Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
With an increasing number of consumers checking credit card statements and paying bills online at credit card issuers' Web sites, Keynote Systems Inc., San Mateo, Calif., announced it will begin measuring the speed and reliability of nine sites as part of a benchmarking index. The company, which specializes in measuring Web site performance in various financial-service, retail, and government sectors, said it will release its first so-called Transaction Performance Index for the credit card business by mid-September, covering the consumer sites of American Express, Capital One, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank, Diners Club, Discover, First USA (part of Bank One/J.P. Morgan Chase), MBNA, and Providian. The index, which Keynote bills as the first of its kind for credit card sites, will test how quickly and reliably sites perform common tasks involving multiple steps, including clicking on a log-in button, logging in with account data, clicking on steps required to view recent charges, and logging out. “The goal of the index is to help the credit card industry measure and manage the performance of its Web sites and optimize the experience of people receiving, viewing, and paying credit card charges online,” the company said in a statement. The company cited recent statistics– including those in a Yankee Group study showing that 13% of U.S. consumers pay their credit card bills online, while 14% receive their statements that way?as indications that a performance yardstick for credit card sites is needed.
