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

Online retailers, including financial institutions, routinely find that 50% to 90% of shopping carts or in the case of banks, product signup forms, are abandoned.

Many of the reasons are out of your control: the customer changed their mind, didn't like the price/terms, or the boss just walked in.

One important variable you do control is the feedback provided when the user makes an input mistake. The best practice is to show errors in red along with detailed instructions on how to fix each missing or incorrect field.

But sometimes, with small fonts and multiple error messages, even these messages get lost, forcing the customer to abandon the application out of frustration.

Contrast that to Dell's approach. If you type the wrong password, a large red warning sign is returned right in the password-input screen (see inset). This is one error message you absolutely cannot miss.

--JB

Podcast was voted the 2005 Word of the Year by New Oxford American Dictionary. That alone is enough to make it an interesting marketing technique, even though it's more associated with music than banking.

So far, two U.S. financial institutions have jumped on the podcasting bandwagon:

• The first financial podcaster was Stockton, CA-based Financial Center Credit Union <fccuburt.org>. Its rambling, 56-minute first effort, Personal Finance Tips, from CEO Michael Duffy, was posted on Apple's iTunes on August 30. The program is more philosophical than factual and sounds almost unscripted, as if the CEO just sat down and talked about whatever came to mind for an hour. It's hard to imagine anyone other than his mother or marketing manager listening to the whole thing. Since then, they've published two more installments of the series: a 31-minute Personal Finance Tips, posted Oct 17, and a nine-minute discussion of phishing and pharming on Dec. 14. The latter program, which did NOT feature the CEO, was a more appropriate length and dealt with facts and actionable information.
  -
  While the content is of questionable value, the website design is good, positioning the CU as hip and with it. The podcast series is entitled, Talkin' About the Benjamins, and features a clever visual of Ben Franklin with the signature Apple earphones on his head (see inset above left). The credit union has a link on its homepage to a dedicated podcast page (click on inset above for closeup) that explains how to subscribe to the series via Apple's iTunes site or to download directly from the CU site in MP3 format.
  -
• The first bank to post a podcast was UMB Bank <umb.com> out of Kansas City. The first of the three planned recordings was posted Dec. 5, The Ins and Outs of 401(k) Retirement Plans. The bank also makes its podcast available for free downloading at the iTunes store or directly at the bank's website. The recording is a question-and-answer session with UMB Portfolio Manager Casey Matthews. The UMB program is also relatively amateurish, with the participants nervously chuckling at their own jokes. At more than 24 minutes, it's too long, but for a listener with little knowledge of retirement plans, it's not a bad educational program.
  
  In contrast to the marquee placement of FCCU's podcasts, UMB bank buries the program in the middle of a long list of content within the News and Information part of the website (click on inset above for a closeup). This considerably diminishes the marketing value.

Analysis
The question isn't really whether to podcast or not, but rather whether audio/visual content should be added to your website. The answer to the second question is a resounding YES. It's time to leverage the high-speed Internet connections enjoyed by the majority of your customers with professional audio and video content. There are numerous programming tools that can be used; the most common is Macromedia FLASH, to develop good audio and video programming.

There isn't really a pressing need to provide the information in the proprietary iPod format. The number of users who will want to download your sales pitch and listen to it on the train ride home can be counted on one hand. However, given the hype surrounding everything iPod, it's not a bad idea to post your work as an iPod recording.

If you do end up with a podcast, keep these tips in mind:

• Keep it short and to the point: Strive for a tight, overall length of no more than 5 to 10 minutes. If the subject matter needs more time, break the broadcast into multiple parts.
• Make it professional: Listeners expect a degree of professionalism from their bank that they don't expect from other podcasters. If you can't afford to hire a pro to develop the program, try tapping into the eager broadcasting majors at a local university or community college. At the very least, develop a script and practice before broadcasting.
• Use a Q&A format: We like UMB's format, pairing an interviewer with a bank expert. Had they kept to the 10-minute limit, it would have been worth listening to.
• Lose the humor: Banking is serious. It's OK to use some humor in advertising and promotion, but a broadcast from the bank should not include any attempts at humor, and NO laughing at your own jokes.
• Post it at iTunes: Easily explain how to find it, so that users can quickly subscribe to future broadcasts.
• Most important, marry the audio broadcast with visual aids: UMB's 24-minute podcast on retirement savings would be much more effective with supporting visuals, especially as they run through several examples of after-tax returns of various investment options. A standard webcast using PowerPoint and an audio presentation would be far more effective, although less likely to land you a write-up in the local newspaper.

