Best Online Banking - 2010 Award

Download Online Banking Award including methodology (PDF)

In order to recognize the increasingly important role internet banking is playing, CANSTAR has undertaken an extensive research exercise to find out the level of online banking functionality and ease of use each Australian bank, building society and credit union offers.

In creating a new award for online banking, we looked at what customers value most. These depend predominantly on 3 main areas - internet banking (everything on the secure side), website (the public, unsecure side), and online applications (both from the secure and unsecure side). We also placed a lot of focus on how these areas are integrated.

With internet banking accounting for half of the overall scoring, we were not simply looking at the transactional capability, but how much of your banking can be managed through your internet banking portal. Institutions that scored well here interact with customers through internet banking, whether through personal messaging, stripped down or pre-populated applications for existing customers, or allowing customers to manage their relationship online.

We also looked at things like security, mobile phone banking, aggregation (both within the institution and multiinstitution), reporting and help.

For the website, we looked at content such as product information, tools, and calculators, as well as help and some ease-of-use factors. For applications, the main differentiators we looked at were the feedback being given throughout the application progress, the ability to save progress and return, and how truly online the process was. We also looked at the help available and how useful it was.

Winner - Best Online Banking Award

After all the complex calculations were done, the Commonwealth Bank rose to the top as the winner of our first Best Online Banking award.

The Commonwealth has invested a lot of time and money over the past few years to develop a customer-friendly website, both for the general public and existing customers. Our research and road test confirms the bank is on the right track.

We were particularly impressed with the efforts Commonwealth Bank has gone to in providing a streamlined online banking experience for customers. The level of information available, the ability to manage a wide variety of banking needs, and the ability to apply for new products directly from the secure online banking login were all outstanding.

While the sheer amount of information and functionality available was enough to put Commonwealth in the lead, it was the little things that tied it all together and made it easy to use that reinforced the bank as the clear winner. Things like intuitive options for searching your recent transaction history – search by financial year, not just dates or days and three months of online activity history – are helpful for both security and personal records. These are pleasant touches that make for a better overall online banking experience.

We congratulate the Commonwealth Bank for the obvious thought they have, and continue to, put into the ongoing development of their online banking experience for the benefit on their customers.

Download Online Banking Award including methodology (PDF)

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