers to develop applications that run directly on the iPhone without launching the browser. Every application must run through Safari.* Here's a post from Salon discusses the pros and cons. All-in-all, good news for financial institutions wanting iPhone compatible offerings.  

So go ahead and start building your Safari-optimized 336 x 168 by webpage. Make sure you drop a few nifty icons on the page so Mac users feel at home (see inset). Extra credit if you launch the page on 5:59 PM EDT June 29, 1 minute before the iPhone goes on sale on the East Coast.

----

*And to make life a bit easier, Apple will produce a Windows version of Safari.

P.S. For those of you who want to understand the broader mobile banking trend and how the iPhone fits into it, check out the new mobile banking report from Online Banking Report.

Everbank customers received snail mail today (see inset) announcing a newly designed website and multi-factor login procedure that debuts May 20. The company also changed its corporate "look," adopting a sage green and slate blue that looks modern, but more serious than the lime-green and orange Web 2.0 pallet.

While we'll miss the old look, which featured our Online Banking Report Best of the Web logo in two places (see screenshot below), it was time to move forward. The old look not only was a bit dated, but also too cluttered.

The new design can be previewed now via a well-done, though slightly too long, video at <everbank.com/preview>. The key functional change in the new design is the move from a product-oriented main navigation to a more take-oriented approach. The five main navigation choices in the top bar are:

• Products
• Research & Planning
• Customer Service
• About Us
• Contact Us

Secondary navigation is provided by tabs in the middle of the page.

From a marketing perspective, the homepage now features a single product in a highly visible spot. The upper graphic stands out well with the sweeping lower border (reminiscent of the famous Nike swoosh), while the three lower "banner ads" have been eliminated. The overall effect is a much more focused homepage which should drive more applicants to the core offer, which in the preview is the bank's 6.01% FreeNet checking 

A few other details Everbank cleaned up with the new design:

• Single sign-on button instead of choice of four
• Site-search box, instead of a link to the search function
• Exposure to more rates across more products
• Site map added in to link at bottom of page (not shown below)

One thing that surprised me about the new design was the removal of the toll-free telephone number which is prominently displayed in two spots on the about-to-be-replaced homepage (in the top-right corner and in a bold red font, about halfway down the right side). Perhaps, the bank is attempting to "right-channel" more visitors into the online application. It will be interesting to see if the bank brings the number back after a few months with the new design.

Grade: Overall, it looks like it will be an A or A-, but I will hold off final judgement until it goes live and can be fully evaluated. Maybe it's just me, but I still like the page they used six years ago (see last screenshot). It was short-lived, so it must not have driven enough sales, but it sure was a refreshing look compared to the typical bank website, especially six years ago. For more info, see our Online Banking Report on homepage design here and previous coverage of the topic here.  

New Everbank homepage design

Previous design

Everbank circa 2001 (April)

Snail mail brochure (inside)

With the majority of U.S. banking customers accessing the Internet via broadband, there is no longer any reason to restrict content to simple HTML. The success of YouTube and other video sites shows that consumers are more than willing to watch online video under the right circumstances.

Here are three ways to use video in your online marketing:

1. Viral marketing: Financial institutions are unlikely candidates to make a great impression on YouTube. More likely, any video involving a bank that happens to make the most-watched list will be satire. For example, the BofA/MBNA merger cover of U2 was big last year, with more than 500,000 views if you count the parodies of the original (here). But "good" viral marketing can happen. As we reported last week (here), Intuit's winning Tax Rap video has more than a quarter-million views.

2. How-to educational clips and demos: Flash animations and other interactive techniques have long been staples of online demos. Although they can cost a bit more, adding audio and video explanations to a screenshot-based demo can make them more effective. For example, CashAdvance.com does a good job explaining the process of requesting an online advance with the spokesperson at right (see here). CashAdvance provides the ability to "turn the guide off," an important option for those who prefer a quicker trip through the demo.   

3. Video as primary navigation: This is an entirely new use of video we haven't seen much in the financial services area. Instead of burying video and flash deep in "learn more" areas a few clicks off the main drag, companies such as consumer money-transfer specialist iKobo (see screenshot below) have replaced much of the HTML in their websites with audio-visual presentations. It's riskier, but if done right, it can be very effective, especially for more difficult financial information, such as international remittances, the core of iKobo's online money-transfer service.

How to do it right (or not)

The key to good Web-based video is speed. YouTube has forever altered the perception of how long one should wait for on-screen video to play. Even during the middle of the day on a popular clip, the first visual appears in less than a second and about a second later, the video starts; it's basically instantaneous. It's not DVD quality, or even close, but speed is generally far more important that screen resolution or size, especially for a sales pitch or demo. That's why the iKobo site (above) works so well. The mid-page videos usually take no more than a second to begin playing, less time than it would take for a new static HTML page to load.

Compare that experience to the Nationwide Insurance's new RetirAbility Check. The new tool was discussed last week at the Net.Finance conference (see our coverage here and screenshots below) in a joint presentation by Susan McManus, AVP Internet Corporate Marketing, and Eric Cantini from its rich-media vendor, Brulant. 