--JB

There are many ways to boost the sales effectiveness of your website, from the navigational layout to copywriting and security assurances. But one area that deserves attention is the design, layout, and placement of the homepage promotions, along with landing page displayed when clicking through for more information.

In terms of overall design, we recommend banners and links that attract attention without dominating the page. Since most visitors are at your site to find specific information, say CD rates, you don't want a banner for auto loans dominating the page, potentially sending users to another site that's easier to navigate.

You also need to be mindful of your image. Do you want to look like Overstock.com, pitching special offers and deals, or do you prefer a more understated tone, like a professional adviser? You want the homepage to reflect your overall marketing strategies to the online segment.

There are several approaches that have gained popularity in the past several years. Today we'll look at one of the best approaches:

Small "postage stamp" banners in the lower portion of the screen, but above the fold (click on inset above for closeup). For example, Wells Fargo's layout for the past three years displays square banners in the lower-right corner. Currently, two of eight possible choices are shown when the user arrives at the site (click refresh a few times to cycle through all eight).

Each banner leads to a well-crafted landing page with more information about the product or service. Not all of the banners are product pitches. For example, one describes an online feature, My Spending Report (NetBanker Feb. 17); another is service oriented, reminding users that they can access accounts 24/7 even during the holidays; while another (see Landing Page below) is designed to save the bank money by encouraging users to receive electronic statements instead of paper ones (click on the banners below for a closeup).

Gallery of Wells Fargo homepage banners displayed Dec 27, 2005

Landing Pages
It's one thing to get your banner noticed, but then what? Users that click for more information should be led to a specific page, called a landing page, that reinforces the banner and provides more information. If the ultimate goal is a product sale, then the landing page should act as a funnel, delivering users to a single, actionable step, BUY. Extraneous navigational choices, like cracks in a plastic funnel, simply cause leakage of an extremely valuable commodity, interested prospects.

Wells Fargo has a separate landing page for each of the eight banners shown above. At left (click for closeup), you can see the one created for the "FREE online statement delivery" banner. In this case the bank is hoping to boost usage of online banking, and specifically the online statement feature, which has the potential of not only improving account retention, but also cutting printing and postage costs as users elect to turn off paper statements (required in this case).

--JB

If you're in need of more financial interactive marketing ideas, check out the Interactive Financial Marketing Database from our sister publication, the Online Banking Report.

One neglected area of the online customer experience is logging out. Are you thanking your customer for banking online? Reinforcing that their secure session has safely ended? How about a little cross-promotion from time to time?

We've logged off more than a thousand times from dozens of financial institutions and it's never been particularly noteworthy.

However, this week Citibank's logoff screen caught our eye (click on inset for full screenshot). Not only did the bank thank us for our business, they posted an attractive promotion for its banking rewards program.

You may not have offer something quite as elaborate as the Citi program, but you can effectively use the logoff page to highlight service improvements, call attention to upcoming events, or highlight community involvement and volunteer opportunities.

--JB

Online banking users often visit their primary bank's website several times each week. Outside of webmail and chat services, few companies have this much traffic from their customers.

However, most online banking customers only touch down on the homepage for the briefest of moments; typing in a username and password then moving on. The challenge is to get them to notice your marketing and service messages.

One possible way to move those logging in eyeballs off the username/password corner, is to post easily-scannable, interesting, and ever changing information in a different area of the homepage, enticing the eyeballs to wander. In the banking world, there are few content choices available that fits this criteria.

Weather information.

The time/weather sign in front of the bank branch used to be, and still is in some places, a common sight on main street.

Why not take that same approach online? Place a personalized weather "sign" some distance from your login area. If you have the capability to move content elements around, test different locations and see which cause the most click-throughs on other sales and service elements.

Analysis
Thankfully, most banks have retreated from the idea of becoming a news and information portal. It's just not possible to compete with CNN.com, Yahoo Finance, and others in disseminating news and investment info.

However, weather is another matter. Almost everyone is interested in the subject matter; it takes only a few seconds to absorb, so it's not distracting; it's dirt cheap to post on your website; it changes constantly; and it can be easily personalized to the user's zip code.

