Five major mortgage providers now using videos to attract customers
04 November 2011 |
Mapa researchers recorded around 35 changes whilst completing the latest Mortgages Dashboard update.
A notable trend was the increase in video marketing amongst the mortgage providers, with many of them adding videos to their websites to help convey facts and guidance about their products and...keep reading
Santander shake things up amongst the UK’s savings providers
21 November 2011 |
Recently, Mapa delivered the quarterly update of our savings dashboard, which included the recent excitement caused by Santander’s new fixed rate bond that pays interest upfront. Santander pays interest of £1,000 pound upfront for every £12,000 customers deposit into the account.
The report...keep reading
Mobile Innovation and changes continue unabated
19 December 2011 |
Christmas has come early for the Mobile Banking industry as Mapa releases its International Mobile and SMS Banking Dashboard. The findings will give many a festive cheer as the industry reveals itself to be in rude health. The rate of change in this area is extraordinary with most banks...keep reading
More UK banking platforms improved and enhanced
20 December 2011 |
Mapa has recently produced the Internet Banking Dashboard: an in depth look at all the major UK banks’ Internet Banking services.
Nationwide recently completely relaunched their Internet Banking platform as part of a wider IT transformation. The new platform has much of the same functionality...keep reading
HSBC matching mortgage deals for existing customers
23 May 2008 |
Changes in the mortgage market have been very topical of late and it is interesting to see that HSBC have launched a “Rate Matcher Calculator” on their public site for existing customers. The tool guarantees to match or better customers existing fixed rate of 4.54% or above after the customer...keep reading
Cashback and free petrol are among the offers being made
04 September 2008 |
Customers looking for a personal loan may be attracted to loans being offered currently which give them something back.
Research carried out by Mapa in August found that a number of loan providers are offering such incentives; First Direct are offering 25% cashback on interest paid on loans...keep reading
Refreshed website, new logo and credit card selector tool introduced by Barclaycard
31 October 2008 |
Our October update of the Mapa online credit card Dashboard uncovered over 30 changes.
Of note Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Barclaycard have all refreshed their public websites. Within the Barclaycard site refresh, they have also introduced a brand new logo (see screenshot to the right).
The new...keep reading
New services and promotions, as the UK banks continue to develop mobile services
28 November 2008 |
Q4 of 2008 saw some substantial activity from two of the UK high street banks; Lloyds TSB and HSBC.
Lloyds TSB launched a mobile banking pack, which includes low and high balance alerts. They also introduced the option for current account customers to sign up for an overseas debit card...keep reading
Reassurances from Santander and savings tips from Lloyds TSB
04 December 2008 |
Mapa’s November update of the Savings Dashboard recorded over 40 changes. Reflecting the recent spate of market takeovers, a number of institutions have been trumpeting the greater security of their new ownership. Others by contrast have focussed on encouraging savings more generally.
Abbey,...keep reading
External payment clearance times sharply reduced as more UK banks use Faster Payments on a regular basis
07 January 2009 |
At the end of 2008 the UK online banking market was full of activity. Our December update of the Internet Banking Dashboard monitored over 50 changes, including four website refreshes by First Direct, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide.
Although most banks started to roll out the Faster Payment...keep reading
Lloyds TSB tops Mapa’s 2008 SMS League Table
12 February 2009 |
With over 6.5 billion text messages being sent each month in the UK between consumers, it’s no wonder that financial services and other large organisations are trying to get into that space; if not for servicing then surely for sales. Over the past 12 months Mapa have been monitoring how active...keep reading
40% of sites monitored on the Dashboard have recently stopped selling LPI online
13 March 2009 |
For some time now selling loan payment insurance has been profitable business for UK banks, however not without criticism from consumer bodies and regulators. For example in October last year FSA fined Alliance & Leicester £7 million for serious failings in its telephone sales of LPI.
