2011 - Canadian Online Banking scorCard Review
For the second straight year RBC Royal Bank has ranked 1st in Surviscor’s Online Banking scorCard, a comprehensive, objective annual assessment of online features and functionality at major Canadian banking institutions. TD Canada Trust, a previous two-time winner, again placed second. Last year’s third place finisher, CIBC, has been bumped by BMO Bank of Montreal which jumped from eighth place. This year also marks the first time the big five banks have taken the top five spots. Surviscor introduced Ally into the review and once again, customer e-mail responsiveness initiated outside of the secure website is poor as measured by Surviscor's ongoing Customer Email Responsiveness (CER) program. Not one online banking firm attained Surviscor's Platinum status of under 4 hours average response time.”
BMO Bank of Montreal and ING Direct improved the most relative to 2010, BMO Bank of Montreal jumping five spots in the rankings and ING Direct increasing its score by 18 points. RBC Royal Bank took the top score in two of the five main measurement categories, ‘Customer Support’ and ‘Website Transactions.’ TD Canada Trust had the best marks for the ‘Getting Started’ and ‘Website Design’ categories. Coast Capital Savings scored highest in the ‘Service Rates and Fees’ category for the third consecutive year. CIBC and Scotiabank failed to take the top scores in any service category this year after winning ‘Getting Started’ and ‘Website Transactions’, respectively, in 2010.
New to this year’s scorCard was an expanded analysis of mobile banking services, environmentally-friendly features and use of social media. The enhancements were due to the growing importance for consumers. Unlike previous years, there were alot of enhancements to the online offerings, mainly in new easy to use and understand designs. The credit union based firms in the analysis lack the design sophistication of most of the big banks when in the transactional areas of the site. From year to year the overall online experience remained the same at the majority of the firms but not this year.
RESULTS:
The 2011 results saw most firms' scores increase from 2010, something that does not usually happen. The criteria questions increased 10% to just over 2000 for the first time. RBC Royal Bank and BMO Bank of Montreal have taken a big step into budgeting and expense tracking to the current transactional history and have introduced a new level of account management to the industry. The products allows users to monitor usage versus budgets down to individual transactional detail along with charts and tables for visual effect.
Surviscor’s Online Banking scorCard is a comprehensive, impartial audit of online features and functionality at major Canadian banking institutions. This simulated-usage study measures over two thousand objective criteria within multiple service categories that are weighted according to industry-defined importance. The scorCard was powered by CorbinPartners Inc., a leading business intelligence provider and gold-seal member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA).
CorbinPartners Inc (www.corbinpartners.com) is an established provider of corporate business intelligence, statistical measurement and forensic market research. It conducts service, brand and customer experience audits in many retail areas, and has Canada’s leading specialty practice in research support for risk analysis, regulatory matters, and litigation.
CRITERIA/CATEGORIES
The Criteria:
Surviscor reviews all major Canadian online banking firms including schedule I, schedule II and the largest credit unions. The Firms are evaluated for the online features and functionality they posses.
| The Main Categories: |
| 1. | Getting Started
The Getting Started category explores the public site for features and functionality available to both the customer and non-customer.
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| 2. | Website Design
The Website Design category explores the general online experience of the user and the ability of the firm to provide an easy to use site. It also includes availability of handicap features and functionality.
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| 3. | Customer Support
The Customer Support category explores the various customer touch points offered to contact the firm and assist in the opening and day-to-day operations of the main bank account and any other related online servcies .
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| 4. | Website Transactions
The Website Transactions focuses on the core transactional features, functionality and capabilities of the online banking service.
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| 5. | Service Rates and Fees
The Service Rates and Fees category analyzes the cost of having various online bank accounts based on the activity for an average client account.
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Next Analysis: Fall 2012