Although it still carries negative connotations as an example of bubble-induced folly (e.g., at Net.Finance this week, a Wells Fargo exec told how in 2000, the bank was actually seeking suppliers for "horoscopes and weather info."), the latest upgrades to Apple's OS X, Tiger, include a cool dashboard, which includes among other things, a weather display (see inset).

For more information, see OBR 85.

-- JB

Here's a little technique we haven't seen before, helper bubbles that popup to highlight new and/or underutilized features.

For example, in My eBay, this yellow bubble appeared on the screen pointing to a relatively new feature on the site, a drop-down box that allows the user to take various actions on items they are tracking.

Note: eBay allows you to turn off the bubble with a "Don't show me this again" link.

Analysis
A great way to highlight important features of online banking.

--JB

Step 1: It's tax time
Step 2: Then it's play time

So starts one of the most interesting financial services websites to come along in a long time. Leave it to Intuit to come up with a way to make submitting your tax return seem almost fun. It's RockYourRefund.com website is basically a jazzed up portal into TurboTax for the Web, a service that's been around for more than five years.

Analysis
Sometimes it seems futile trying to make boring financial services interesting. Well if Intuit can do it with tax prep, you can do it with your financial products.

Take a minute to look at it yourself, but the premise is you get a 10% coupon at Best Buy or up to $200 off a trip after you've completed your tax return online via the TurboTax website. Cost for the online service is $5.95 for federal plus $9.95 for state tax returns.

Action Item
This approach would work wonderfully with bill payment. Offer coupons and offers that users would receive after paying their bills. A benefit for saving time and money using your super-convenient epayment service. (For more information on how to build a killer bill payment service, see Online Banking Report #80, 81, 82, 86, and an update on the market in #115 published three days ago. )

-- JB

Even with popup blockers wreaking havoc with this marketing technique, it still makes sense to program a popup when users abandon an application or any other important sales page. It's also possible to program a popup after the user lingers in one area for a certain amount of time.

The popup should ask if assistance is needed and provide at minimum a telephone number and email address. Here's an example from National Interbank.

-- JB

How many times per month would you look at your bank's website, other than online banking, if you didn't work there?

Zero would be pretty close, I'd wager.

Case in point: I have far more interest than the average consumer, but I can count on one hand the times I've looked at my bank's website during the past seven or eight years since its been online.

Sure I login most weeks, but my visit consists of finding the login button as soon as it loads, then moving into online banking to take care of my business. (Don't tell my website usability collegues I said this, but it might be worth moving the login button around from time to time to "force" users become engaged with your homepage.)

Zero visits per month makes it tough to introduce new products, promotions, and features. Or to get customers to use self-service.

Action Item
To encourage visits, how about an old-fashioned Grande Re-opening or Open House celebration? Make it an annual event on the anniversery of your website launch. Publicize it with signs in the branch. Issue a press release. Drop a statement insert.

Decorate your homepage with balloons or something festive, and just like a real-world open house, offer virtual donuts (Krispy Kreme downloadable coupon), free coffee (Starbucks coupon), and door prizes after customer fills out an online entry form.

To encourage visitors to click further into your site, you could sprinkle freebies deeper in the site, or use an online scavenger hunt. And the great thing about this open house is there's no cleaning up afterwards.

If you'd like to explore more about the interactive bank marketing ideas, check out the Interactive Financial Marketing Database from our sister publication, the Online Banking Report.

UK-based Alliance & Leicester doesn't accept the premise that banking websites should be drab and colorless. Their orange-and-blue effort shouts "pay attention," perhaps a bit too loudly.

But there are more things to like in this homepage than there are to criticize.

Like

• Prominent login on left side
• Strong benefit statements in headlines, for example, 50 times more credit interest than other banks
• Interactive loan calculator

Dislike

• Too much animation competing for the eye, for example, four of the banners feature animation, three of which continue to endlessly cycle (if you use animation, make it stop after one or two cycles)
• Overwhelming, where do you look first?
• Everything looks like a come-on, where's the content?

But whether one likes the design or not, the proof is in the results. And I bet the bank pulls in more new business from its home page than its more staid competitors.

However, a bit more restraint might make it work even better.

