Marketer Website Scorecard
Banking

RSW/US and RSW/AgencySearch have been reviewing agency and marketer websites for a good part of their 17 years in business. We use the same criteria to evaluate marketers sites as we use to evaluate agency websites.

Below you’ll see scorecards for Wells Fargo, United Bank, and Sunrise Banks.

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Wells Fargo

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User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Overall, the user experience is decent, not great. Wells Fargo does a nice job of giving the consumer shopping for personal banking (which is where this analysis for all three banks is focused) an easy-to-use choice of the things that are likely of greater value to them – right at the top of the home page.
The problem, though, is when you click on “savings & checking” as an example, it doesn’t open to a page that tells the story of Wells Checking & Savings; the consumer has to make selections, which pigeon holes them into only one area of the “Checking & Savings”. If the consumer was driven instead to one “Checking & Savings” page, they could more easily see the complete story and not just one piece of it.
Wells did a nice job of giving consumers the potential answers they need with links to different articles and sections on their site. Their chat box also opens at a seemingly appropriate time – when the consumer has dived down into specific offerings – versus overwhelming a consumer as soon as they enter the site.
And finally, they offer consumers choices. For those coming to the site knowing they want checking, they give them an obvious place to turn for a checking solution. For those coming to Wells’ site on more of an exploration mission, they provide a nice choice of “life situations” (e.g., “managing the unexpected”, “buying a home”, “life events”) to choose from – addressing the consumer from more of a personal/emotional/situational standpoint. Makes Wells Fargo seem less threatening and overwhelming as a result of that.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

Our only suggestion here is to make it simpler for the consumer by turning what is a multi-customer site into a focused site for the individual. What we mean by that is rather than having all the tabs at the top of the page consistently show up no matter where the consumer is, instead take the consumer to what appears to be “their site” for personal/consumer banking.
Maybe have this “new” home page open with a statement of what Wells Fargo means for personal banking customers…make them feel at home at Wells Fargo. Right now, while all the information is good, the site doesn’t feel like it’s speaking to the personal banking prospect throughout.

Positioning

Defines what brand does and how unique?

Not really certain what Wells Fargo’s positioning is. Frankly, if I came to their site cold, I wouldn’t really know what the heck they are. Nowhere does it say “we’re a bank and a whole lot more,” or “we are the confidence you need to travel the long Wells Fargo road with us.”
Without any functional or emotional description of Wells Fargo’s point of difference, it leaves us feeling a bit cold and not cared for.
If Wells Fargo follows our recommendation above in the UX section, each sub-home page (e.g., Personal, Small Business) could open with a statement of the value that Wells Fargo brings to that type of relationship – which would be great. But just doing that is limiting because without some definition on the main home page, a potential personal bank customer might never make it to that secondary home page we’re recommending they add.
We took a look at some of the other “top 15” banks in the country, and the amount of sameness across banks is unbelievable; and it’s quite extraordinary how much commoditization there is in the industry. Everybody appears to be so feature focused – makes it hard to decide where to shop other than shopping the bank like they are a credit card – looking for the lowest costs – which might be fine, but there has to be more to a banking experience than purely numbers and rates.
Here is a look at some of the Top 15 U.S. banks and how they attempt to create some perceived value beyond the “great rate” race – a much better definition of who they are and why they make sense for their potential customers:
- Citi: We are dedicated to responsibly providing financial services to enable growth and economic progress.
- BNY Mellon: Onward to Opportunity
- Citizens Bank: You’re made of keeping things in check. So are we.
- Silicon Valley Bank (business bank): Proactive guidance for the long run.
- First Republic Bank: It’s a privilege to serve you.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in brand?

Wells Fargo gets a 3 for two counter-opposing reasons. What works in their favor is they are a known, national brand name, which inherently should be enough to give consumers a great sense of confidence and a feeling of legitimacy because of who they are.
The thing working against them is their track record of less than favorable news (e.g., mortgage business exit and excessive fee charging). Not that Wells Fargo needs to address these issues head-on, but what they should consider is more quickly building the consumer’s confidence that this is a bank they can trust.
As an example, instead of ending the home page with “who we are” and “living our commitment”, move these closer to the top of the fold on the home page, so consumers get to know the bank on a more personal level and feel that any bad press they have heard is no longer an issue for Wells. By not doing this, Wells is at a disadvantage to other banks because they have baggage and only offer the same stuff other banks offer.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

Nothing wrong with the site’s ability to present itself the same way throughout. All icons and typeface presentation are roughly the same, so the consumer doesn’t have to work too hard to orient themselves to what’s going on within any individual page.

United Bank

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User Experience

Easy to navigate?

We believe United Bank has an opportunity to make the experience for the personal banking prospect simpler.
When a banking prospect first clicks on the “Personal” tab, a sea of options are presented to them. Under each option is a selection that says (as an example) “Select Checking Solutions”.
Our question is, why not do like we recommended on the Wells Fargo analysis and take the prospect to a “Personal” page that introduces the bank to its potential customers and offers five selections, versus the 20 currently on the dropdown? Unless there is clear evidence that consumers are diving down into the specifics on the home page and not looking at things more broadly first, it seems it would be best to start broadly and then let the prospective customer dial it down the way they want to.
Regardless, we think United Bank is missing out on an opportunity to speak more intimately with its potential customers by guiding them to a “master landing page” for “Personal” and telling the story of United Bank as it relates to this broad offering.
Separate suggestion: while we really like the fact that the Bank has tried to establish a bit of a personality by showcasing its “United with the Community” section right under the top of the fold, it would be more impactful if potential customers could see a summary of what each post was about above each individual post. This way the prospect doesn’t have to take the time to read each post, but can instead skim the headlines and see how great United Bank really is for the communities it operates in.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

Other than the suggestion to clarify the consumer’s choices (as noted above), the site is fairly clear. United Bank doesn’t muddy up the home page with a bunch of functional offers like credit cards and mobile apps, which is good. They present clear and concise information that can directly benefit the consumer visiting the home page of their site.

