Headlines:
Keynote Offers Web Site Index
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Keynote Systems Inc., a company that offers Internet performance testing and measurement services, has introduced one aimed at the banking industry.
Last week it unveiled the Keynote e-Banking Transaction Index, which lets banks compare how quickly consumers can complete common online banking transactions at their Web sites with the speed of such transactions at other banks' sites.
For $3,495 a month, Keynote will measure how long it takes to access a bank's home page, gain access to the online banking area, check balances or view transactions logs, and then log out. Measurements are taken from 50 points around the country around the clock.
"The information is very telling," said Leslie Baillard, a Keynote product manager. "It helps a bank understand if it has particular backlogs or if a large number of users are having trouble getting to their online banking application from a particular part of the country."
Charter One Adds Search Engine
CLEVELAND - Charter One Financial Inc. has added a search function to its Web site to improve customer service to online users.
The software can track the questions that customers are asking online and the answers that they get, Donna M. Winfield, a vice president at Charter One Bank and its interactive marketing manager, said in an interview this month. "It helps us to continually improve the content we provide on our Web pages."
The $43 billion-asset company is using a "natural-language" tool from Inquira Inc. of San Bruno, Calif. Charter One began its research in January and was using the tool in operation on its Web site before the end of March, Ms. Winfield said. "It was a rapid turnaround."
The product's built-in dictionary was customized with Charter One's proprietary marketing names, so that queries regarding "energized checking" or "mega rewards" can point users to the entry pages for the bank's programs, she said.