-- JB

After giving AOL for Broadband a try, we decided to switch back to our old $4.95/mo plan we've been on for the last 5 or 6 years. Since it wasn't listed as a choice in the normal pricing plan area, we clicked on the "live chat" button.

Within in few seconds we were live with an AOL rep, and within another minute or two, the rep had us switched back to our old plan. It was a very satisfactory experience.

Action Items
During the chat process we noticed two things that financial institutions should consider adding to their live chat functions:

1. Copy/print button in the lower-right allows users to print or save a transcript of the chat session. A great tool for satisfying the finicky customer who wants a record of their customer service interactions.

2. End-of-the-session cross-sell: After fixing our problem, the chat session automatically presented us with an opportunity to purchase an ancillary service at a special discount. The offer was delivered both in text in the chat window and through a banner above the chat area (click on the screenshot above to see more detail). This could be an effective sales technique so long as it's delivered in the spirit of helping the customer.

--JB

ING Direct posted a Tsunami Relief Fund button on its main account view page (see above). So far, customers have kicked in $320,000. It's less than a buck an account, but it's still a sizable contribution in total. ING as a company has also pledged more than $1 million.

Lessons

• The donation function is completely integrated, so it couldn't be easier.
• A link is provided to learn more about the organization that will administer the donations.
• Customers get feedback on results, in this case $320,000 raised, so that customers can take pride in the total amount raised.

Note also: The pitch in the middle of the screen (above) to sign up for electronic statements to be entered into prize drawings including a plasma TV. Refer to our Jan. 18 article for more on that sweeps.

-- JB

We like the idea of posting selected third-party endorsements on your website, for example, FDIC, Better Business Bureau, VeriSign and so forth. However, make sure you don't let your membership expire, otherwise you get a very bad result.

In reviewing the eSmartLoan website, purchased last month by Capital One (see Jan 20 post), we clicked on the Better Business Bureau logo on its home page and were greeted by a pop-up explaining that the company was no longer a member, either because they failed to pay their dues or failed to comply with BBB policies.

Ouch!

-- JB

In part one of our series on website usability, we looked at the all-important homepage. But the best homepage won’t do you much good unless you can convert visitors into paying customers. For that you need an effective sales process capped by an easy-to-use application. Online credit applications have evolved considerably during the past five years and are now relatively painless to complete, usually far superior to their paper counterparts, which are plagued with missing data, illegible markings, not to mention transcription errors in your own back office.

At OBR, we’ve looked at online application-form design on a number of occasions, finding a wide variety in quality (see Table 11, below). This time, we are using a more rigorous approach applying our proprietary OBR WebCheck criteria www.webcheckanalysis.com  and scoring Citibank’s application across 54 criteria. Although the bank’s application is very good, there is still much room for improvement, as witnessed by its sub-50% score.

Citibank credit card application

Card application

Table 12
Citibank Credit Card Application Process

OBR analysis using WebCheck* criteria

Source: Online Banking Report, 2/04 Wt = weight with 5 the highest importance

Ten Biggest Web Design Mistakes of 2003

Jacob Nielsen, the guru of Web usability, publishes an annual list of website design mistakes at www.useit.com . We’ve customized it for online banking.

Sources: Jakob Nielsen http://www.useit.com/  and OBR, 12/03

It’s a cliché that customers must TRUST your business before disclosing personal or financial information. Prominent placement of a well-crafted privacy policy is a necessary part of building that trust, yet even major players often neglect to add privacy policy links to applications and forms.
 

Now more than ever, it’s imperative to establish customer loyalty, trust, and confidence to stay competitive. Many customers are still reluctant to bank online due to concerns about how their personal information, demographic identities, and email addresses will be used.

One step in building trust and credibility online is posting a well-crafted privacy policy. Not only is it the right thing to do, it’s a regulatory mandate from the Gramm-Leach-Bailey Financial Services Modernization Act (GLB). You should provide links to your privacy policy from every page, especially anywhere that you ask for personal information.

We recently evaluated privacy statements at dozens of leading financial institutions and found good compliance with the letter and spirit of GLB (see Table 1). However, even with privacy policy links “bolted on” to various areas of banking Websites, we discovered links were often missing where they are most needed ¾ at the moment the user is asked for personal information in an application or secure login page.

Bank of America does not mention its privacy policy on its checking account application.

