Several of the nation's top credit card lenders recently received high marks for making their websites easier for consumers to understand and use.
Information from the research firm Keynote recently revealed that a number of the nation's top eight lenders - US Bank, Discover, Citi and PNC Card - have websites that are easy for consumers to understand and use when seeking information about credit card accounts, according to a report from Bank Technology News. The study examined user experiences for the websites of the nation's largest lenders, which also include American Express, Bank of America, Capital One and Chase.
"US Bank and Discover did a good job of helping people narrow down the available cards," Chris Musto, general manager of Keynote, told the site. "Card issuers have tension and cost effective issues between having the right cards and overwhelming the consumer with too many choices. Depending on how you design the process, if you don't tell people the benefit of cards and just give them numbers - of fees, APRs and such - you overwhelm them."
In addition, many of these major lenders have been increasing both the volume and the value of new credit card offers they've been extending to consumers with all types of borrowing histories. Competition has increased significantly in recent months for not only consumers with top-notch borrowing histories, but also those who have had their scores slip into the subprime range during the past few years.
Improving the online user experience should help new customers make more informed decisions about the type of card that will work best for them; however, savvy consumers should still take the time to do additional online research, read product reviews from industry experts, and compare card offers from other credit issuers before making a final decision.
