Barclays have almost annoyed me enough to overcome interia

Generally I think that Barclays have a very good online banking system.It features real time updates and you can normally carry out pretty much any action you need in order to service one's account.However, they seem to have been sucked in by the web security brigade and as a result, yesterday, it was easier for me to walk to my local branch and talk to someone than to try and "self-service".

I tried to send some money to another account and I am now no longer able to do this without PINsentry. This odious device will not fit into any pocket easily and certainly not into my wallet.I already have a membership number, a PIN and a password check to get into the account so this does seem rather over the top to me.

Furthermore the bank has completely failed to communicate this change in policy to its account holders as far as I am aware.When I eventually got through to someone on the phone I could barely understand them as they could not speak English coherently and was told that they could not talk to me because I did not know the exact date of a standing order (end of the month wasn't accurate enough). It was suggested I ring back when I had a statement in front of me! So no online banking with Barclays from me anymore then. A 5 minute walk to the branch producer a result quickly.

What my investigations did reveal was a complete lack of analysis of the usability or user experience of online banking in the UK - there appear to be no studies paid or otherwise that I could find on Google. Does anyone know of a study? I do know for example that the First Direct system works well but doesn't give you the ability to name your accounts.

Thoughts?

Comments

[Chiara]

I agree: PINsentry is a nightmare

you are not the first person that complains about that horrible device and I am really hope they will change the system soon

You are asking if they invest in design / usability. I have no clue.
Although I know they invested in usability research and multivariate testing to improve the website and customer journey etc. (the site recently changed completely)

on a side note it is worth paying a visit to their local branches just to experience the automated self-service devices!

[I think they rock ! ]

it takes lot less time than go and speak to someone (there is usually no queue) and the process is simple, effective and easy.

You can do pretty much everything you can do on the website and you just need card and pin.

[Charles Meaden]

Painful as it is for me to do so, I'm going to stick up for Barclays. They are one of the few high street banks that do immediate transfers to other UK banks - LLoyds for example takes 3 days still.

One of my friends works in the secure financial payments sector and said the only reason Barclays can do this is because of the extra layer of security that PinSentry offers.

LLoyds offered immediate it for precisely 45mins when it launched and then had to stop due to the number of hack attempts using the existing methods

[Mark]

Well - as an update. After unsuccessfully trying to apply for two other bank accounts online - neither of whom appeared to have a sign up process that worked - I now have a(nother) account with First Direct. Free banking, matched the overdraft capacity and had a process that worked - oh and no PIN sentry too!