Cashing In Online: An Overview of Bank Websites

I was visiting my online bank accounts the other day and I came up with the idea of exploring some of the popular bank websites from around the world.

Let’s face it, who doesn’t deposit their cash and savings in a bank? (Unless you still believe in hiding it under your mattress!)

While I was researching this article, I was becoming more and more frustrated as there are simply so few bank website designs that can compare with their earning status.

I’ve concluded that these banks simply do not care at all. Just to name some of the problems- typography, accessibility, usability, visual appeal etc, none of these attributes have excelled on the websites related to this industry.

To be frank, the “professionals” who are responsible for creating such visual monsters should really get a knock on the head for putting the user experience at risk.

I’ve concluded that these banks simply do not care at all. Just named the problems- typography, accessibility, usability, visual appeals etc, none of these has excelled on these website related to this industry.

To put it across frankly, the "professional" that was responsible for creating such visual monsters should really get a knock on their head for putting the eye and user experience at risk.

A Closer Look at the Bank Websites of Today

My examination here will touch mostly on the visual experience of the sites while reviewing some operational aspects of them. Hopefully, modern-day designers and developers will avoid this pitfall and spare the woe of visitors.

Although I'll try to be as neutral as possible and mention as many positive things as I can (if any). I do not know if I'm up to the challenge of showcasing some of the nicest industry sites in this article. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The Messy Home Page

Something that you want more of and will never get enough of is definitely money. I guess this mindset has surely sunk deep into the brains of these banks.

Whilst a vast amount of information made readily available to a visitor could answer this quickly, more often the overload of words will instantly overwhelm visitors too. The "as much as possible" concept will have to be controlled here.

HSBC New Zealand
This site has a lot of information on display and even has two identical navigation bars.

Know Your Visitors Needs

Unless you ask, you will always take it for granted that everyone likes and enjoys your website. Feedback is a very important tool to improve basically anything. Organize the navigation bars to present the most relevant sections to the visitors. That’s why banks should be concerned about gathering online feedback via survey forms etc.

A bank needs to know the areas of interest to their web visitors; banks could improve a customer’s user experience by directing them straight to their relevant country branch based on their IP address. Many banks do their trade globally and this could save visitors some time.

I would suggest that banks have an auto redirect ability based on the country visitors are connecting from. The customers aren't interested in other country's branches of the bank, why not just make their life easier and assist them in finding what they want.

Maybe the banks are giving the visitors their freedom of choice to select which country's branch they want to visit. But consider yourself as a bank account holder, it's more likely that you are interested only in the amount in your account at your local branch rather than any other country's branch.

Standard Chartered Bank
The Standard Chartered Bank website does not have an auto redirect function which sends visitors to the site of the bank based in their country location.

Show Me My Cash Now!

What's the first thing you do when you visit a bank website? If you have said Online/Internet-Banking, we are on the same frequency man! Whether you are transferring cash, paying bills or simply updating your account records, you will need to sign in to your account first.

However, this process is increasingly tedious, especially with the tightened security for the increasing risk of identity theft, fraud and hacks. I’m not saying that bank websites should remove the log-in verification section.

For most banks, they probably employ enhanced security to safeguard their customers. I’m suggesting that they make this process a bit easier for the user and it’s really up to the I.T guy to make that happen, whilst maintaining effective security levels.

Lacking the “Wow” Elements

Banks could argue that they do not need to have the wow factor or elements as long as they practice their business right and treat their customers well. But consider this, if you are going to create your online presence, why not do it well? What makes a bank website “great” today is not the same as what made a website “great” 10 years ago.

The introduction of internet banking, online investments and other web related services has gradually moved the customers’ cash closer to them. The indispensable need for a human bank teller has already become a folk tale from the past.

It was surprising that many of these bank sites are still not forward-looking enough or lack the foresight in this aspect, which is worrying especially considering it is an industry, which calls strongly for this.

Lloyds TSB

Bank of America

Bank of Scotland

Poor Java Applets

Banks have opted for Java Applets for security reasons, in exchange for the sacrifice of user accessibility. But until there are better and safer technologies, we have to make do with it for now.

The Irritating Align Left Layout

Another ancient web design trend used on many corporate bank sites is the aligned left layout, which is obviously a pain for usability. This kind of layout may have been fresh at first but inevitably risks losing a lot of white space. Below are a few examples of banks with aligned left layout sites.

Maybank Singapore

OCBC Bank

Focused Text Based Site

When a bank wants to cut costs, this is perhaps one of the best ways to support it. The ordinary and similar text that floods the site is a disgrace to the rising trends of typography to beautify websites. Some of the sites I visited failed miserably in this regard.

There were so many more examples of bank sites that use only ordinary text and very limited visual appeal. It’s amazing how the sites in this niche have so much in common in the area of bad practices.

IBBW

Obsolete Design

That the banks keep going and their visitors keep returning is a sign that many of them do not suffer greatly from the problems discussed above. These bank sites are in fact somewhat usable even though they incorporate outdated trends and conservative layouts.

A few examples are shown below.

Grupo BBVA

Credit Agricole

Recovering From the Financial Crisis?

Until I started researching this article, I thought that corporate bank websites should be one of the most respectable industries, considering the amount of trust people have in them, and the heavy marketing through advertising.

Perhaps the banks are slowly recovering from the financial crisis and have decided to cut the budget for a revamped official site? Or have they even bothered to try starting work on a makeover?

Sometimes, these bank websites will make you wonder if your money is really safe with them after all when you consider the design of their website which is often very unconvincing.

Showcase of the “Best” Sites

Pardon me if this article sounds like I’m trying to pick holes in the work of the designers and developers of bank websites. Now I will try to present some of the best banking industry websites after taking all factors like usability, interaction, accessibility and visual appeal into consideration, while forcibly trying to keep in line with modern web design and development standards and best practices.

Some of these sites have a few of the weaknesses I’ve discussed, but generally are more instinctive, non-obtrusive, and easier to navigate.

Wells Fargo

Uni Credit Group

UBS

Santander

RBS

Morgan Stanley

JP Morgan Chase

ICBC

Credit Suisse

Comm Bank

Citi Group

BPCE

BNP Paribas Bank

Barclays

Banca Romaneasca

ANZ

Agricultural Bank of China

KEB

Banking In or Out?

Obviously, this article is not promoting any banks and we cannot discount the years of hard work and service of the banks merely based on their official websites. But the number of poorly executed designs and navigational techniques and the overwhelming amount of self-indulgent elements I’ve discussed here make it clear that this industry has some important ground to make up in usability, accessibility, and best practices.

As the world calls for a more interactive and compelling user experience when it comes to the internet, the banking and financial industry should really plan their next move carefully in order to retain their old customers and attract new ones.

There are other examples of poor usability that I didn’t include in order to save some face for the creators of such awful designs. Maybe there are underlying reasons for the uninspired creation of these websites, maybe due to legal issues, business politics, company directives or even the lack of ability to think out of the box. Or maybe these problems have something to do with the financial crisis…

What's is your view of the bank websites? Please share your thoughts with us.