High-street banks fail to perform online

UK online banking Web sites are failing to meet customers' needs according to a survey by Jyra Research, with Citibank and NatWest providing the poorest response rates.

The study claims nearly 50 per cent of attempts to access Citibank's site failed. While NatWest had a 34 per cent failure rate and the longest response time. The best responses were found on the First Direct and Lloyds bank Web sites.

Using its own Web tracking technology, Jyra looked at the Lloyds, NatWest, First Direct, Midland and Citibank sites. Some of the sites offer Internet banking while others have a link to the PC banking facilities. Paul Robinson, CEO of Jyra Research, said: "Among the main UK banking providers there's a massive variation in [Web site] performance."

Robinson claims the poor performance is responsible for slow take up of online banking amongst customers. But says many banks aren't doing enough to change the situation: "It's to do with not understanding the level of demand, plus for many banks, Internet banking is an afterthought."

In response to the findings a NatWest spokesman said: "I would not concur with that conclusion. We regularly monitor the site and are constantly increasing its interactivity."

Citibank also denied that its site suffered a 50 per cent failure rate. "It doesn't fit with our results - we want to question the methodology, when it was tested and what technology was used," a spokesman said.

Robinson concluded: "The one usable site is First Direct. They have the best telephone banking service and they have the best Web site."