To help boost the payback from your privacy initiatives, we developed ten recommendations to improve its effectiveness.

Privacy Area Recommendations

•          Call it something besides policy; for example, Privacy Pledge at US Bancorp, Privacy Principles at ING Direct.
•          Link to the privacy area from every page
•          Use consistent page placement
•          Include third-party seals and validations
•          Place a prominent link to your privacy area at the beginning of all applications/forms.
•          Project your care about customer privacy in appropriate product and marketing areas.
•          Craft privacy statements in clear language with good graphic design using subheads, proper white space, and so on.
•          Include a special email and/or telephone contact for questions on privacy/security.
•          Include links to email and marketing preference forms.
•          Include links to related topics such as security, fraud prevention, and your marketing preferences page.

Source: WebCheck, 3/03

Chris Young is Founder and Senior Analyst of WebCheck Analysis, a company specializing in Website usability and design effectiveness,
(206) 517-5021, chris@webcheckanalysis.com , <www.webcheckanalysis.com>.

Table 1

Security & Privacy Areas of the Top 40 Online Financial Institutions (North America)

Source: Online Banking Report, 4/03       a = active users only     e= OBR estimate, +/- 33%    See OBR Website for complete details on each bank’s program
Notes: (1) Online banking registered users as of Nov. ’02; (2) Are there any third party security icons on the home page? (3) Are any security/privacy guarantees listed? (4) Are there links from the home page to security/privacy? (5) Is a security/privacy contact listed? (6) Can you find the security area via site search of “security”? (7) Can you find the security/privacy area on the site map? (8) Subjective grade from OBR editors

One of the problems with the Internet-only startups of the late ‘90s was that they underestimated the depth of consumer distrust for new financial services companies, on- or off-line. We estimate it takes a minimum of 50 million dollar-years¹ to achieve what established financial institutions already have – credibility. The survivors, NetBank, E*TradeBank, LendingTree, and PayPal have all made that investment in various ways.

¹For example, $50 million spent with a 1-year time horizon; $5 million spent with a 10-year horizon, or anything in between

Your graphic designers and copywriters will likely have far more impact on security perceptions than your IT department. The look and feel of security is more an art than a science, but there are simple things you can do to make large strides with a small investment. For an excellent review of the attributes of a trustworthy site, read Cheskin Research’s Trust in the Wired Americas <www.cheskin.com/p/ar.asp?mlid=7&arid=40&art=0>.

Table 1

The Elements of Online Trust

Source: OBR 3/03, adapted from Cheskin Research, 7/00, www.cheskin.com

The “look & feel” of security, SFNB’s login screen
(circa 1996 to 1998).

It may seem trite, but we like vault images in secure areas. For several years, the now defunct Internet banking pioneer Security First Network Bank used the vault graphic on its login screen (see above). The word vault was even included in the login URL http://www.vault.sfnb.com .                                                 

Table 2

Enhancing Financial Institution Credibility

security content for customers and prospects

•   100% fraud reimbursement guarantee
•   Immediate reimbursement for alleged fraudulent transactions (subject to investigation)
•   Modern, high-quality graphics
•   Security metaphors such as a bank vault
•   Third-party endorsements (see Table 4)
•   Profiles of staff and management including bios, quotes, pictures, streaming audio/video, etc.
•   Physical, address, phone, fax, directions
•   Security Center link on home page
•   Security advice, contacts, and emergency procedures
•   Customer testimonials about general security and the bank’s response to problems
•   Links to third-party discussions of online security such as <www.ftc.gov/infosecurity>
•   Plain-language security measures and privacy policies with quick-read summaries backed by copious detail (for the truly paranoid to peruse at their leisure)
•   Credit card security programs such as Verified by Visa or disposable numbers
•   Human “security officers” that contact customers when suspicious activity is detected

Source: Online Banking Report, 3/03

Table 3

Third-Party Endorsements

Source: Online Banking Report, 3/03
*The popup screens shown after clicking can be forged, so it’s not a foolproof system

Jacob Nielsen, the guru of Web usability, recently published a list of top Web mistakes  www.useit.com  We’ve customized it for the online banking industry.

Sources: Jakob Nielsen  www.useit.com   

The WeatherBug window is displayed at start-up and whenever the temperature icon in the system tray is clicked on.

In this example, Ameriquest Mortgage is sponsoring the entire screen for 48 hours in what is called a “brand wrap.”

