At least 25 million Americans are using online banking sites. I think it is fair to say not all of them like the service.
Online banking has elements that are both good and bad. The application offers a worthy alternative to standing on a line at a branch to transfer funds between accounts, but it certainly lacks the satisfaction of, say, Google.com.
There have been attempts over the years to better the application. Yodlee was one such Don Quixote. Mint.com is one of the more recent efforts. The newest, however, is 37signals, the same shop that brought the Basecamp project management web-based software to market. 37signals has introduced 37BetterBank, among several other 37BetterWhatevers.
Is it really better? I don’t think so. Granted, the layout is succinct. which is good. It also has an ample number of shortcuts to actions like paying bills or finding a transaction.
But primarily it fails the sociability test; there is no apparent allowance for social interaction among banking customers. I look at 37signals’s proposed site and I expect some real innovation, but I can’t say their result shows any great insight. In fact, it looks similar to the new version of the online banking service from Citibank, which the New York bank rolled out within the last couple of months.