Website Usability & Design

ING Direct’s Electric Orange Checking Gets Bill-Payment Facelift

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bill payment, Epayments, ING Direct, Website Usability & Design

image 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)

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2. Previous user interface (22 July 2009)

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

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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). 

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Activity Tickers Bring Life to Financial Websites

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, BillShrink, MoneyAisle, Website Usability & Design

image 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:

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)

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

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Progressive’s Rate Ticker (16 July 2009)

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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).

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Progress Bank’s Novel Homepage Design

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: ING Direct, NextCard, Website Usability & Design

image 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)

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ING Direct homepage (12 May 2009)

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ING Direct homepage (2001)

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NextCard homepage (2001)

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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.

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Mobile Banking Launch at CFE Credit Union Includes "Live" Demo on Cellphone Emulator

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Credit Unions, Mobile Banking, Website Usability & Design

image 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.

CFE Credit Union mobile banking landing page 9 July 2008

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

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Who Has the Holiday Spirit?

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, ING Direct, Washington Mutual, Website Usability & Design

image 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)

ING Direct homepage with july 4th theme (2 July 2008)

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

WaMu homepage (Seattle cookie) 2 July 2008

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Beehive Credit Union Uses Blogging Platform to Create Custom Websites for Each Branch

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Blogs, Branch Banking, Credit Unions, Website Usability & Design

image 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":

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 Credit Union South Jordan site

Beehive Taylorsville site (1 July 2008)

Beehive Credit Union Salt Lake City Taylorsville site July 2008

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Quicken Loans Shows Customer Focus with Call Center Wait-Time on Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Mortgage, Refi & Home Equity, Quicken Loans, Website Usability & Design

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.

Quicken Loans home page with Fed rate news 25 June 2005

Close up of call center area in upper right:

Quicken Loans wait time estimate posted 25 June 2008

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Put Your Bank on the iPhone Main Screen

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Apple, iPhone, Website Usability & Design

imageYou 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."

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Scrooge Runs Bank Marketing at Most Large U.S. Banks

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: ING Direct, Prepaid/gift cards, Website Usability & Design, Wells Fargo


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

Wells Fargo homepage banner

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)

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Blog Sighting: Carolina Postal Credit Union’s Irreverent "I Love My Hoopty"

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Blogs, Credit Unions, Loans & Credit, Website Usability & Design

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) 

I love my hoopty blog


CPCU homepage (20 Nov 2007) 

Note:

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

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