New Change Sciences Research Identifies the Characteristics of Well-Designed Credit Card Web Sites

Business Wire, Sept 8, 2004

IRVINGTON, N.Y. -- Change Sciences Group, Inc. released its Q3, 2004 report on the online customer experience provided by leading credit card web sites today. The report, Online Credit Card Customer Acquisition: Customer Experience Benchmarks and Best Practices, ranks the sites according to their support for the goals of first-time credit seekers, credit revolvers, and monthly pay-off prospects. These goals include:

-- Finding credit cards on the site

-- Identifying the right card for the customer

-- Using a decision tool

-- Learning about product details

-- Applying for a card

-- Transferring a balance

Credit card customer acquisition continues to be competitive. The online channel has proven to be a critical tool for applications. Now providers are paying more attention to features that directly impact acquisition. These features include well-designed card comparisons, decision tools, and product detail pages. Some sites are more successful at presenting these features than others. Sites with best practices in design are well positioned to help the consumer move comfortably from browsing to committing to a card. "A simple and streamlined application process is becoming the norm. Credit card providers must get this right first. The way sites help customers in their decision-making process is quickly becoming a key differentiator," said Pamela Ellis, a Change Sciences partner.

Providian earns the top spot in the rankings with a clear and direct application process. National City and Discover round out the top three by showing prospects a concise overview of card rates and features in a easy-to-read grid. Chase places last due to an application process that requires more reading and data entry than the other sites, in addition to recent changes that have made card details harder to find.

The overall customer experience rankings are as follows:

1.  Providian
2.  National City
3.  Discover
4.  Capital One
5.  Fleet
6.  Citibank
7.  Bank of America
8.  Bank One
9.  Household Bank
10. MBNA
11. Wachovia
12. US Bank
13. American Express
14. Chase

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

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

Change Sciences Customer Experience Benchmarking Reports are based on our Typifi(TM) benchmarking process. Typifi allows for the empirical comparison of sites across key customer experience metrics. Our benchmarking reports show site managers how their sites compare with those of competitors, how a customer would use it, thought-by-thought and keystroke-by-keystroke. Sites that provide a compelling customer experience attract and retain more customers. These sites also project a positive brand image. Using Typifi, Change Sciences' analysts identify and document web design best practices, allowing site managers to make changes that matter to the bottom line.

Change Sciences was founded in January 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.