The tool is well conceived and looks stunning in a Powerpoint demo. And for those willing to commit up to 10 minutes to the process, it should help them learn more about the important topic of retirement planning. Depending on their answers along the way, eight short video clips are selected from a library of 235 and played for the user. Users are matched with an on-screen educator that coincides with their age and gender.  

The video clips are well done with believable dialogue and good acting; however, I found the entire thing a bit too slow and too cumbersome. Had I not been researching for this blog, I don't know if I would have made it all the way through. But the insurance company has added a clever incentive that might have kept me at it. Users receive a "score" at the end of the process designed to show how will prepared you are for retirement. It adds a bit of intrigue to the tool, motivating the highly-competitive American to keep at it to see if he or she is a retirement "winner."

And despite my reservations, it seems to be working. The company said that 68% of users who click START end up completing the tool even though it can take as long as 10 minutes to complete, and rarely less than 5 or 6 minutes. However, during a 6-week period after its 20 Oct 2006 launch (press release here), the company awarded more than $100,000 in prize money, including a $50,000 grand prize, for those completing the tool and entering the sweepstakes (see contest rules here). That has likely goosed the "finishing" number considerably. Currently, the tool is reached via a link on a homepage list (left side), or from the Retirement section. 

Unfortunately, the results of the RetirAbility Check cannot be stored online. Nationwide will email the results, but there is no way to come back later and see how your score has changed. Nor can you go back into the tool and change your answers to do "what-if" calculations on your savings or income. The company says it hopes to upgrade the tool so that it ties directly into a secure area where users can return and see how their score changes over time.

The company might want to consider a low-bandwidth version for those with slow Internet connections and/or short attention spans. I doubt I'm the only one who would prefer to run through the retirement calculator in the more normal 45-second pace and skip the video rah-rah.

Nationwide RetirAbility final results page with score

Advice on improving your score

I've been an Expedia regular for 10 years, so I only check Orbitz on occasion. But I was there today and was impressed with what they are doing in mobile alerts. You'll have to read the next Online Banking Report for all the details (note 1), but I wanted to pass on one idea that could be used by banks and credit unions today.

I call it an alert ticker. What it does it track the number of OrbitzTLC alerts sent to customers (see it in action here). The odometer-like counter rolls over about once per second and currently reads 87,794,309 (see inset). ING Direct has done the same thing for many years with the total interest earned by its savings customers. 

Below the ticker is another feature that financial institutions supporting voice-mail alerts should consider, a quick trial entry form. Users can type in any phone number, landline or mobile, to receive a sample voice message alert (note 2). Those entering a mobile number can also receive a sample text message by checking the lower box (note 3).

Notes:

1. Online Banking Report #140 will be available in early April.

2. They didn't ask for mobile phone carrier, so Orbitz must send a message to all the major carriers, e.g., yourphone#@cingular.com, yourphone#@verizon.net, and so on figuring the right one will get through eventually.

3. It's been three hours and I've received neither a voice message or text message. 

4. Banks should also take a page from Southwest Airline's Ding service (see coverage here and here).

How do you compete with Bank of America, WaMU, and the other majors that saturate the market with fancy branches and large ATM networks backed by nine-figure marketing budgets? Increasingly, financial institutions are taking the battle to the Web, where a community bank or credit union can build an equally impressive website, gain the attention of prospective customers, and tell their story. 

An important part of that story is the rate advantage, especially when major banks continue to pay nearly zero interest on balances under $5,000 in standard checking and savings accounts. But few institutions actually show direct competitive comparisons, and when they do, they are usually buried three or four screens off the homepage.

Not so at Sacramento-based Safe Credit Union <safecu.org>. The 120,000 member CU posts its rates on the upper-right side of its homepage (see screenshot below). And each product includes a one-click rate comparison to the right of the APY (see above right). Users can select rate comparison on a $1, $2000, or $10,000 checking account balance.

Clicking Compare causes the box to expand within the home page to show a numerical and graphical comparison to three key competitors, BofA, WaMU, and Wells Fargo (see lower right).

This is a great way to showcase your rate advantage, while not overly cluttering your homepage. Along with the Progressive Insurance comparison "ticker" (here), this is the one of the best rate comparison tactics we've ever seen.

Deposit rates are provided by Market Rates Insight, a long-time provider of deposit rates to more than 1,000 U.S. financial institutions.

Note: The Safe Credit Union homepage is currently running a clever flash-based promo comparing the toaster you get with "their checking" to the chance you could win a LCD television with a Safe account (screenshot taken, 2 March 2007, 10 AM Pacific).

Branch Banking and Trust (BB&T), <bbt.com> has one of the better-looking bank homepages. Although a bit cluttered for our taste, the colors, fonts, and other design elements are well conceived (see screenshot below). It's certainly far better than the previous version, which was replaced in late 2003.

One area that's a bit unusual is the prominence of the TurboTax cross-promotion. On Saturday, Feb. 24, the BB&T website displayed a prominent start button in the upper-right PLUS a medium-size (250 x 125) banner along the left side (see screenshot below). Update: The TurboTax banner is NOT displayed today; it appears to have been replaced by the bank's $50 bonus for a new checking account. The start button remains.

