For five of the seven Decembers I’ve spent blogging, I’ve perused the holiday Web-based marketing efforts of the 20 largest U.S. banks. This year, 10 jumped on the holiday bandwagon, an increase of 67% over the six last year. In 2004, only 4 of the 20 were running holiday promotions (on Dec. 21).
Previous posts: 2009 discussion, 2009 screenshots, 2007, 2006, 2006, 2004
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Big banks in the holiday spirit
(rated 1 to 5 bulbs)
PNC: 12 Days of Christmas index (23 Dec. 2010, 1:00 PM Pacific)
Quick take: Rotating spot, prominent, seasonal graphics, unique, leads to microsite
Score: 
TD Bank: gift cards
Quick take: Prominent spot, not rotating, seasonal graphics, fits in well with entire green homepage
Score:
Regions: gift cards and rewards
Quick take: Rotating spot, prominent, seasonal graphics, small corner graphic
Score: 
Fifth Third: gift cards
Quick take: Rotating spot, prominent, seasonal graphics, small graphic in upper right
Score:
Bank of the West (BNP Paribas): POP Money (p2p payments)
Quick take: The first promotion on a three-ad rotation, pushes P2P payments as a holiday gift-giving option, the first time we’ve seen that (updated 12/25 because we missed it the first time we looked at the site)
Score:
Harris (BMO): gift card
Quick take: Rotated with five spots, seasonal graphic, quick animation, not very prominent
Score:
ING Direct: seasonal graphic
Quick take: Seasonal graphic, prominent location, leads to landing page
Score:
Chase: gift cards
Quick take: Small ad, minor seasonal graphics
Score:
Key Bank: gift card
Quick take: Prominent position with no rotation, no seasonal graphic
Score:
Bank of America: cash rewards card
Quick take: Small ad with seasonal graphic
Score:
The scrooge list (top-20 banks with no holiday promotions or graphics on Dec. 23):
BB&T, Capital One, Citibank, Citizens (RBS), Comerica, HSBC, SunTrust, Union Bank (Mitsubishi UFJ), US Bank, Wells Fargo
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Note: I either have accounts with, and/or previous visits to, all 20 banks which could alter what’s shown on the homepage.