New Change Sciences Research Shows National City's Online Banking Site is Easiest to Use

Business Wire, Feb 11, 2004

Business Editors

IRVINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2004

Change Sciences Group, Inc. released its 2004 Q1 report on the user-friendliness of ten leading online banking web sites today. While some online banking sites are on the right track, most have a long way to go when it comes to providing easy online banking. This new report looks at the ease-of-use of viewing statements, paying bills and other key day-to-day banking activities on ten leading sites.

Online banking provides customers with unprecedented convenience and control. Much of what once took a visit to a branch can now be accomplished in the comfort of the customer's home. Currently 28 million US households bank online, and that number is expected to grow to over 50 million by 2010.

Online banking is the customer's daily point of contact with the bank, and the quality of the customer's experience when using online banking sets the tone for future relationships. With banks hoping to expand their relationship with the consumer beyond checking and savings account to mortgages, personal loans, and investment products, the importance of user-friendly online banking has never been more critical.

Nine large banks and one virtual provider were selected for the review, and basic checking accounts were opened at each. Each site was then evaluated for ease of use in terms of logging onto the site, checking recent transactions, adding a payee, making one-time and recurring payments, checking on payment status, and logging off.

National City and virtual provider E*Trade Bank led the pack according to the 2004 Q1 report using Change Sciences scenario-based Typifi(TM) customer experience benchmarking methodology. Industry heavyweights Citibank and Wachovia lagged behind, ranking ninth and tenth in a ten-site review.

"Each bank we evaluated attempts to provide the same basic services to their customers. How they accomplished this, and to what degree of success they accomplished it, is what's interesting here," said Steve Ellis, Change Sciences founder and partner, and one of the authors of the report. "The focus of our work was to identify which online banking interfaces work best for the average consumer."

Awkward navigation, poor support for finding transaction details, and trouble with the add-a-payee process were just some of the pitfalls customers are likely to encounter in the online banking process.

The overall site rankings are as follows:

1. National City

2. E*Trade

3. Bank of America

4. US Bank

5. Bank One

6. Wells Fargo

7. JP Morgan Chase

8. Washington Mutual

9. Citibank

10. Wachovia

For more information on this and other Change Sciences research please visit:

http://www.changesciences.com/research.html

Change Sciences Usability Benchmarks are based on its Typifi benchmarking process. Typifi allows for the empirical comparison of sites across more than 30 usability metrics. Using the Typifi process, site owners can see how their site compares with competitors, as a customer would use it, thought-by-thought and keystroke-by-keystroke. Sites that are easy to use attract and retain more customers and project a positive brand image. Using Typify, Change Sciences' analysts are able to identify and document web design best practices, allowing site owners to make changes that matter to the bottom line.

Change Sciences was founded in January of 2000 with the idea that companies can optimize key business processes by basing decisions about technological change in how people use technology while they live, work and play.