I'll give BB&T credit for timeliness, but for the few buck-per-return in fees, I'm not sure online tax prep warrants so much attention. It's especially surprising to see a major bank dropping users into a third-party site with no warning message about impending transfer. Also, although TurboTax's co-branded site carries three links back to BB&T, it's primarily Intuit-branded with separate registration and login required (see second screenshot below).

While millions will use Turbotax online during the next seven weeks (see 2005/2006 sales right), there is still an underlying security concern that keeps many users from entering their family's social security numbers and intimate financial details into a website at a software company.

We'd like the co-branded TurboTax site a whole lot better if it was integrated into online banking, especially with an automated data-import function and security assurances.*

If you are thinking about promoting TurboTax this tax season, here are the pros and cons to consider:

Pros:

• Positions your bank and website as useful for everyday financial tasks
• Associates your brand with a powerful, positive personal finance brand which sold more than 12 million copies of TurboTax/TurboTax online last year
• Reminds customers to get started on their taxes; reinforces the role of the financial institution as a consumer advocate
• TurboTax online is an excellent program that simplifies a complex task about as much as possible

Cons:

• Raises security concerns about the submission and storage of ultra-sensitive financial info online
• Could be bank liability if a phishing scheme or website takeover results in exposure of sensitive data
• Generates customer service calls to ask questions about BB&T's involvement or about taxes in general
• Necessitates tech support if customers have questions or problems with TurboTax 
• Competes with other bank promotions for users' attention
• Users may be disappointed to discover they have to undergo a completely separate registration, username, password, and so on at the TurboTax site

What do you think? Do homepage references to other service providers reinforce the bank's brand while providing some fee income, or should financial institutions concentrate on their core services?

BB&T Homepage, 24 Feb. 2007 <bbt.com>

*Interestingly, BB&T is silent on the security issues inherent in the co-branded site. They neither display the typical "you are leaving our site" warning, nor provide any disclaimers about the use of a third-party site.   

As mentioned yesterday (post here), I participated on a panel entitled, Extreme Online Makeovers, at the American Bankers Association National Community Bank Convention in Palm Springs. 

Presenters included:

• Clay Morgan, creative services manager, Digital Insight
• David Rubini, product usability director, Digital Insight
• Richard Carlisle, CIO, Valley National Bank of New Mexico
• The discussion was expertly moderated by the ABA's own Doug Johnson, senior policy analyst, American Bankers Association

I promised attendees a list of the links used in my portion of the presentation. Here they are in order, along with my highly subjective letter grade of their homepage design:

1. Upcoming.org upcoming.org: Web 2.0 design/functionality (A-)
2. Wesabe wesabe.com: Quicken meets Zagat (A-)
3. Billq mybillq.com: Award-winning bill payment tracker (A)
4. Google google.com: Focus on what matters (A++)
5. Bank of America bankofamerica.com: Good design, but too much clutter (A-)
6. Wachovia wachovia.com: Not-so-great design, and even more clutter (C+)
7. ING Direct ingdirect.com: Great design, no clutter (A)
8. U.K. montage: smile.co.uk, egg.co.uk, alliance-leicester.co.uk
9. Prosper prosper.com: Interesting new P2P lender with modern design (A-)
10. E*Trade Bank etradebank.com: Great at selling key products (A)
11. High-yield savings montage: emigrantdirect.com (A), hsbcdirect.com (A), mybankingdirect.com (A)
12. Progressive Insurance progressive.com: Great comparisons to competition using scrolling summary of other users' search results (A-)
13. NextCard: No longer online (A+)
14. PayPal paypal.com: Task management built into the design (A-)
15. Countrywide Financial countrywide.com: Integration with the phone channel (B)
16. Wells Fargo blogs blog.wellsfargo.com: Look especially at the StudentLoanDown (A), which demonstrates how to communicate with a Web-savvy niche audience

Yesterday, I participated on a panel that delivered a program called Extreme Online Makeovers to community bank execs at ABA's National Community Bank Convention in Palm Springs. The star of our panel was Valley National Bank of New Mexico <vnbnm.com> CIO Richard Carlisle.

He described how his 25,000-customer bank took their website from an IT-designed animation-heavy site to a slimmed down, Web 2.0-inspired gem with the help of Digital Insight. See below for before and after screenshots.

The redesigned website, quietly launched online at the first of the year, has already tripled site visits, increased online banking registrations by 20%, and increased average time on the site by 50%. The bank is so happy with the website they intend to feature it in multi-media advertising campaigns later this year.

Before                                                                      After 

Analysis
Here's what we like about the new site:

• Extremely limited use of text on the homepage, about 50 words. That's a few more than Google, but still 75% less than a typical banking homepage.
• Good use of color: The blues are very soothing, and the restrained use of two shades of orange add life to the site while directing attention to the key area for most users, the online banking login.
• Fits easily on a single screen: This is a no-scroll homepage on nearly any computer, and the liquid design means it will shrink or expand to fit most-common monitor sizes and resolution scenarios.  
• Rotating image: Today, the site rotated through four different graphical images, each connected to a different area or bank promotion. And they are not all just "happy family" pics, but make good use of local imagery to showcase its position as the home-town bank (see after screenshot above).
• Large and prominent search box: Although the site-search box is not located in the standard, upper-right corner, its large size and prominent position make it much easier to find for most users.