Positioning

Defines what brand does and how unique?

We think United Bank has an opportunity to drive home a powerful positioning centered on building an “exceptional partnership”. As we look at the home page, there is clearly a theme of being a value-added partner. Starting at the opening of the home page, where the bank tells customers they can help with savings initiatives (could be made a bit stronger however), to the sections that follow about helping the community, offering advice for saving strategies, tips to avoid fraud, etc.
Rather than opening with a picture of a woman dropping a quarter into a piggy bank and telling consumers to “be your best saver” and “we can help”, we suggest saying something like “Let United Bank make this year the best year yet!” Then all the things that follow can work to support this positioning.
One additional suggestion that also speaks to supporting this refined positioning is rather than making one of the three “posts” under the top of the home page about their checking product offering, drop in an informational piece on “Thrive” (women’s financial empowerment) as it is such an important topic that will certainly appeal to a large portion of their banking population. No reason why it should be buried under the “Learning” section at the bottom of the list.

Legitimacy

Defines what brand does and how unique?

Not sure why the “About Us” section is basically invisible. The only place a prospective customer can find it is if they go to the footer of the website.
Since United Bank isn’t necessarily a household brand (ranked #24^th “best bank” in the Washington, D.C. area by Wallethub), it makes sense to give prospective customers the information they need upfront to learn a little bit about the bank’s history, its values, its successes, and its growth over the years.
We would recommend dropping the strongest, most convincing part of the “About Us” section right under the top of the fold on the home page, and then offering a link to the full “About Us” page. Within the opening of this “About Us” summary, the bank could talk a bit about its “Let United Bank make this year the best year yet!” positioning and how this has always been its mantra from the start of the bank.

Consistency

Tells cohesive story across site?

The site is very consistent in look/feel throughout. They do a nice job of maintaining the United Bank brand across all pages on the site.

Sunrise Banks

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User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Similar to the other banks in this evaluation, Sunrise Banks makes it unnecessarily difficult to review a full spectrum of offerings under each of their primary personal banking offerings.
In fact, they take it one step further by only showing the one thing the prospective banking customer clicked on – on that clicked-to page, that forces the visitor to back out of the page or hit the logo to go back to the home page and start over.
The other thing that is a bit annoying is when a personal banking customer clicks on the “Personal” icon to look at the personal banking services that Sunrise offers, visits one of those pages, and then returns to the home page to start all over, it defaults to the “business” tab versus remembering that you are a “personal” banking prospect.
And on pages like “Digital Banking”, rather than putting “enroll today” in front of prospects as soon as they visit the page and omitting any discussion of features/benefits (making them scroll past that “ask” to see what the features and benefits of the bank’s digital banking are), we recommend following the model used in sections like “checking” and let consumers see both when they hit the product page.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

Generally speaking, Sunrise Banks does a nice job of presenting an easy-to-understand story about itself and its products.
Our only suggestion regards the top of the fold on the home page. Right now, the home mortgage image on the carousel shows up first, and it doesn’t move off of that image without it manually being moved. While prospective customers should know that Sunrise Banks is a bank, by the very nature of its name, might be better to start with the image on the carousel that speaks to “Commitment to mission, great people, community builders…what’s not to love?”. This slide will immediately help establish your character and point of difference.
We would also recommend that you set up the carousel so it automatically moves at a pace of every 3-4 seconds, so prospects can see it but not miss it.

Positioning

Defines what brand does and how unique?

Sunrise Banks does an outstanding job defining its point of difference and value to consumers. The only suggestion we have is the one above: to re-order the carousel slides so the first thing prospects see is your unique story.
Sunrise carries their story throughout the entirety of their site, which is great. Really leaves prospective banking customers with a feeling that the bank is very different from all the generic offerings on the market.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in brand?

Given the relatively small size of Sunrise Banks, it might be helpful to take some of the stats from the 2021 Impact Report and drop them right beneath the top of the fold on the home page (along with some of the content from the ”Who We Are” page). Stats like number of families served, number of accounts opened, and amount of personal loans given might help better legitimize the bank among those that are a bit more skeptical of a “good for the community” bank being good for their pocketbook.

Consistency

Tells cohesive story across site?

The site does a very nice job of presenting itself with a consistent look and feel. The branding of the site is solid, which creates a sense of confidence.

Marketer Website Scorecard
Banking

Wells Fargo

United Bank

Sunrise Banks

Wells Fargo

User Experience

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

United Bank

User Experience

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Sunrise Banks

User Experience

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Connect With RSW/US

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Marketer Website Scorecard Banking

Wells Fargo

United Bank

Sunrise Banks

Wells Fargo

User Experience

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

United Bank

User Experience

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Sunrise Banks

User Experience

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Connect With RSW/US

Site Map

Follow Us

Marketer Website Scorecard
Banking