UK mortgage giants failing customers online, says research

• Three of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders have hit rock bottom when it comes to online experiences, according to new findings from Dock9
• In a report looking at the best and worst online mortgage experiences from 19 major lenders, Santander finished bottom of the pile with Nationwide and NatWest not faring much better

Three of the UK’s biggest mortgage providers have hit rock bottom when it comes to online experiences, according to research from financial experience design agency Dock9. In a report looking at the best and worst online experiences for 19 major mortgage intermediaries, high street and specialist lenders including First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Santander.

It found of all the lenders with customer online experience – over half (53%) are ignoring mobile and tablet users by failing to design websites fully suited to these devices. Additionally, 65% are only partially or not responsive at all – this means customers have a longer journey than necessary – typically websites that are touch-optimised save users a quarter of the time.

Mark Lusted, managing director of Dock9 says: “It’s no secret the UK is a ‘mobile society’ and tablet and mobile usage will only increase. Although the majority of mortgage deals are done via brokers through an intermediary site, the customer experience for the end-user is still a key differentiator that can help set lenders apart from one another – especially for younger customers – and another key revenue stream.”

The bottom three for online customer high street lending experience:

*              Santander (87.02%)

*              Nationwide (88.09%)

*              NatWest (88.28%)

Overall winners for online customer high street lending experience:

• #1 Barclays (95.05%)
• #2 Lloyds (91.83%)
• #3 TSB (91.15%)

Key intermediary findings include:

• Tesco Bank scores full marks for best intermediary mortgage provider online experience – due to their simple yet delightful site full of modern UI patterns. Tesco truly sets the bar for other intermediaries to follow in this space
• Overall winners and losers for online intermediary experience – 1st Tesco, 2nd Vida Homeloans and 3rd TSB. Bottom three include 15th Aldermore, 16th Dudley and 17th Magellan
• High street lenders lead the way – with specialist lenders failing behind high street lender in user experience. For instance, only high street lenders researched provided customers with self-service Agreement in Principle / Decision in Principles

Lusted adds: “The mortgage space is a complex and congested beast. However, lenders can stand out through low costs and easy online intermediary experiences. For instance, ensuring their websites are straightforward to navigate around and accessible – whatever method brokers and customers chose to browse on.  With the boom of robo-mortgage advisors beginning, it’s increasingly important for established lenders to invest in technologies to improve customer experiences. Barclays and Tesco have clearly invested heavily in their mortgage UX, their attention to the small detail really pays dividends to the end user and their business.”

Craig Calder, Director of Barclays Mortgages comments: “We’re really proud to see that the online access and experience for our mortgage customers has been highly rated. We understand that buying and selling a home is not always straightforward, however, we want the mortgage experience to be a stress-free process. We continually invest in technology that helps to make the customer journey easier.”

Uma