There is still work to be done (Business Banking, Giving Back and Community Calendar are all under construction), but overall, it's an excellent example of why you should consider making your homepage simpler and more focused. 

Over the years, Chase Bank has made impressive design improvements on its homepage (see note 1). One thing they do better than most is attract the attention of their non-online banking customers.

A large blue square surrounding an orange button beckons users to "Get a User ID" (see inset). It's well positioned in the prime upper-left corner, and it has the ubiquitous "Web 2.0" orange working for it.

Unfortunately, after clicking the button you are transported back in time to a page virtually devoid of color and design (see screenshot below). In addition, the form immediately asks for info that many users may not want to reveal (SSN) or may not have access to at the moment (account number). 

Recommendations

1. Redesign the page to make it more appealing.
2. Add prominent links to customer service for help.
3. Ask only easy questions on the first page: name and email address is enough to 
   engage the applicant and provide enough info for followup if the
   application is abandoned. 

Notes:

1. Here's the homepage today (left) vs. the busy look four years ago (20 Nov. 2002) 

Over at BankWatch (post here), Colin Henderson, who recently stepped down from his exec post at Bank of Montreal, wrote that his old company recently became the first bank to add an important line of code to their websites (see note 1).

The feature is called RSS Auto-Discovery, and it alerts Firefox, Safari, and IE 7.0 users to available feeds by placing an orange RSS feed indicator below the address bar (see IE 7 above) or on the right-hand side of the address bar (see Firefox, first, and Safari address bars below, source Soxiam).  

At Bank of Montreal, the icon shows on most pages, but NOT on the homepage. While Bank of Montreal may have been the first major bank to use RSS Auto Discovery, two Canadian credit unions had already implemented it, including:

• North Shore Credit Union <nscu.com> which has used it for 2 years
• VanCity <vancity.com> which began using it in November (see screenshot below)

Analysis
Financial institutions are encouraged to add this code since there is no major downside (see note 2). However, it should not be the sole method for publicizing feeds. Most consumers have no idea what an RSS feed is, much less that they can add one by clicking on an orange icon by the address bar.

We like how VanCity has added the RSS feed icon to the right-hand navigation and also included an important link to an explanation of what an RSS feed is (see screenshot below).

In comparison, North Shore publicizes its feed only on the rates page. Although, it is certainly prominently displayed there (see screenshot below).

Notes:

1. According to software engineer Peter Freitag (link here), it requires just a single line of code, plus a few attribute tweaks, to add RSS Auto-Discovery to your website.
2. The only downside is a small amount of customer confusion on what the icon means. Banks should address this in its FAQs or Help screens and brief website tech support reps in how to answer customer queries.

Up-to-date website copyright notices are one of those little details that seem hardly worth mentioning. But, like cleaning the branch windows, when left unattended they can create a poor impression over time.   

Most commercial websites carry copyright notices on the bottom of the page with the current year or a range of years listed. It looks sloppy if you don't show the current year, even 2006 is OK for a while. But you certainly don't want to follow the example of Main Street Bank <mstreetbank.com>, which still shows 2004 at the bottom of its homepage (see screenshot below).

And kudos to anyone who's already added 2007. One winner, Wainwright Bank <wainwrightbank.com> already displaying (copyright) "2005 to 2007" on Jan. 2. And not so coincidently, Wainwright has an absolutely gorgeous website, something I don't say very often, especially in the financial services arena (see screenshots below).

I am a sucker for holiday graphics on websites. It doesn't have to be dramatic, a few snowflakes or candy canes in the background is fine. For example, Citibank's e-Savings banner on its homepage today (see inset, click to enlarge). Just like a holiday wreath on the door of the branch, it shows your customers and employees that you have some holiday spirit.

Unlike two years ago (see prior post here), this year many banks and credit unions are running holiday promotions for gift cards and other products (see rundown here) and/or have dropped holiday sprinkles into their websites. The most dramatic is the popup from U.K.'s First Direct <firstdirect.com>. This is over-the-top, but it brings a grin, not a bad thing during the end-of-year rush.

First Direct homepage with popup showing (click to enlarge)

Close-up of popup after choosing "let it snow" option
The loud holiday music that accompanies the snow globe can be turned off with the button in the lower right. Selecting "all snowed out" or "bah humbug!" from the first screen displays a brief "seasons greeting" message before automatically closing the popup.

Many financial institutions sell or auction repossessed vehicles to the public. However, not many use this by-product of installment lending as a prospecting tool on their homepage.

We came across this novel approach at Houston Federal Credit Union <houstonfcu.org> while putting together a presentation titled "Extreme Website Makeovers" for an upcoming American Bankers Associate conference. The first place we looked for inspiration was the client list of Trabian, a talented new website designer concentrating on the credit union market (grab a feed to their outstanding blog, OpenSourceCU here). 

