Bank of America Website Review

Image attribution: Mark Holloway. CC BY-SA 2.0

The Bank of America is predictably branded with red, white and blue colors which commercially is consistent with its brand image and therefore its brand equity. As for the actual functionality and use of the website, it's what one might expect from a bank i.e. not to flashy, practical and slightly impersonal and intent on delivering and/or informing existing and potential clients of banking products and services.

Band of America website features

The features of the website do include some useful features that can make both individual and business banking more manageable and streamlined. The range of products and services is quite broad allowing the website to cater to a larger demographic market share. However, the site is somewhat impersonal and seems to assume an innate sense of banking among its visitors.

For persons who might find themselves confused on the website there is somewhat unenthusiastic help link at the top right of the home page that leads to a 'select state" scroll down menu. After clicking on one's State, one is then forwarded to a list of frequently asked questions and few if any phone numbers that put one in touch with anything other than an automated voice system. A few of the website services are included in the following list:

• Online Banking

• Products and Services

• Small Business Banking

• Web Mortgage application 

• Other loan applications

Navigational aspects of the website

Available in both English and Spanish, the Bank of America website has functional links to a vast amount of banking information including military banking, fee schedules, retirement financing, car loan information, wealth management and much more. One does need to be somewhat literate in the wide range of banking products and services to fully navigate the website. However, if one knows what he or she is looking for before visiting the website, it is generally just a matter of finding the correct tab or link.

The website homepage is organized with red tabs toward the top of page that help channel clients toward personal, business, and corporate banking pages and the default page is the personal banking page. Very evident on the home page is the online banking feature and at the time of writing this article, an advertisement for a bank of America credit card which may be a little off putting to some visitors. After all who wants to visit a website to immediately be made an offer of sale.

Additional aspects of the website

Comprehensive is probably a good adjective to describe the website although it tends to not make bold statements concerning interest rates and inward looking information such as banking ratios that measure the banks performance as a financial institution. In other words, the information presented on the website seems selective and geared toward a factual presentation of products and services rather than benefits and advantages. Other information included in the website includes standard information that might be typical to many other banking branches. Some examples of such information are listed below:

• Privacy and Security information

• Disclaimers and Banking terms

• Bank Information, financial statements and community information

• Locations and Branches

In reviewing the Bank of America website, one might fell slightly overwhelmed by the large amount of banking needs the site is able to meet. For this reason it may come across as overly functional or have too much information on the homepage. The site also doesn't come across as warm and friendly which is somewhat typical for a bank, but may deter some people from using it. In terms of functionality, the site is quite complete and can be a useful resource to individuals and businesses serious about banking, however few if any incentives or benefits seem to jump out of the websites pages from behind the inferred commercial goals of the bank.

Source:  https://www.bankofamerica.com/