Provident Bank?s Web site is getting a face-lift.
The Baltimore-based bank has commissioned local interactive agency The Berndt Group to lead a large-scale project aimed at revamping and redesigning the bank?s corporate Web site. It?s a change Provident says is overdue.
“It?s been a couple years since we?ve done any major enhancements to it; we?ve been adding things, and not necessarily in the most efficient manner for us or our customers,” said Andy Snyder, Provident vice president and Internet channel manager. “We?re really looking to freshen it up … to make it easier for customers to find what they?re looking for.”
According to its own Web site, The Berndt Group, headquartered in Baltimore, has developed Web sites for the National Aquarium, Maryland Science Center and Johns Hopkins University, among others.
As Internet technology has advanced, customers? expectations for their bank?s Web site have grown as well, said John Berndt, president and chief executive officer of The Berndt Group. Berndt said his company?s work for Provident would endeavor to sell the bank?s products and services without bogging down viewers just trying to check their account balance. “It?s striking that balance of, can they scan and find the service they need, and at the same time not making them anxious by seeing too much at once.”
The revamped site will specifically target customers? ability to check on and manage their accounts, the primary reason most viewers log on to the site, Snyder said. He also looked to build Provident?s standing in online searches and said Berndt would work to improve the site?s performance in search engines.
Snyder said Provident?s Web site, when finished later this spring or by early summer, would meet or exceed the online presence of rival national banks.
“I think we?re going to stack up fairly well,” he said. “If you look at the Bank of America and Citibank, they?ve got huge amounts of money to pour into this, but I think this is a chance to make inroads.”