Trabian's client, HFCU, includes a link to its vehicle auctions on the right-side of its homepage (see screenshot below). Clicking on the box takes users to the main auction page where any registered user may bid on the vehicle (in this case, just a single motorcycle was up for auction).   

Analysis
Everyone loves a good deal, and unlike retailers who can drop a loss-leader on their homepage to generate excitement, financial institutions have far fewer options. Vehicle auctions provide an interesting way to encourage members to check back periodically to see if they could get a smoking hot deal on a used sedan, truck, or bass boat.

It's also a good prospecting tool. Nonmembers are allowed to register on the site and bid. This provides the credit union an immediate opportunity to make a sales pitch such as the "Wish your auto loan was at HFCU instead?" in the center of the page.

The email address supplied by the bidder also enables the CU to market to the nonmember in future emails. Finally, anyone who buys the auctioned vehicle is a great candidate for an HFCU loan, which are positioned in the upper-right of the auction page (see screenshot below).

Making it even better
We love the idea, and it works well even in its relatively simple form. It would be even better with a few additions:

1. It would drive even more traffic with an email and RSS feed option for receiving information on new auction items and for monitoring bids.
2. The credit union would generate more interest by including a variety of vehicles (even if they bought a few at auction to seed the site). Today's sole entry was a 2005 Suzuki motorcycle with a buy-it-now price of $6300.
3. The auction format and tools are relatively crude by today's standards. For example, it wasn't obvious who the other bidders were, how long it had been up for auction, or what the next bid needed to be. There are numerous auction services that could provide a more eBay-like experience.
4. It would be helpful to integrate the auction more closely with the loan center so users could easily calculate monthly payments, insurance costs, etc.

In our opinion, the Wells Fargo homepage has been the gold standard for the past three years, ever since the launch of its tabbed navigation in June 2003. It was one of four large-bank homepages earning an A in our Report on Financial Homepage Design in October 2003 (see Online Banking Report, 101/102). The navigation, copywriting, and usability are still top-of-the-line, but the look and feel is a bit dated, especially the banners running along the bottom.

According to a small-text warning at the top of the page, the site is being refined, and users "may see a different homepage for the next few months" (see screenshot below).

Analysis
The bank's homepage design has been essentially unchanged for more than three years, so it's about time for a remodel.

What we don't quite understand is the reasoning behind the cryptic message at the top of the page. With spoofing a continual problem, the bank may not want users to be concerned if they see changes. However, this message probably does more harm than good. 

The main problem is lack of information. The bank doesn't say what type of changes to expect, or even when they might happen. Most importantly, they fail to communicate why they plan to dribble out incremental changes instead of launching a redesigned site all at once. (And a quick search on "home page redesign found nothing at the bank's site.)

There may be very good technical and/or marketing reasons for the iterative process, but they should be explained. At minimum there should be a link to an FAQ page. As it stands, users can't be sure if an odd-looking Wells Fargo is a spoof or a new design. 

Don't leave users hanging! It creates only more uncertainty, not to mention additional emails and calls to customer service. 

The latest research from Online Banking Report is now available here for purchase ($395) or for subscribers to download here (Online Banking Report is our sister publication).

The 32-page report lays out the toolkit for building your own so-called "Web 2.0" banking site. It delves more deeply into the important tactics of blogging and RSS/XML feeds. Download the full Table of Contents here. 

For some time now, branch/ATM locators have been standard feature on banking websites. They began in the late 1990s as crude lists providing an address and maybe a phone number.

Today, locator tools are more robust, with branch hours, maps, pictures, and more. Still, many provide a simple listing instead of the locations pinpointed on a map. 

For example, here's the output from a search at Sovereign Bank for all branches and ATMs in zip code 10019 (click on inset for closeup).

The list is well laid out, but you must wade through it to find the closest branch, then drill down through the links to find more details and a map.

Compare that to the tool at Bank-Anywhere.com <bank-anywhere.com>, a mashup of Google Maps and the FDIC branch location database <www.fdic.gov>. Here's a list of all banks in my zip code 98115. Clicking on the bank icon or the list on the right side triggers a pop-up callout with additional info.

Branch-Anywhere is in public beta after a Sept. 15 launch (see its blog). The company behind it is Dash Space, a Vancouver, BC-based developer with such a low profile they don't appear on Google searches. They did respond promptly to our email questions (email here).

Analysis
Financial institutions should consider using a similar approach on their websites and either program the function themselves, or outsource it to Bank-Anywhere.com or others. It is important for this logical link to make a good first impression with potential customers of your bank. The Ajax-based map not only looks more sophisticated and up-to-date, but also is easier to use.

It's not often that a press release leads directly to a Netbanker post, but here's an example. We received an announcement last week that South Carolina Federal Credit Union <scfederal.org> was launching a complete rebranding under the "life simplified" theme (press release here).

We eagerly headed to its homepage, expecting to find a site that did for banking what Google did for search. In other words, a website that instantly lays out the critical tasks for online banking customers.

