Segment: Banking
Publication date: Friday, September 28, 2007
# Pages: (95 pages)

Abstract | Table of Contents

Because online message centers can reduce the number of calls placed to customer service representatives, they are an almost ubiquitous feature among bank firms – all but one offers some version of this private site tool. Currently, 85% of firms not only allow clients to submit questions via the private site, but also provide a full service message center with customer service responses sent to a secure private site inbox. All but two firms in this report enable accountholders to select a message topic via dropdown, with 36% of firms also utilizing sub-topic options or specially designed submission pages related to the user’s initial selection.

Two firms stand out for providing secure message centers that mirror the look and options of traditional email clients. Using either message center, customers can add attachments to sent messages and manage responses by sorting them into pre-existing and user-defined folders. Beyond these firms, however, banks’ message centers do not generally mirror traditional email clients. Only 43% of firms offer dedicated outboxes and just 21% provide printer-friendly versions of secure messages.

Message response times and new message alerts are central aspects of any firm’s message center. Only 64% of firms, however, display an estimated response time, with posted response times ranging from an industry-leading eight hours to a high of 48 hours. While each firm in this report succeeded in meeting their estimated response time, we were surprised that so many firms fail to list an expected time. Only 43% of firms send alerts to accountholders confirming that their private site message has been received, while 50% send alerts to the user’s primary email address when a new message become available. Expiration timeframes listed on bank private sites varied from 60 days to a more user-friendly one year.

Subjects

Online tools, calculators, etc.

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