With a brand wrap, the advertiser turns the entire weather display into an attractive company billboard; a unique online advertising opportunity.

AWS Convergence Technologies

2-5 Metropolitan Court
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
www.aws.com

Contact:
Andy Jedynak
VP Business Development
ajedynak@aws.com
Ph: (301) 258-8390 x143> Fax: (301) 948-5352

I am not a weather junkie, but I live in Seattle where it’s important to plan outdoor activities during what’s called “sun breaks,” brief periods in the Northwest when the sun breaks through the clouds (not the other way around). Until recently, I checked the weather on Weather.com or WeatherUnderground, but have never been particularly satisfied with either of these choices due to the annoying advertising, especially popups (1).

Now, along with 13 million others, I am hooked on WeatherBug, a division of Gaithersburg, MD-based AWS Convergence Technologies, even though it has its share of advertising annoyances including the occasional popup (2).  What sets WeatherBug apart from the rest is the real-time temperature visible in the Windows system tray; its attractive look; and its hyper-local weather conditions reported from its weather stations located at neighborhood schools.

For the advertiser, WeatherBug provides a unique, albeit pricey, marketing opportunity. Just like physical time-temp signs, WeatherBug allows banks and other companies to private brand the weather display, turning it into an online billboard complete with interactive advertising.

Privately held AWS Convergence Technologies was founded in 1993. For most of the past 10 years, the company has focused on building its network of weather stations and selling the information to radio and television broadcasters. Today, its 6,000-station network SchoolNet provides data through more than 100 broadcast partners serving nearly 80% of the country.  Schools purchasing the $5,000 weather station receive services designed to bring the weather data into the classroom. See www.classroom.aws.com  for details.
 

In March 2000, AWS released WeatherBug, a browser plug-in (i.e. program) that runs on users PCs.¹ Within a year, WeatherBug was in use by more than 3 million customers (see Table 1). In July 2001, WeatherBug surpassed Weather.com in monthly page views (215 million vs. 189 million). Currently (mid-August 2002), the company has more than 13 million users and continues to sign up 30,000 more every day.

In a remarkable demonstration of just how cheap Web users are, only 26,000 (0.2%) users buy the ad-free Pro version priced at $19.95/year. The company expects this total to rise significantly as it improves the visibility of the ad-free option.

How it Works

1.       Users download a 3.2 MB browser plugin (taking up to 8 minutes on 56k modem); the plugin does not require a computer reboot.

2.       The plugin automatically selects the closest of nearly 6,000 professional-grade weather stations, most operating at K-12 schools.

3.       Real-time temperature is displayed in the Windows system tray whenever the computer is connected to the Net.

4.       If you want to know more than the temperature, you simply click on the system tray icon to launch an entire weather display including:
- time
- current temp (on a thermometer display)
- the day’s high and low temps
- wind speed & direction (on a compass display)
- humidity
- dew point
- barometer
- rain today
- rain rate
- rain this month
- two-day forecast
- sunrise/sunset times
- moon phase

5.       Additional buttons lead to:
- extended forecast
- current and forecasts for other areas
- Web cams to view local conditions
- radar
- email alerts ($20/yr pro version only)

Table 1

WeatherBug Total User Milestones

Source: Company press releases

WeatherBug also offers unique opportunities to tie a branch-banking network into the online services:

•  In-branch real-time weather display: Current weather conditions could be delivered to in-branch PC displays using a private-branded Bug. On the high end, a $10,000, 42-inch plasma screen could hang on the wall or be mounted overhead. On the cheap side, a $50, 15-inch PC monitor sitting on a table or desk could do the same thing.
•  ATM weather display: Weather conditions could be displayed onscreen through Web-enabled ATMs.
•  Branch-based weather stations: Bank branches could become weather suppliers to the AWS network. Then anyone in the vicinity of the branch would be able to check weather conditions at a known spot, their local bank branch. With a one-time cost of $5,000, this could be a low-cost way to drive new business to the branch, especially for new branches. It would also be a good draw for local media coverage.
•  Branch-based weather station with Web cam: Same as above, but with a live Web cam streaming pictures from the branch along with weather data. Web cam pictures can be accessed through WeatherBug. The cost for a weather station with Web cam is $10,000. Benefits are similar to the previous option, except with a Web cam pointed to the street, the bank branch could also serve as a way to check local traffic.