What we found was good, and light years ahead of its old homepage (see End Notes below), but it was not revolutionary. The homepage design follows most best-practices including the left-hand log-in area, tabular main navigation, and site search and other utilities in the upper right.

The first navigation tab is Convenience. That's an unusual choice that could help the CU differentiate its member benefits. However, the laundry list of electronic and online banking features cited have been industry standards since 1997.

Website visitors are not going to walk away thinking "that credit union really saved me time." If anything, the homepage is somewhat cluttered with 80 hyperlinks, many in small type, plus another dozen or so in two lefthand, drop-down boxes. Five choices are simple (see Google above). Eighty are not. 

The credit union missed a great chance to build a website that clearly directs users towards what they most want from their credit union: online access, customer service, and research.

Grades
Homepage design: A- (a bit cluttered)
Navigation: B (too many choices)
Homepage fit with "life simplified" branding effort: C-

End Notes (click on the link below to see the old homepage)

Previous homepage (from Google cache, Oct. 3)

While there's nothing unusual about the product or offer, with 50% market share in online banking, everything Bank of America does at its website is news.

After reviewing my credit card balance online today, I was greeted with a 30-day free trial offer for Bank of America's Privacy Assist Premier, a daily credit-monitoring, three-bureau service priced at $12.99/mo.

Below is the splash screen displayed after logging out from online banking:

We were a bit surprised at the lack of disclosure on this screen; not a single word about the eventual $156 annual cost, to which even the most well-heeled BofA clients may take exception.

Another surprise: Clicking the Accept button simply dropped us back on the home page with not a word of thanks or any confirmation that our selection was accepted.

However, most users will be smart enough to choose Learn More before signing up. On that landing page the cost is well documented appearing in the first bullet point in the shaded box (see below).

Minnesota-based Heritage Bank <heritagebankna.com> has added a simple feature that can make all the difference to mobile users, a link to a PDA version in the upper-left corner of its homepage (see screenshot below).

I tested it on my Blackberry 8700g, and it worked pretty well. The regular homepage takes a long time to load, but once it does, you see the PDA link and Heritage logo. Clicking on the link loads a slim, 15k page with just the basics (see inset):

• Logo
• Online banking login
• Help drop-down
• What's new (with 3 subjects)
• Featured rates (with 2 loan products and 2 deposits including its 5.2% high-yield savings account)
• About
• Careers
• Contact Us

At right is what the PDA homepage looks like in an IE6 browser window which, as all you PDA users know, is far more attractive than the Blackberry rendition. 

Analysis
Bank-account access is a relatively robust application to use on a portable device. The most recent M:Metrics research found that an average of 23 million U.S. mobile subscribers, nearly 12% of the total, accessed news and information from their phones (monthly average in June/July/August).

So it makes considerable sense to post a PDA link. Once users bookmark the URL, it will be relatively easy to navigate within the tiny PDA real estate. However, it would also be helpful to create a shorter URL pointer to the PDA version, for example, <hbmob.com>, <hbpda.com>, or <hbmobile.com> (only the first domain name is available, however).   

Flipping through a pile of American Bankers on the plane last night, I came across a page one story on The Money Store <themoneystore.com>. If you've been in the business at least ten years, you probably remember the sub-prime lender that created a household name for itself with heavy TV and print advertising featuring baseball great Jim Palmer and others. But shortly after First Union (now Wachovia) paid $2.1 billion for it in 1998, its sub-prime portfolio tanked and the bank shut it down in 2000.

Why First Union/Wachovia didn't use the famous Money Store brand for other lending pursuits is a mystery, but I'd wager that after blowing a couple billion dollars on the acquisition, senior management, and shareholders, didn't want to hear that name ever again. 

Fast forward five years. MLD Mortgage, a NJ-based lender founded by former Money Store Vice Chairman Mortan Dear convinced Wachovia to sell him the Money Store brand name. The brand was then repositioned as an online loan exchange along the lines of LendingTree, brokering mortgages for 50 lenders including Washington Mutual, NetBank, and Flagstar Bank. 

Analysis
The use of the Money Tree name is good, although they absolutely must secure the <moneytree.com> domain name. The online loan-exchange business model is sound, and its lending partners offer good credibility. However, the company's website execution is deplorable.

The busy home page doesn't even mention the product it sells (see screenshot below). We could write an entire report on what's wrong with the site, but we'll review just one small section here to give you an idea of the problems.   

At first glance, the "three simple steps" graphic in the upper-left looks promising, although the type should be bolder for readability (see inset).

As users struggle to understand what the company offers, many will start here due to its location, color, and shape. Unfortunately, most users will become even more confused after reading it due to three significant usability errors:

Mistake #1: Scaring off potential customers. The goal of a financial website is to make users confident in transacting there. Money Tree does the opposite. The very first thing users see is step 1, "Provide your personal information." In today's paranoid times, that's a huge red flag from a relatively unknown website. Before you cause even a smidge of user-apprehension about the application process, you must make visitors want your product. Try starting with a benefit statement such as "lower your mortgage payment" or similar.

