Focus on Digital Security and Privacy
Last month, Finalytics.ai released its 2023 Credit Union Digital Experience report on the state of digital at the largest 100 credit unions in the United States. Over several weeks we are publishing blog posts that drill down into the various categories and scoring that made up the final results used in the report. This blog post focuses on how the top 100 credit unions measure up when it comes to visibility, consistency, and depth of security and privacy information.
In the 2023 Finalytics.ai report, the following criteria help assess how credit unions perform in these areas:
- Primacy of security and privacy information
- Consistency of security and privacy messaging
- Depth of offerings and content
The five organizations with the top scores in visual design and branding were Chevron FCU, ESL FCU, OnPoint Community CU, State Employees of Maryland CU, and Pentagon FCU. All scoring in the Finalytics.ai report is on a scale of one to five, with one being “poor” and five being “most innovative.” Findings from our evaluations include the importance of the following areas.
Access to Information
Security and privacy content fall into two areas:
- What the credit union is doing to protect users’ information; and
- What users can do to protect their private information.
While many credit unions make this information hard to find, others have created easily accessible sections on the website, often linked in the primary navigation or footer. When scoring this section, we saw that the accessibility of security and privacy information was a primary factor that set some credit union sites above the rest when it comes to providing a thorough and enjoyable digital experience.
Consistent Messaging
Based on our interviews, prospects have expressed concern that credit unions can’t match the security protection big banks offer. While that perception is not always accurate, it’s a hurdle that credit unions can overcome using prominent and consistent security messaging across the site. Some credit unions that addressed security and privacy on their site took this a step further by integrating the concept of financial security into their brand messaging. Security and privacy topics can be touched on in home page content, cross-linked from product pages, and referenced in FAQs.
Integrating this information across the site will holistically build trust with all website visitors while aiding those most concerned in finding the specific information they need.
Read the entire 2023 Credit Union Digital Experience report.