|
News Index
Next
Previous
None of the UK's
top six banks and building societies provide site visitors with strong content
and functionality for researching and applying for credit cards, according to a
new report from Forrester Research.
Tim van Tongeren, associate analyst at Forrester Research, says that, over the
past 12 months four million UK consumers have researched credit card offers on
the Web,
A third of total credit applications have been made online.
But despite this, a survey of Web sites belonging to Barclays, Halifax, HSBC,
Lloyds TSB, NatWest, and the UK's largest building society Nationwide found they
all failed to provide enough information and functionality to enable customers
to apply for cards online.
Van Tongeren explained: "As consumers visit multiple Web sites, it is vitally
important for UK banks to create a compelling user experience at their sites and
get their credit card offering right.
"They need to anticipate the user's goals, make essential content available to
make product decisions, ensure that users can contact them online or offline for
reassurance, highlight company benefits and service advantages, and, most
importantly, the application process has to be quick, easy, and result in an
instant decision."
For the study, Web sites belonging to the selected banks were assessed against
21 criteria across five categories - presentation, navigation, contact methods,
research functionality and content.
Each institution was given a score out of 100, with 50 being the minimum level
Forrester believes each should provide.
HSBC comes in last with 38 points, failing to meet the requirements in all five
categories, especially in presenting essential content and functionality.
Out of all the banks, only the Lloyds TSB site scored more than 50.
But Forrester says best practices within the five main categories were
discovered. NatWest, for example, received 90 out of 100 for its contact
methods.
Overall, Lloyds TSB's site was found to be the leader, scoring 58 points - eight
higher than Forrester's minimum requirement. The site stood out in two main
categories - Web site presentation and contact methods.
Source:
Getting Paid
|
