Economic crisis prompts surge to bank websites

Oct 15, 2008

Spikes coincide with UK government announcements

Traffic to bank websites has risen dramatically over the last six weeks, with one institution seeing the volume jump by 700 percent in a single day, as the global financial crisis continues to rock the banking sector.

Visitor spikes have occurred following interventions in the sector by the UK government, according to Al Loehnis, business development director at Investis, an online corporate communication specialist that this week launched a ranking of FTSE 100 company websites. 

Loehnis thinks banks should be doing more to communicate with their online audiences. ‘They are slow to provide updates and comment on developments,’ he explains. ‘They need to say something rather than keep their head in the sand.’

Bank websites get a mixed review from the new ranking, called the Investis Quarterly (IQ) Corporate Website Ranking. The sector is revealed as one of the worst performing for its size. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), however, came sixth overall, with Barclays ranked 21st.

The ranking splits the results into different categories, including IR. British American Tobacco (BAT) came top of the IR segment, followed by Aviva, Anglo American, Sainsbury and RBS.     

‘BAT’s website does well facing up to tricky issues,’ comments Loehnis. ‘It gives a breadth of information and is not just about the obvious financial numbers.’

Bottom of the IR pile are Fresnillo, Antofagasta and Admiral Group.

The IQ Corporate Website Ranking will be updated quarterly. 

By Tim Human