Bank of Arkansas Site Among the Snazziest (Web Review)

Bank of Arkansas
Fayetteville
www.bankofarkansas.com

Bank of Arkansas, a subsidiary of publicly traded BOK Financial Corp., has one of the snazziest Internet banking sites we’ve ever seen. The sheer comprehensiveness of the e-commerce banking and investment services offered here is astounding — so much so that the only difference between visiting www.bankofarkansas.com and its physical locations is probably that the online version is faster.

The site didn’t make its debut until 1999 because the bank didn’t want to throw together an online brochure. Instead, BOK waited until it had complete e-commerce functionality to give its customers another channel for conducting business.

The site accomplishes that and more by dividing its cadre of services into three distinct categories: personal, small business and commercial. From personal checking to commercial oil and gas property management and treasury services, it’s all here.

Only two major upgrades have occurred since the site’s debut. But a third is planned within the next six months that sounds as though it will address our lone criticism.

BOK’s in-house Web team tells us the next makeover will make the site easier to navigate and more aesthetically pleasing. The goal this time is not to be “bleeding edge,” but to feature the services and look that customers want. A final aesthetic polish should make www.bankofarkansas.com among the best in its industry.

The site, originally designed by the Ackerman and McQueen advertising agency in Oklahoma City, averages about 50,000 hits per month. About 18 percent of the bank’s customers use its online checking accounts.

One technician said the site’s aesthetic design had too much wasted white space in places and not enough in others. He thought that text fonts were at times inconsistent, such as varying between big and small serif and sans serif. But overall, he was impressed with the volume of information and services that it offers.

A look into the site’s coding convinced the technician that a little tidying up in that area also would make www.bankofarkansas.com look cleaner.

An art designer concurred. She noticed the same graphic inconsistencies, but thought the site did a great job of providing customers with a buffet of choices. That’s probably why so many Bank of Arkansas customers are choosing to do their business online.