Let's say you develop the perfect ad campaign for a new type of
checking account. People everywhere see your ads and are persuaded
to open accounts online. You are on your way to breaking all
campaign performance records until something strange happens:
everyone who clicks "Apply Now" is presented with a message saying
that their application is about to be handled by a third-party site
and your institution is not responsible for what may happen next.
Nearly everyone abandons the process. Say what?
The FDIC provides guidance
on managing the reputational and compliance risks associated with
weblinking (the practice of linking your institution's website to
websites that you don't directly control). They suggest using
website "speedbumps" to ensure site visitors understand the risks
associated with visiting linked websites:
"Financial institutions should use clear and conspicuous
webpage disclosures to explain their limited role and
responsibility with respect to products and services offered
through linked third-party websites… the use of a speedbump avoids
the problems of pop-up technology, because the speedbump is not
generated externally using mobile code, but is created within the
institution's operating system, and cannot be disabled by the
customer."
However, some institutions mistakenly interpret this guidance to
mean that speedbump warnings are needed in cases where their
website links to an online application that is supported by an
external provider, like Andera. This is not the case at all. Doing
so will kill your conversion rate. The FDIC makes
this clear:
"This guidance applies to links to third parties that offer
products, services, or information directly to financial
institution customers. It does not apply to operational links from
a financial institution's website to a third party service provider
that is providing services on behalf of the financial institution,
e.g., a link to the institution's Internet banking service
provider."
Developing persuasive campaigns is hard and launching them can be
pretty expensive. So before you launch your next killer campaign,
make sure speedbump warnings aren't killing your conversion
rate.