Mistake #2: Amateur copywriting with no benefit statements. Always use a professional copywriter, even for bullet points. The Money Store is obviously cutting corners here. For instance, the first line above says "price your loan today." That makes almost no sense to a consumer. It's industry jargon. It should be a benefit statement, like "lower your mortgage rate today" or something similar that can be easily grasped. My fifth-grader could have come up with a better opening line.

Mistake #3: Steps that lead to the wrong product. For the life of me, I can't figure out what the company was thinking with its third step. Here's a synopsis of the three: 
1. Provide personal info.
2. Select product
3. Get your credit score
Huh? Are they selling credit scores or saying you need to go somewhere else, find your credit report and then finish the process? Either way, they are going to lose just about anyone that's gotten this far.

Instead, the steps should lead to a recognizable benefit such as:
1. Tell us what you want
2. Compare all the great prices we'll provide
3. Choose the deal that saves you the most money
4. Enjoy your extra cash!!

The Money Store homepage (Oct. 9)

The 11th annual website beauty contest, The Webby Awards, is accepting entries for the best websites and interactive advertising campaigns. Financial institutions may compete in any of the advertising categories, or one of the three website categories:

• Best Banking/Bill Pay
• Insurance
• Financial services (everything other than banking or insurance)

Last year the winners were Bank of America in Banking/Bill Pay; PayPal in Financial Services; and Allstate's nowwhat.com in the Insurance category (see inset).

Early entry deadline is Oct. 27. Fee is US$125.

In direct mail, sometimes "big & ugly" beats "short & sweet." But when it comes to preapproved credit card applications, we're pretty sure the 8-screen form posted by Bank of America's FIA Card Services (formerly MBNA) isn't going to help improve response rates (see the full form by clicking the continue link below).

My wife received a preapproved, direct-mail offer from Fidelity Investments where she has an investment account. The solicitation included the usual one-third sheet mail-back "acceptance form." Recipients could also either call a toll-free number, or go online to www.ibscredit.com.

Those that went online were greeted with this almost-blank screen operating under a different URL www.applyforcreditnow.com and had no reassuring message or graphics to assure users they had not arrived at a phishing site.

After entering the 6-digit code from the mailing, prospective cardholders are transported to this boring form, which surprisingly includes MORE fields than its paper-based counterpart (click on inset for closeup; click on continuation below to see the full 800 x 5200 screenshot). For example, it contains a section to be completed by students, who are unlikely to be receiving this particular Fidelity Investments WorldPoints Visa card with no preset spending limits.

Not only are the layout and design dull, but also two major design flaws are readily apparent:

1. No reinforcement of product benefits above the fold, especially the "0% through Nov. 2007" offer
2. No division into smaller segments, the first of which should gather the email address

See Online Banking Report #104 for more on application design.

--- JB

Endnote: Full online application (820 x 5200)

In Online Banking Report, we've looked at online calendars as nice-to-have additions to banking websites. They fulfill a personal financial-management role by tracking and sending reminders of bill payment and other deadlines.

If you are interested in adding a calendar to your user interface, there is a unique opportunity to purchase a turn-key calendar website, that provides not only the code, done in a Web 2.0-like look, but also 40,000 monthly visitors. You could potentially pick up some customers from the existing user base as well.

The site, Kiko.com, is for sale in an eBay auction that ends on Aug. 26. Opening bid = $50,000.

Thanks to TechCrunch for the tip.

Sometimes it helps to see how NOT to do something. Today's victim: Chartway Federal Credit Union <chartway.com> which has been running a clever, but poorly executed, 8.00% APY certificate-of-deposit special on its website for the past month (see screenshot below).

Analysis
The good news: It's a great offer. Any member making a successful referral gets to put up to $8,000 in an 8-month CD earning 8% (notice a theme there?). To qualify, the referral must bring in a new credit union member that opens a checking account along with the certificate OR initiates a $500-minimum direct-deposit relationship. The new member also gets to put up to $8,000 in an 8-month CD.

Members can make up to three referrals for a total deposit of $24,000. With the CU's normal 6-month rates at 3.4%, its more than double the normal rate of return, earning both the referrer and referee an extra $31 per thousand over the 8-month term or almost $250 extra per certificate (pre-tax). The eye-catching offer is featured front and center on its webpage.

The bad news: There is no hyperlink. Clicking on the logo, headline, or text does absolutely nothing! There aren't even any instructions on how to participate. Viewers are simply left hanging. The only extra info provided are the disclosures delivered via mouseover (see screenshot above).

It harks back to websites of the mid-90s that were put together by the "ATM guy." Unless you are trying to entice users to go on scavenger hunt through your website, this is a major mistake, and it's been that way for nearly a full month.

--JB

Usually, when designing targeted offers, you focus on what you know about the prospect. Where do they live? What products do they use? What's their balance? What if you wanted to offer a product only to folks you know nothing about, such as new visitors to your website?

Suppose you had a hot APY offer you wanted to make only to new customers to avoid cannibalizing that cash cow, the passbook savings account. Using cookies, you could avoid showing the offer to online banking users, minimizing their awareness of the product.

