Categories: the-internet
Date: 29 August 2006 13:06:13
St George, my bank, have just launched their new Internet Banking interface: it is quite a change from the previous one which, at least in my experience, was miles ahead of most other banks' online services anyway in terms of user-friendliness and the features available. I saw my parents struggling to use Internet Banking with their bank: and despite my high computer literacy I did too -- the interface, if it could even be called that, was honestly appalling and extraordinarily user un-friendly.
Back to my bank, and the display has changed quite a bit, and indeed threw me at first: and there are many, many new options to discover. One new thing I've discovered is that authorised Credit Card / Visa Debit payments can be seen before they are debited: quite handy to see what you've authorised as it often takes a few days for these to go through. Another great feature, although late for me this year as I've already done my tax, are totals of interest earned for the tax year, which will make it far simpler to add that in to the Tax Return: though my interest given barely gets about the $5- mark on my transaction account. And, for fun, though I suppose visibility as well, you can change the icons used to display your account: as well as flowers and other such things, I saw some nice icons of cars and power poles: I may use the latter for the third-party account link to my electricity supplier details, for a change.
I use Internet Banking quite a bit: to pay off my Credit Card, to pay for my phone, electricity and insurance, and to check the balance. And I think St George have done a great job with their new Internet Banking system. I moved to them from another bank almost ten years ago as they had, and I think still do have, though I fear the drive for profits is changing this more and more, a great reputation for customer service. And, to me, they've again shown they can provide a multitude of features in a very easy and accessible manner. Well done.