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February
15, 2005
PRESS RELEASE
Competition for Credit Card Customers Heats Up Online,
Reports Keynote
- Privacy & Security Issues of Paramount
Concern to Consumers
- Discover and American Express
Provide Best Online Customer Experience
- Bank One,
MBNA Most Effective at Acquiring Customers Over the
Web
- Keynote Study Examines Consumer Experience at
Leading Credit Card Web sites
SAN MATEO, Calif., — February 15, 2005 — The
competition to acquire credit card customers online
has heated up according to a new study by Keynote Systems
(Nasdaq “KEYN”), The Internet Performance
Authority®. Keynote provides the industry’s
most comprehensive periodic competitive benchmarking
of consumer attitudes and experiences at leading credit
card Web sites through its syndicated research reports.
The company’s large scale studies are performed
regularly allowing for key industries to be tracked
over time from an online customer experience standpoint.
The Keynote Customer Experience (CE) Rankings for
the Credit Card Industry are based on research with
2,000 prospective customers as they evaluated and interacted
with leading credit card Web sites. In addition to
traditional opinion data, Keynote’s proprietary
research technology collects detailed qualitative and
behavioral data as prospective customers perform tasks
at each site.
The Web sites operated by American Express, Bank of
America, Bank One, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover,
MBNA, Providian and Wells Fargo were evaluated as part
of this competitive benchmarking study.
Competition for Online Customer Acquisition Heats
Up
The Keynote study revealed an increasingly competitive
race for customers online – and uncovered the
key motivators for consumers when evaluating and applying
for cards online. Although Discover Card and American
Express provide the best online experience for consumers,
as measured by the overall Keynote CE Rankings, the
five leading card sites are closely grouped together
in terms of customer experience appeal.
In addition, Bank One and Citibank have made gains
in their effectiveness in acquiring customers online,
joining MBNA atop the Keynote Acquisition Impact Index.
The index gauges the overall likelihood of a visitor
to apply for a credit card based on their online experience
at a specific card site.
Keynote Customer
Experience Rankings
|
1
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Discover |
2
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American Express |
3
|
Chase |
Keynote Acquisition
Impact Index Rankings
|
1
|
Bank One |
2
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MBNA |
3
|
Citibank |
Prospective customers visiting the Bank One site were
11%more likely to apply for a card now than they were
just six months ago, when the last Keynote study of
prospective credit card customers was conducted. Prospective
customers visiting the Citibank site were 19% more
likely to apply for a card now than they were just
twelve months ago.
The seven leading sites in terms of customer experience
and acquisition impact have a significant competitive
advantage over the other sites evaluated during the
study.
“A growing need exists for information regarding
online credit application processes,” said Susan
Cournoyer, principal analyst at Gartner. “Information
such as satisfaction data and ease of use data can
help consumers more effectively navigate the world
of online credit, and also help providers of credit
to improve their services in ways that directly align
with consumer needs and preferences.”
Privacy and Security Issues of Paramount Concern to
Consumers
In a significant indication of consumer concern, privacy
and security issues were the second most important
driver of customer satisfaction when evaluating credit
cards online, with only credit card fees and interest
rates having a greater impact. More than 85% of study
participants said privacy and security issues were
important or very important to them.
The consumer’s decision process was also driven
considerably by the availability of customer support
options and the ease of applying online. More than
65% of consumers rated ease of use as important or
very important – and close to 15% of consumers
expressed frustration with the online application process
at the site they visited. Discover, MBNA and American
Express were rated as having the best online application
processes.
“Privacy and security issues are of paramount
importance to consumers evaluating a credit card site,” said
Dr. Bonny Brown, director of research and public services
at Keynote. “But once customers sign up with
a card company, these issues diminish in importance,
as the consumer grows comfortable with the card and
Web site – then customer support issues come
to the fore as a driver in influencing customer experience
and loyalty.”
How Consumers Search for Credit Cards Online
Most consumers [53%] start their search for a credit
card at a search engine and then follow a link to
a specific credit card or bank site, 47% type in
a bank or credit card company’s URL directly
into their Internet browser. Six in ten consumers
[60%] use a search engine at some point in their
search and evaluation process, with Google, Yahoo!
and MSN being the top search destinations.
The entire report, Keynote Customer Experience (CE)
Rankings for the Credit Card Industry, is a 100+ page
examination of the credit card industry containing
hundreds of additional data points and a detailed analysis
of the findings. For information about purchasing the
full report, visit http://www.keynote.com/syndicated.html.
Keynote Customer Experience Research
Keynote is the leading provider of customer experience
research services, offering both syndicated and custom
research examining consumer attitudes and behavior
on the Web. Keynote’s research provides critical
business insight into online customer experiences,
industry trends and competitive Web strategies for
a variety of vertical industries. In addition to
traditional opinion data, Keynote’s proprietary
research technology and access to a panel of 160,000+
consumers allows for the collection of detailed qualitative
and behavioral data that inform its reports.
Keynote’s syndicated research includes two distinct
types of reports: the Keynote Customer Experience (CE)
Rankings, which provide competitive benchmarking and
rankings of the leading Web sites in a specific industry;
and Open Web Research (OWR), which takes a broader
look at the customer’s experience across the
entire Web when performing specific tasks, such as
booking business travel.
Keynote CE (CE) Rankings are available for a number
of industries including the retail, banking and credit
card industries, as well as several travel verticals,
including the lodging, cruise and rental car industries.
The Keynote CE Rankings are the successor to the Vividence
CE Rankings following Keynote’s acquisition of
Vividence in September 2004.
To learn more about Keynote’s syndicated research
offerings and for a list of the various vertical industry
reports that are available, visit: http://www.keynote.com/solutions/cem_syndicated_research.html
About Keynote
Founded in 1995, Keynote Systems (Nasdaq “KEYN”),
The Internet Performance Authority®, is the worldwide
leader in e-business performance management services.
Over 2,100 corporate IT and marketing departments and
20,000 individual subscribers rely on Keynote’s
growing range of measurement and monitoring, service
level and customer experience management services to
improve e-business performance by reducing costs, improving
customer satisfaction and increasing profitability.
Keynote is viewed as The Internet Performance Authority
due to the company’s global infrastructure of
over 1,600 measurement computers in more than 50 cities
worldwide that capture and store on a daily basis over
60 million Internet performance measurements, frequent
media citations quoting Keynote's Web performance data
and analysis, the company’s market-leading Web
performance indices for vertical markets and leading
customer research that provides critical business insight
into online customer experiences, industry trends and
competitive Web strategies.
Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo,
California and can be reached at www.keynote.com or
by phone in the U.S. at 650-403-2400.
Keynote, The Internet Performance Authority and Perspective
are registered trademarks of Keynote Systems, Inc.
Other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
©2005 Keynote Systems, Inc.
Media Relations Contacts:
Dan Berkowitz, Keynote, (650)
403-3305, dberkowitz@keynote.com
Dan Cahill, Roaring PR (for Keynote), (415) 552-3999,
dcahill@roaringcommunications.com
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