Site Study: Chase Bank

Chase Bank needs no introduction. Most everyone is familiar with this massive financial institution, which is currently the United States’ largest bank, with assets over $2.5 trillion. As one might expect, the Chase website is also massive, with hundreds of pages and a robust suite of features.

There is a lot the Chase website does well, but as always, there is room for improvement. Here’s our breakdown:

 

Highlights

 

Tailored product pages

It’s tempting to create a “one size fits all” template for your product pages, as it creates a comforting sense of consistency throughout the site. Yet not all products are created equal. Sometimes, by forcing information into a template that doesn’t quite fit, you may fail to effectively address a prospective customer’s needs. Chase understands that two people looking for home loans, for instance, may have very different end goals. Instead of a more standard page with an upfront call to action button and comparison table, they break out various buyer journeys to meet various potential needs.

In fact, most every product page, though maintaining a consistent look and feel, has a customized user interface. Some products are also tailored to location, enabling Chase to deliver its users the most accurate rate and fee information.

 

Robust features and tools

When you have a Chase-sized budget, the sky might be the limit when it comes to investing in features and tools. As one might expect, popular tools such as ATM finders and financial calculators are integrated seamlessly into the site. The ATM finder offers the ability to filter search by branch services, ATM services, and ATM languages, and the calculators are easy and intuitive to use. Plus, Chase offers highly rated apps with P2P payment options, Chase Pay and more.

 

Comprehensive blog

Chase has clearly committed to its blog, which is featured prominently on its homepage and is updated several times a week. The blog focuses on storytelling, financial education, and community impact and offers a unique user interface allows users to easily toggle between categories and browse posts.

 

Opportunities

 

No clear brand voice

Like many large financial institutions, Chase tries to be everything to everybody. Though its messages are clear, the website lacks a distinctive voice. The homepage is cluttered with promos that do little, if anything, to differentiate the brand. The site does a good job of being spare with text and illustrating with visuals when possible, but the text that exists is bland and lacking in personality.

 

Confusing navigation

There are many opportunities to get creative with a website, but we rarely recommend getting creative with the navigation. Yes, Chase has a lot to cover in its navigation, but the left hand hamburger menu, though a user-friendly experience on mobile, is not intuitive on desktop. It requires the user to think, which is the number one UX no-no. Furthermore, the navigation is inconsistent, which results in a disorienting experience for the user as he or she travels through the site. On some product pages, like Auto Loans, the ATM & Branch finder is no longer accessible from the utility nav, forcing the user to first wonder where in the world the link went, and second, to figure out how to find it again.

 

Not consistently mobile friendly

It’s always a bit perplexing when a business with such a vast reach and budget fails to offer a consistently friendly mobile experience, though we certainly understand the challenges of third-party tool integration. While some application form pages are usable on mobile, they are not exactly what we would call “friendly.”

 

Get started today

Look at your three most popular product pages. Are you merely presenting information, or are you taking into account your visitors’ unique challenges and needs? Is there one headline, image, or element on the page you could revise or add to make the page more user-centric?

If you’re looking to take a bigger step, talk to us about a website redesign!