SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct 28, 2010 ——Keynote’s Large Scale User Testing Plus Driver Analysis Enable Business Managers to Prioritize What Will Most Improve Site Effectiveness
—Study Winners Invited to Participate in Keynote’s Online Excellence Program
Keynote Competitive Research, the industry analysis group of Keynote (R) Systems /quotes/comstock/15*!keyn/quotes/nls/keyn (KEYN 12.01, -0.18, -1.48%) , today announced the release of two Keynote Competitive Research Studies—U.S. Banking Prospects and U.S. Banking Customers—that together provide one of the most comprehensive looks at Banking Web site user behavior and attitudes ever compiled. These studies cover the marketing and online banking Web sites of leading U.S. banks through an unprecedented 3,369 user tests, each involving a prospective or existing banking customer as they interacted with a bank’s site. The studies together cover a total of seven online banking sites: Bank of America [NYSE:BAC], Chase [NYSE:JPM], Citibank [NYSE:C], SunTrust [NYSE:STI], U.S. Bank [NYSE:USB], Wachovia and Wells Fargo [NYSE:WFC]), as well as the marketing sites of 10 banks (the aforementioned seven banks plus bb&t [nyse:BBT])(citizens bank [nyse:RBS] and PNC [NYSE).
For each study, Keynote sent up to 200 online users to each bank’s Web site. Banking Customer panelists logged into their existing online bank accounts, while Banking Prospect panelists used the bank’s marketing site. Each panelist completed several tasks critical to their status as either an existing customer managing an account, or a new-to-bank prospect learning about and applying for accounts. For example, Prospects viewed the bank’s homepage, looked for a checking or other deposit account, started the process of opening an account online, learned about the bank’s commitment to privacy and security and evaluated the site’s customer support.
The winners of Keynote Competitive Research studies are invited to participate in the company’s Online Excellence Program which recognizes the “best of the best” Web sites as ranked in the studies. The rankings are based on responses from real users using Keynote WebEffective, the only research tool for Web site usability testing that allows you to capture a customer’s complete online experience, as well as real data collected through Keynote Transaction Perspective(R) to assess the technical quality of the sites includes in a study. For each study, Keynote recognizes the companies with the overall top ranking as well as those exhibiting excellence in specific categories.
The Banking Customers Study revealed SunTrust holds a slight edge for the most effective online banking offering as measured by Overall Customer Experience. For the Brand Impact component of Overall Customer Experience, SunTrust is significantly ahead of all other banks tested.
The Banking Prospects study revealed that when tested against actual users, BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) offers the strongest Overall Customer Experience for prospective customers, though several other banks are close behind. BB&T also finished first in three of the four components of Overall Customer Experience: Brand Impact, Acquisition Impact and Customer Experience.
Analysis of Banking Customer user tests revealed seven ways in which online banking sites drive business outcomes, with Customer Support being the biggest driver. The winner in the Customer Support category was SunTrust, with Wells Fargo showing the most improvement in Customer Support since 2009.
Analysis of Banking Prospect user tests revealed eight ways in which marketing sites drive business outcomes, with Design and Organization being the biggest driver. The top-rated Web site in terms of Design and Organization was Regions Bank, with U.S. Bank showing the most improvement since 2009.
“To see how effective bank marketing sites are with the consumers that will actually use the sites, you have to interact with actual consumers as they use the sites. It’s that simple,” noted Christopher Musto, general manager of Keynote’s competitive research group at Keynote. “It may sound impractical to run 3,369 live user sessions across 10 sites while interviewing the users, collecting clickstreams, verbatims, rankable responses and panel facts and to then calculate the relationships between site experiences and business outcomes, but with our Keynote WebEffective remote user testing technology and our experience measuring sites around the world, we can do just that.”
Indeed, building on its technical capabilities, worldwide reach and the success of Keynote Competitive Research in the US, Keynote has recently expanded its Banking Prospects series to cover 7 additional countries.
The ability to dig deep into a statistically robust number of user sessions was crucial in obtaining useful findings, Musto observed. “Otherwise you’re guessing as to what’s important to offer on a site and whether the site, for all of its best practices and plaudits from analysts, actually connects with consumers better than does the competition. Or you’re stuck analyzing click stream data, not actually knowing what users are trying to accomplish and what impressions they come away with that may drive future behavior.” Unless your business model consists entirely of people opening accounts online on their first visit to your site, Musto observed, “You need to know more than what click stream data alone can provide.”
The study is available for purchase from Keynote and comes with extensive analysis of Brand Impact, Acquisition Impact, Online Adoption and Loyalty and the factors that drive sites’ performance in these areas. Clients will receive an Executive Presentation, extensive back-up charts and illustrations, and online access to all click streams, verbatims, question responses and panel facts for all panelists at all sites for all tasks and can download and use this data in their own research.
Keynote Competitive Research produces leading industry research using the company’s commercially available Web performance test and measurement products. Keynote regularly evaluates the current state of online user experience, technical quality (responsiveness & reliability) and implementation of best practices on leading Web sites across a wide variety of industries including financial services, automotive, media/entertainment portals, retail, travel and technology. To learn more about Keynote’s competitive research studies in financial services and/or to purchase the complete studies, please visit
http://www.keynote.com/keynote_competitive_research/industry_studies/financial_services.html
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About Keynote
Keynote Systems /quotes/comstock/15*!keyn/quotes/nls/keyn (KEYN 12.01, -0.18, -1.48%) is the global leader in solutions for continuously improving the Internet and mobile experience. Founded in 1995, Keynote provides testing, monitoring and measurement products and services for a variety of enterprises such as online portals, e-commerce sites, B2B sites, mobile operators and mobile infrastructure providers. Keynote products and services help companies improve customer experience in four areas: Web performance, mobile quality, streaming & VoIP, and online usability testing.
Known as The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority(TM), Keynote has a market-leading “on-demand” infrastructure of over 3,000 measurement computers and mobile devices in over 240 locations around the world. Keynote’s 2,800 customers represent top Internet and mobile companies including American Express, AT&T, Disney, eBay, E*TRADE, Expedia, Google, Microsoft, SonyEricsson, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo, California and can be reached at http://www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at 1-800-KEYNOTE.
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SOURCE: Keynote Systems, Inc.
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