Competition for Calms???
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SUPER-SIZED, SUPER-EASY, SUPER-FLEXIBLE
Business Wire
May 17, 1999, 6:13 a.m. PT
Business Editors
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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 1999--
Bank One-First Chicago merger leads to re-launch
of www.bankone.com as first financial supersite
BANK ONE CORPORATION (NYSE:ONE), drawing on resources it gained
through its merger with First Chicago NBD, today announced the
reintroduction of its website, bankone.com, as a new and
improved financial supersite as part of its plan to redefine and
popularize online financial services.
Bank One thus becomes the first of last year's mega-mergers to
fully combine online services. The Bank One-First Chicago NBD merger
was completed in October 1998.
"A World Wide Web site powerfully reflects a company's brand and
how it intends to do business with today's customers," said Kenneth T.
Stevens, chairman and CEO of Bank One Retail Group. "The new
www.bankone.com is truly the best financial site on the Web. Even more
importantly, it symbolizes Bank One's leadership in implementing
merger benefits for customers."
Super-sized: Breadth, depth, convenience and control
"This site responds to what financial services customers tell us
are their highest priority online needs - convenience and control,"
said Stevens.
The www.bankone.com financial supersite includes enhanced content
in four areas that Bank One research shows are essential to a positive
online experience: products, services, information resources and
financial planning tools.
"Our new site is a reminder that not all financial services sites
are created equal," said Bruce A. Luecke, president of Interactive
Delivery Services, a business unit of the Bank One Retail Group. "For
instance, many banks still have limited online capabilities -
restricted mostly to reviewing accounts and conducting basic
transactions."
Small Business customers will have access to information on
equipment leasing, real estate loans and installment loans, as well as
be able to open accounts, receive and pay bills and access all other
brokerage, insurance and informational services available on the
www.bankone.com site.
In total, the Bank One financial supersite now offers 24
categories of products, financial services, information resources and
financial planning tools, including some products from other leading
financial services' brands. (See attachment.)
The new and improved site drew these features from First
Chicago's site:
-- An online investment service
-- A set of financial planning tools to help customers plan for
life events such as retirement, education and buying a home
-- Access to up-to-date news and information from Dow Jones News
-- An Internet search engine
-- A Lockbox Imaging feature enabling commercial customers to
view imaged checks.
Also from the First Chicago site are features for commercial
customers, including economic and capital markets research sections,
training for the national cash management exam, links to treasury
tools and calculators, an online business reading room, market indices
and hundreds of pages of commercial banking product information.
These features came from the former Bank One site:
-- Bill payment, including a feature that allows customers to
receive their bills online
-- Bank One's unique home equity financing process in which
customers in all 50 states can receive conditional approval within 50
seconds after they submit a streamlined online application
-- An automated email system to answer most customer questions
quickly
-- A job search service, including posting of resumes and
qualifications
Planning for the upgraded www.bankone.com began even before the
merger of equals was completed, Stevens said. "Realizing the
tremendous opportunity to put together the best financial services
site on the Web, the question became - how fast can we build a
financial supersite? The answer was a lot faster than others in our
industry could have imagined."
Development drew extensively from customer research. "Our
customers said they wanted personal financial freedom and total
control over their finances," Stevens said. "This supersite was
specifically designed to be the most comprehensive and the easiest to
navigate. And customers in our user tests told us that the new
www.bankone.com achieved these goals."
Super-easy: Designed for navigating
The site is easy to use, even for first-time visitors. "It now
takes only a few mouse clicks to get to most applications," said
Stevens. "And the look of the site is more in keeping with the Bank
One brand - straightforward, original, energetic and approachable."
Bank One customers can easily access their account information
online by simply entering their access number and PIN.
"We selected Razorfish, Inc., one of the country's most
experienced and exciting web design specialists, to help us create
www.bankone.com," said Stevens. Previously, Razorfish has assisted
companies such as Excite, Charles Schwab and Nokia to develop their
Internet sites.
Super-flexible: Always fresh and timely
"The new Bank One financial supersite is designed so we can
refresh and enhance content in a heartbeat," said Luecke. "This is
important, because online customers tell us they want up-to-date
products, services, information resources and financial planning
tools."
Razorfish implemented a solution utilizing Vignette's
StoryServer(tm) technology to provide the flexibility to keep
information fresh and timely - for instance, savings account and home
equity loan interest rates - and it permits Bank One to add content
quickly.
"We're already planning our next enhancements to the site,"
Luecke added.
In its efforts to be the premier provider of online financial
services, Bank One has previously announced enhancements to its online
offerings, including:
-- In November 1998, Bank One signed an exclusive agreement with
Excite, Inc., to create a full-service financial center available to
Excite's 17 million monthly users.
-- In January 1999, Bank One introduced an Internet-based
application process that enables consumers in 50 states to receive
conditional approval for a home equity loan within 50 seconds after
the online application is submitted.
-- Also in January, Bank One contracted with America Online to
advertise products and services on AOL and became one of five banks on
AOL's banking center.
-- In March 1999, Bank One added electronic tax preparation and
filing to its online offering.
-- Just last month, Bank One became one of only two banks to
introduce electronic bill delivery to its online bill payment service.
Bank One has approximately 330,000 online customers, making it
one of the largest providers of online financial services. BANK ONE
CORPORATION (NYSE:ONE), headquartered in Chicago, is the nation's
fifth largest bank holding company, with assets of more than $250
billion. BANK ONE offers a full range of financial services to
commercial and business customers and consumers.
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