In...keep reading
Despite the appalling year for banks generally, 9 banks still make it into the Marketing Society’s top 50 Brands of British origin listing
25 June 2009 |
The multi sector brand parade covering all sectors, and featuring an A to Z spectrum of well known favourites, ascribes each individual brand a value, and it is this that determines the rankings.
Examination of the full list shows a clear divide of banks featured, between those tainted by the...keep reading
Customers can now request account balance via text message
30 June 2009 |
Yesterday Lloyds TSB announced the introduction of a Balance on Demand service. Lloyds TSB customers can now request a text message balance update by texting ‘BAL’ followed by last four digits of their account number. The service is available to all Lloyds TSB customers registered for their...keep reading
Barclay’s site relaunch confirms trend of increasing length of time between major refreshes
05 August 2009 |
Back in February 2008 the Mapa UK online banking landscape report, demonstrated through an analysis of data from 2003- 2007 that most internet bank sites were operating on a 3-4 year major refresh cycle. In 2007 this had been as short as 3 years; and by the end of 2008 had gone out to 5 years,...keep reading
This quarter sees a continuation in the trends of only offering loans to existing customers or withdrawing from the market entirely
28 August 2009 |
The August update of Mapa’s quarterly Personal Loans Dashboard has recorded 20 changes. Marks and spencer personal loan calculator
In last quarters update we noted that Direct Line and Lombard Direct were no longer accepting loan applications whilst Egg were only accepting applications from...keep reading
iPhone application and browser based service for smartphones introduced by Citi (USA)
02 September 2009 |
The August update of Mapa’s Mobile Banking Dashboard recorded several notable changes across the countries monitored.
Of greatest significance was Citi (USA) introducing an iPhone application – the service is identical to their existing Java application, however a little more user-friendly....keep reading
High-Street banks promote student accounts using microsites and Facebook
09 September 2009 |
With students being internet and social media savvy, it comes as no surprise that banks promote their student account offering using different channels. Mapa research discovered student microsites for Abbey, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds TSB. Abbey uses their microsite to promote an account...keep reading
Interactive tools & calculators added to savings websites
25 May 2010 |
Mapa researchers have logged an active quarter for savings with 38 changes recorded in the May update of the Savings Dashboard.
Savings provider Birmingham Midshires have launched new websites with the previous Birmingham Midshires website now split into 4 new websites. The BM Savings website...keep reading
Many Banks add new features
02 September 2010 |
The August update of Mapa’s Mobile Banking and SMS Competitor Intelligence Dashboards recorded a flood of notable changes in the countries monitored.
In the UK, the most active player Barclays have made several enhancements to their existing mobile web service. A new touch screen friendly...keep reading
Bank adds to growing social media output
20 December 2010 |
The December update of Mapa’s UK Internet Banking Dashboard uncovered around 50 changes amongst the 17 banks monitored on a quarterly basis.
Lloyds TSB who already has a Twitter page has added to its social media output with the addition of a YouTube channel and a Facebook page for its...keep reading
RBS / NatWest introduce iPhone application as well as multiple SMS services and Abbey introduce new SMS security for Online Banking
25 November 2009 |
The November Mapa competitor intelligence update of the UK Mobile & SMS Banking Dashboard has revealed a number of interesting service introductions / extensions.
As the first banks in the UK, NatWest and RBS introduced a Mobile Banking iPhone application. The service contains the same...keep reading
The latest November 2009 SMS consumer monitoring quarterly update from Mapa shows that the banking sector continues to dominate SMS sending
24 November 2009 |
Whilst Lloyds TSB remains at number one with double the mention of its nearest rival, both Abbey and Natwest have increased their mentions over previous quarters.
Nearly one in five of the population claimed to have received an SMS from a Financial Services company which is three percent up...keep reading
More banks add PFM tools to their account offerings
02 May 2012 |
This month saw the recent update to our International Internet Banking Dashboard. This revealed a number of interesting changes made by different European providers. Most striking were the recent developments in personal finance management. This was accompanied by a continued growth in mobile...keep reading
