Citation
(2007), "What's on the web", Strategic Direction, Vol. 23 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2007.05623fag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
What's on the web
Of all the major internet activities tracked since March 2000 by Forbes, online banking has grown the fastest, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Fully one-quarter of all adults, and nearly half of all internet users, reported being online banking customers. Banks see online banking as a value-added customer service, and are taking great pains to create user experiences that reinforce customer trust and a recognition of what every online customer wants: convenience and speed at low cost. At the same time, though, free online banking and bill paying are becoming commodities, so, says the Forbes site, shop around if you are currently paying a fee for these services.
This site/gateway is a good place to start.
Financial services online
AIGA, the professional association for design, is committed to furthering excellence in design. They recently reviewed the web sites of a number of different major financial institutions and “found a bland, undifferentiated, ineffective collection of online experiences.” The current state of financial services web sites I, say AIGA, “deplorable”. The information and interaction models resemble those that were in vogue in the late 1990s. Staid color and layout choices reflect a lifeless usability culture that has beaten design innovation out of the development process. Despite this hegemony, most sites display inadequate to poor usability and brand equity.
Blinking useful
This site won an Award for best financial services web site last year. It is basically a TV ad on the web – nicely done, minimalist and stylish but is it an informative web site? Well, actually, yes.
Drill down for lots of information on the blink approach – basically a system for increasing the speed and efficiency of credit card transactions. You need “flash” to see this site at its best but it certainly matches the card itself for the fast transfer of information.
The business of America …
The Bank of America’s web site targets both business people and consumers. Though many financial institutions provide deep web content for their small-business customers and prospects, few provide as much public information as BoA does – or do it as well.
The Small Business section is split into a public-facing site and a password-protected area for existing customers. The no-nonsense, text-based public site is surprisingly deep. Images are kept to a minimum to facilitate utility. Even descriptions are streamlined, with little marketing jargon apparent. That information is served up quickly so the user never has to click too often or dig too deeply to get to a rate or the terms of a specific deal.
Existing customers, who come to the site between 12 and 15 times each month on average, also benefit from this minimalist approach, although there is nothing minimal about what the company offers. Two of the best features are Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable modules; people can send out electronic invoices as well as pay vendors directly from the site. There is also a free payroll option that can help users save time as well as money.
The company is planning to offer web chat options that will help those site visitors who cannot find what they want, without being obtrusive. Even more important, the web chat will allow people to schedule follow-ups,
Quite a find
Find, “your friend in finance” is both a portal and an independent resource in its own right.
UK bank listings include a top ten current accounts section to find the most popular bank accounts. There is also an online guide to current accounts to find the best account for any individual within a range of parameters.
The independent financial advisors centre offers market day data, unit trust risers and fallers, research from RedTower, news and much more. High net-worth individuals can look at resources for managing, growing and safeguarding wealth, inheritance planning, guides and shares. There is a “retirees” centre too and professional investors and business centres. Really good stuff.
And finally
A quote from John Paul Getty:
If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.
Contact us
For a particularly interesting and useful site you could always try the Emerald one! And if you have any favourite (or otherwise) sites that you would like us to review on these pages, please drop us an e-mail and we will submit them to our reviewers’ usual rigorous analysis.