Mortgage lenders have defended their online services after a report claimed a number of their websites had hit “rock bottom” in terms of customer experiences.
In a report published yesterday (1 June), financial experience design agency Dock9 alleged the UK’s mortgage giants are failing customers online, with more than half (53 per cent) of lenders ignoring mobile and tablet users by failing to design websites fully suited to the devices.
In addition, it said 65 per cent of sites are only partially responsive or not responsive at all to mobile and tablet devices, meaning customers have a longer journey than necessary.
Santander, Nationwide and NatWest were deemed the worst offenders in terms of the high-street customer experience, while Aldermore, Dudley and Magellan were ranked bottom of the table for intermediary experiences.
But Jeremy Wood, chief executive at Dudley Building Society, criticised the report, which was based on testing of 19 lenders’ sites by Dock9 experts alongside ‘real-world user testing’ by 50 users.
He said: “The research has not taken into consideration that the majority of our online engagement with brokers and packagers is through a specifically developed online broker portal (DPR) and not through our website directly. The brokers we deal with all have access to this portal.
“The claims made by Dock 9 only give a partial story and followed a commercial invitation they made to us last week. There seems to be no qualification as to how they selected the 17 lenders from the market and it was interesting to see that one of their clients featured in one of the top spots.”
A NatWest spokesperson commented: “We are always looking to improve our online experience; though the sample size for this survey is small, we welcome any feedback it can give us.
“We received a five-star rating at the Financial Adviser Service Awards with one of the criteria based on our online service. Our mortgage site is optimised for easy use on mobile and we are continually looking to improve it.”
A spokesperson for Santander pointed out that the bank also received a five-star rating from Financial Adviser in the Service Awards 2016.
They added: “We are mobile-focused and continue to develop our online tools to help new customers apply for their mortgage and existing customers to keep track of them.”
An Aldermore spokesperson said: “In order to ensure that we’re best meeting the needs of our brokers today, and in the future, we regularly engage with them and take their feedback on board to ensure that we are offering a competitive service.”
Tesco Bank was given full marks for best intermediary mortgage provider online experience – due to their “simple yet delightful site full of modern user interface patterns” – while Barclays came top for customer experiences.
Rob Jupp, chief executive at Essex-based Brightstar Financial, commented: “The report is one I would readily dismiss as it is written by a company that one could argue has a vested interest in its direction and content.
“Frankly, I’d rather have decent human being that I could speak with than a slick, website, and in this regard Dudley, Magellan and Aldermore have nothing much to worry about.”
A Nationwide spokesperson declined to comment. Magellan Homeloans was also approached for comment.
simon.allin@ft.com
