Swiss Banks with long traditions and a good web presence

LONDON - May 22, 2013 - PRLog -- Not everyone wants or needs a numbered Swiss bank account, but the accessibility of the web has meant that all the main banks have an online presence. Like all other web sectors, some serve their clients better than others.

Swiss banks are stringently licenced and are amongst the safest in the world. But despite their secret reputation, anyone with the necessary resources can open a Swiss Bank account. Like anyone else, Swiss Banks compete, to some extent, for clients.

Sitemorse has been carrying out quarterly benchmarks of the banking sector in Switzerland for the last three years, and our latest Index benchmark looks at more than 200 to measure how well their websites work . With many people banking online and using the internet for research comparing accounts, it’s vital that any bank’s website work as efficiently as possible and gives the very best customer experience. This is particularly the case where clients are probably based many miles away from their banks, and an atmosphere of total trust is necessary.

At the top of our quarterly Index this time is Geneva-based Banque Bénédict Hentsch & Cie SA, a private bank founded in Geneva less than a decade ago but boasting a long tradition in wealth management. This bank scored 8.02 out of a possible ten marks in our testing, with maximum function and performance scores, maintaining its score from our Q1 Index of this sector and rising one place in the Index.

Our Q1 winner, Zurich-based Maerki Baumann & Co. AG, has dropped seven places this time with a score of 7.3/10.

Second in the Index this time and rising five places since the Q1 survey is Sparkasse Schwyz, a 200-year-olod bank based in a Swiss canton between Lakes Zurich, Lucerne and the Alps. The bank is one of the oldest Swiss banks, but its website is one of the best performers in the Index, with a score this time of 7.92/10.

With full marks for function – meaning the site has very few missing links and errors that can often give web users problems – the Sparkasse Schwyz site also scores highly on accessibility, performance and code quality.

Just behind them and a serious riser in our Index is Basel, Geneva and Zurich-based E. Gutzwiller & Cie. Banquiers, a private bank founded in Geneva in 1886 and boasting a long tradition in wealth management. Users can access their portfolios online via the banks website, using a secure log-in. The bank scored 7.91 out of a possible ten, with so just fractionally behind the second-placed Sparkasse Schwyz, and has risen 115 places in the Index since our last review in January.

The final two top five contenders in our Index are LB (Swiss) Privatbank AG , fully owned by the Frankfurt Banking Company (Switzerland) AG whose site scored 7.6/10, a rise of six places in the Index, and Bank Julius Bäer & Co. AG, established in 1890. With a score of 7.5/10, this bank’s website has risen 119 places in the Index since January, no mean feat.

Full details of this Index, which includes performance scores for more than 200 Swiss banking websites, can be seen at  http://www.sitemorse.com/survey/report.html?rt=949.

The term ‘private bank’ refers to a bank that offers private banking services and in its legal form is a partnership. The first private banks were created in the mid-18th century and in Geneva in the late 18th century as partnerships, and some are still in the hands of the original families. In Switzerland, such private banks are called private bankers (a protected term) to distinguish them from the other private banks which are typically shared corporations.

Other big risers this time include EFG Bank European Financial Group SA (+175), Société Générale, Succursale de Zurich (+139), and Zürcher Kantonalbank (+112). Falling down the Index this time, most notably, are Spar- und Leihkasse Bucheggberg AG (down 62 places), ZLB Zürcher Landbank (-82), Goldman Sachs Bank AG (-83), Mirabaud & Cie (-92) and Caisse d'Epargne Riviera (down 98).

Sitemorse conducts regular surveys of the websites of businesses and organisations and has been benchmarking and publishing the detailed results for a decade. The full results from this and other recent surveys can be seen on our website, www.sitemorse.com.

Our research found that around five per cent of those tested were classed as ‘error-free’ by our methodology, a good score compared to other sectors such as retail or FTSE companies. A number of banking websites were excluded from our testing (57 this time, a fall on the 68 excluded in January) because they use non-accessible technology or have a very small number of pages, which give an unfair comparison with larger sites.

Sitemorse concluded: Keeping a website working well requires methodical web governance and management will to succeed, and the banks at or near the top of our Index certainly demonstrate this. Care and attention to detail are crucial to a good customer experience when it comes to websites – so often getting the basics right makes a website a pleasure to use.

Using Sitemorse’s services (http://www.sitemorse.com/) such as Governisation and the Web Manager’s Toolkit, which immediately find the issues that affect web users the most on any website, will help demonstrate real improvement and ensure control, and ultimately confidence, in your web presence.

Technical Data

This survey took place on April 29th, 2013 and involved benchmarking nearly a quarter of a million separate URLs.

More information

More information (http://www.sitemorse.com/kb.html?q=1266180305) about our surveys and what they test.
For further Information: Geoff Paddock, Head of Communications on +44 20 7183 5588, gpaddock@Sitemorse.com