27 January 2021

5 Principles for the Online Banking Experience

"New digital banking technologies and non-traditional providers have reset consumer expectations for digital banking. Now that consumers have more choice – and are more connected than ever – they expect better, more personalized experiences from every digital banking touch point.

Just flipping the switch on Internet banking was enough to stay competitive a decade ago, before institutions began adding new features and functionality to drive consumers to bank online. With almost every online banking application now offering similar bells and whistles, features alone are no longer enough to sustain customer engagement and meet changing consumer expectations.

Now, a well-conceived digital banking experience helps set a financial institution apart in a competitive marketplace – and can transform how a consumer interacts with financial products, services and institutions. Differentiation is about delivering the right experiences at the right place and time.

Savvy financial institutions give people a compelling reason to bank online, making it easy and effortless, while creating a holistic financial view for each customer. These enhanced experiences ultimately create deeper relationships between consumers and their financial institution. Well-designed solutions and thoughtful innovation also drive awareness and adoption of key services and sets the foundation of next-generation products and services.

Fiserv is focused on bringing intelligent simplicity to everyday financial tasks to meet increasingly high end-user expectations. Through in-depth research of end users and financial institutions, our teams are working with clients to re-envision the online banking experience through five key design principles." Greg Jones

Source: Fiserv Blog


The principles

  1. Purposeful and polished aesthetics

    A good online banking site should have an updated look and feel with a modern, clean style that is easily identified as part of the financial institution's brand. For consumers, these attributes provide clarity and ease of use, but also help instill confidence and trust in the experience and, in turn, the financial institution.

  2. Reduced complexity

    Financial institutions should simplify the online banking experience in terms of page layout, navigation, task flows, and content display. The most frequently used tasks should be clearly accessible. Simple navigation leads to ease of use throughout the experience, as well as increased efficiency and confidence for the end user.

  3. Dedicated spaces, each doing one thing well.

    Each page or interaction should focus on one core task with the right amount of contextual functionality where necessary. Dedicated spaces bring focus and clarity to single actions, rather than overwhelming the user with a multitude of options on every page of the site.

  4. Integration of digital ecosystem assets

    The best online banking experiences weave functionality from other applications into the system, including person-to-person payments, bill payment and personal financial management tools – and provide easy access to the capabilities they use the most. It should be easy to navigate from one task to the next and the application's workflows should make sense. For instance, upcoming bills should be clearly displayed and it should take one click to display bill detail and schedule a payment.

  5. Design with multi-channel in mind

    A growing number of consumers are banking from smartphones and tablets, yet online banking remains foundational to the digital banking experience. An ideal online banking experience will resonate across digital channels with consistent design elements and simple navigation.

    Online banking is not new, but it's time for banks and credit unions to offer consumers a new experience that incorporates best practices in good design. To compete, financial institutions must create customer-centric digital strategies and a compelling user experience that attracts and keeps customers.

1. Purposeful and polished aesthetics

A good online banking site should have an updated look and feel with a modern, clean style that is easily identified as part of the financial institution's brand. For consumers, these attributes provide clarity and ease of use, but also help instill confidence and trust in the experience and, in turn, the financial institution.

2. Reduced complexity

Financial institutions should simplify the online banking experience in terms of page layout, navigation, task flows, and content display. The most frequently used tasks should be clearly accessible. Simple navigation leads to ease of use throughout the experience, as well as increased efficiency and confidence for the end user.

3. Dedicated spaces, each doing one thing well.

Each page or interaction should focus on one core task with the right amount of contextual functionality where necessary. Dedicated spaces bring focus and clarity to single actions, rather than overwhelming the user with a multitude of options on every page of the site.

4. Integration of digital ecosystem assets

The best online banking experiences weave functionality from other applications into the system, including person-to-person payments, bill payment and personal financial management tools – and provide easy access to the capabilities they use the most. It should be easy to navigate from one task to the next and the application's workflows should make sense. For instance, upcoming bills should be clearly displayed and it should take one click to display bill detail and schedule a payment.

5. Design with multi-channel in mind

A growing number of consumers are banking from smartphones and tablets, yet online banking remains foundational to the digital banking experience. An ideal online banking experience will resonate across digital channels with consistent design elements and simple navigation.

Online banking is not new, but it's time for banks and credit unions to offer consumers a new experience that incorporates best practices in good design. To compete, financial institutions must create customer-centric digital strategies and a compelling user experience that attracts and keeps customers.

Tags

  • UX
  • service design

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