¹There is currently no Mac version, though the company expects to eventually have one.

Although no banks have yet purchased private-branded Bugs, a number of financial companies have advertised, including ING Direct, DiscoverCard, GetSmart, ConsumerInfo.com, and AmeriQuest Mortgage.

The private-branded program has primarily centered on approximately 100 radio and TV broadcasters who share in the advertising revenue of their WeatherBugs. Only a few non-broadcasters use the private-branded program: a golf and a yacht club provide it as a member benefit, especially appropriate for expensive pastimes impacted by the weather.

The company recognizes financial institutions as a good target market, but is not proactively courting banks at this time to due to resource constraints. However, the company does want to get its foot in the door of the financial services industry and hinted that the first few reference accounts would be able to negotiate a favorable package (see Costs below).

Advertising on WeatherBug ranges from $1 per thousand impressions for one of two available banner ad spaces (top and bottom) to $5.50 per thousand for a full brand-wrap (screen size = 433 x 625). for more information.

The list price for the private-branded Bug is $0.50 for each user that registers, then $0.25 per active user per month (i.e., $3/yr). Currently, there are no minimums, so even smaller banks and credit unions could use the private-branded approach.

Notice how the advertiser’s message is interspersed throughout the WeatherBug display.

It’s tough to cost-justify the private-branded WeatherBug program. Unlike most businesses, you already have a locked-in base of customers who visit your Web site multiple times per month. So paying upwards of $3 per year just to put a pretty thermometer in front of your own customers is probably not a good use of your already stretched budget. Indeed, the key to making it pay off is to get non-customers to buy from you. But given the cost, you only want highly qualified prospects to use it. Unlike most advertising that is a one-time cost, private-branded WeatherBug costs continue month-after-month.

At $3/year it’s virtually impossible to make it work. But, a bank or group of banks, planning on signing up several hundred thousand users, and agreeing to minimum usage levels, could expect significant discounts on the $250 per thousand users per month list price.² For example, a 67% discount would bring the cost down to $1 per year per user. If over the course of the entire year, you were able to sell services to 1% of all users, your acquisition cost would be $100; if 2% bought, acquisition costs would be $50, and so on.

If that’s too rich, consider offering WeatherBug as an enhancement/upgrade for high-value accounts or as a premium for new accounts, especially products that tend to be single-service such as mortgages and credit cards. Mortgage customers could be given a free “homeowners” WeatherBug that, along with the financial institution messages, could also include messages appropriate to homeowners, such remodeling, insurance, and other homeowner services. Credit/debit card customers could get a shopping- and credit management-oriented WeatherBug that reinforced use of your plastic and cross-sold credit report monitoring, balance transfers, and so on.

To limit your costs for non-customer users, you could put an expiration date on the program. As the end-date approached, you could tell users that their service was ending unless they signed up for an account or paid a subscription fee.³

¹Not comparable with advertising CPMs because user is using a private-branded extension of their desktop.

²We are speculating given AWS’s stated desire to land banking clients and the fact that its marginal costs to support additional users is quite low.

³Of course, customers could easily download the application again from WeatherBug and continue to use it for free.

Table 2

WeatherBug Costs

Source: Company, Online Banking Report, 8/02

Discover Card brand wrap. 

Recommendations

With its 100%-registered user base, WeatherBug allows advertisers to precisely target their online impressions. Pricing is flexible enough to work as a marketing tool for banks, credit unions, and other financial companies of nearly any size. Banner advertising or sponsor wraps could be targeted to a narrow range of zip codes for
just hundreds of dollars per month. Of course, your advertising department, agency, or media buyer will
need to determine the effectiveness of this advertising medium against others.

The more intriguing opportunity is deploying a private-branded bug that sits in the Windows system tray, a constant link to the weather, and by association, to your bank. Banks jumping in this year would likely be the first in their market with such a program. While it doesn’t hold the same appeal as free checking or 3.9% HEQ loans, at a maximum of $3/yr, it could be a cost-effective promotional device, especially if the duration was limited.

First movers would benefit from positive press, an interesting and understandable in-branch promotional opportunity, and an increase in online traffic. If bundled with a profitable bank service, such as credit report monitoring, it could be a good moneymaker.                                             

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