A bank's target audience is anyone who is old enough to open a bank account and who has money to put in the account, or someone who would like a loan or a mortgage. The three banks I am investigating (see below) fulfil their purpose of supplying people with a tool to manage their money online. The websites have different security procedures that you must proceed through before you can reach your account so your details are safe.
The major advantages of online banking are that it is more secure, (i.e. you don't have to stand out in the street sorting out your affairs), and that it is generally immediate which is a positive for many people.
I think online banking will improve in the future by becoming even more easy to use, there will be more options and there will most likely be a wider variety of accounts to open so the wider choice will be attractive and attract new customers. This will improve online banking hugely and more people will most likely use it.
The three banks I will be investigating are:
- Santander
- Lloyds TSB
- HSBC - Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation
Santander
On Santander's website, you are offered the following options:
I have found that the website is reasonably easy to navigate and offers a wide range of options including insurance and current accounts. You can open an account online by either phoning 0800 707 6692 or by visiting your local branch, which can be found on the online branch locator. The website is easy to navigate although there are no drop-down menus so you are taken to a new webpage whenever you click on a link.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lloyds TSB
On Lloyds TSB's website, you are offered the following options:
I find this website incredibly easy to use, mainly because it is the website I use for my own online banking. It offers a wide range of options including loans and mortgages. You can open an account online and there are easy instructions to help you. Once again, there are no drop-down menus which I think makes the website look less professional although I prefer this website because there are more options in the menu at the top of the webpage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HSBC
On HSBC's website, you are offered the following options:
I have found this website to be fairly complicated to use, although it could be even more confusing if you weren't used to websites with drop-down menus. The website offers a wide range of options including insurance and investing. You can open an account by ringing 0800 032 4738 and, as far as I can see, this is the only way to go about it. The business section of the website also has drop-down menus and seems rather more polished than the personal section, since things seem to be laid out in a more precise order and everything seems clearer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retail banks in the United Kingdom:
- National Saving & Investments
- Tesco Bank
- HSBC
- Co-op
- Standard Chartered
- Santander Group
- Barclays
- ING Direct
- Nationwide BS
- CitiGroup
- Lloyds TSB
- HBOS
- Nat West
- RBS
- Allied Irish
In the August of 2011, banks made an effort to get ride of cheques but were met with resistance in the form of a lobby group, Consumer Focus, who said that two thirds of people still write and cash cheques.
Andrew Tyrie, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, and Sandra Quinn of the Payments Council, the body with the power to abolish cheques, debated why ditching cheques will "fail consumers". Tyrie saids that: "A lot of small traders will be worried they're going to be put out of business."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Websites I have used:
http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1237889419188&empr=Abbeycom&launch=NO&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_ViewSelector
http://www.lloydstsb.com/
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_banking
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article28905.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9571000/9571603.stm
No comments:
Post a Comment