Apparently, Citibank is using this approach. In a routine visit to Citibank's website in mid-April using our laptop, we were surprised to see advertisements for its 4.50% e-Savings account dominating the website (click on inset for a closeup). When the high-yield product was announced (NetBanker March 29), many observers believed it was a stealth offer made through a new "Citibank Direct" entity.

But when we returned to the office, the offer had disappeared from the homepage. We had to click on the small "special offers" link to find it listed along with several other offers. Apparently, the cookies on our office PC, which identify us as a Citibank online banking user, triggered the website to load a different homepage. We confirmed this through testing on other PCs.

But before you use this tactic, realize it has significant drawbacks. First, it doesn't work with users who delete or disable cookies, estimated to be as high as 40%. Also, an online banking user visiting from a different location, or with a different browser, will also see your offer.

There is also the risk of your clever marketing being outed to the press and public, which may find the practice deceptive (see SmartMoney, April 2006). Finally, you may be teaching users to game your system, deleting cookies more often, entering different zip codes, and so on. This could hinder your ability to deliver targeted promotions to the customers you DO know something about.

--JB

Note: Citibank isn't shy about putting the offer on Google, where it shows as the top paid result on searches for  "Citibank" (see screenshot right).

It's no secret that a vast population researches online and buys offline, as much as 50% of your customer base according to recent research by Yahoo Search Marketing (NetBanker April 24). Whether the practice has evolved from habit, security reasons, or a need for face-to-face interaction, it's an important dynamic for financial institutions that have billions invested in retail branch networks.

Until consumers are ready to give up the branch experience, an important function of financial institution websites is to funnel prospects into the branch. Most banks now have prominent branch/ATM search functions.

These tools, often outsourced, usually provide good utilitarian results: name, location, hours, phone, and directions. This is enough information for current customers just looking for the closest place to pick up $100 with no ATM fee or deposit the rebate check from Procter & Gamble.

But as a sales tool for prospects considering a major purchase such as a new checking account or mortgage, the typical "branch finder" leaves a lot to be desired.

Analysis
Considering how inexpensive it is to post content online, why is it that banks do so little to help their branches create a unique presence online? After all, bank "stores" are usually multi-million dollar operations with aggressive sales and profitability goals. Even our tiny US Bank branch, staffed with two or three employees, plus a security guard, is surrounded by $500,000+ homes where the largely middle-class owners often have equity of $300,000 or more.

Why doesn't my branch use every tool in the book to tap into this market? Just one or two additional home equity loans per year would pay for a killer website. 

We know the reasons banks keep branches from attempting their own creative marketing efforts: low-budget fliers may not align with company graphic standards; complicated disclosure rules must be followed; branch efforts might conflict with larger "branding efforts," and so on.

Those arguments don't hold as much weight online. Banks could employ a content-management system that allowed branches to customize their personal webpage for use in neighborhood marketing efforts, and that would be more likely to pull a website visitor into their branch.

While we've reported on several of these efforts over the years, it's still difficult to find a comprehensive "bricks-and-clicks" effort. We recently came across Thatsmybank.com from Sacramento-based First Northern Bank (click on screenshot upper left). While the bank does better than most with a branch page that includes a picture of the branch and branch manager along with the names of lending officers, it is still very basic. It doesn't even include the email address of the branch or any of the key contacts.

Mortgage banks have done a better job. Wells Fargo Home Loans has had individual Web pages for its lending offices for several years. Huntington Bank also provides each mortgage loan officer their own Web page (click on inset for closeup). The page is tightly controlled. The mortgage officer uploads a picture, fills in basic contact info, then adds a paragraph about themselves and their lending specialty.

The template is completed with a list of local links provided. The only interactive element is the mail-to link that allows visitors to send an email to the loan officer via the user's email client.

Action Items
We believe branches should have a larger Web presence than just name, address, and phone number. Consider installing a content manager that allows branches to input custom localized content. It's a cost effective way to help branches and loan officers leverage their community connections and unique expertise.

--JB

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

If you've been in the business as long as I have, you sometimes forget that not everyone is banking online. Even among online users, the penetration has only recently reached the 50% mark (U.S. totals, see OBR 125).

Evidently, banking website strategists also lose sight of this fact. Because banking sites too often seem to ASSUME consumers are willing to transact online. Yet, most consumers, even those registered for online banking, need reinforcement and encouragement to be assured that online banking is a safe and sound practice.

We've reviewed the all-important security messages in great detail (see previous NetBanker articles). But you should periodically run promotions and messaging highlighting the advantages of banking online.

While we love a good sweepstakes that encourages online transactions such as bill payment, good old-fashioned testimonials are also a great tool to encourage usage. Bank of America demonstrates how it's done with a large homepage graphic touting its 15 million users, the largest online banking base in the world (click on inset for a closeup).

Clicking on the graphic leads to a simple landing page (click on screenshot right) that includes:

· three testimonials running across the top

· security reassurances in the box on the right

· a prominent "enroll now" button on the right

· several benefit statements in the copy

· link to the log-in page for already enrolled customers

--JB