Quick outline
- What I look for in a bank site
- Real examples: Chase, Ally, Capital One, Bank of America, Discover, and a credit union
- What works, what still hurts
- Tiny touches that build trust
- My final take
Hey, I’m Kayla. I test bank sites for real.
I’m a web designer who also pays bills like everyone else. I log in. I move money. I panic when a page stalls. I’ve used these bank sites on a 13-inch MacBook Air, an old Dell at my dad’s house, and a beat-up iPad with a sticky screen. Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Day and night. Coffee and no coffee.
What do I want from bank web design? Simple stuff:
- Clear nav, so I know where my money lives.
- Fast pages that don’t sputter.
- Forms that don’t fight me.
- Clean words that explain, not scold.
- Solid support for keyboard and screen readers.
- Security that feels firm, not fussy.
For a gallery of real-world banking and fintech design examples that hit (or miss) these marks, I lean on this visual roundup.
If you’re hungry for an even deeper dive into the nuts and bolts of money-site UX, check out my rolling teardown notes on Bingo Web Design.
For readers who want to compare how banks stack up against other finance-focused builds, my candid case study on constructing three “money sites” lays out the design wins and potholes in detail—read it here: I built 3 money sites—here’s my honest take on financial-services web design.
Now, the real examples.
Chase: Busy but strong, like a big-city station
I use Chase for daily stuff. Pay bills, move money, Zelle my sitter. The site looks full—almost too full—but I can find what I need once my eyes settle.
What I like:
- The dashboard shows balances, quick actions, and alerts in one view. It feels dense, yet useful.
- Bill Pay is easy once you’ve set it up. I paid my electric bill in four clicks last Tuesday. No drama.
- Zelle sits in a clear spot. I sent $40 and the status tag changed right away. Nice feedback.
What trips me up:
- Mega menus. When I hover, a big panel drops, and my trackpad gets twitchy. I lose the menu sometimes and have to start over.
- Some links open in the same tab with no warning. I like a little hint if I’m going to lose my place.
- The benefits pages for cards are pretty, but tall. I scroll a lot to find a small detail, like “extended warranty.”
A small thing I love: the download statements link stays where I expect it—near transactions. Don’t hide my PDFs. Please.
Ally: Calm, clean, and kind to tired eyes
I use Ally for savings and CDs. The site feels open and bright, like a tidy desk. Big text. Big buttons. It puts me at ease.
What I like:
- Account opening felt smooth. I opened a CD in a few short steps. The progress bar didn’t lie.
- Transfers use plain words. “From” and “To” sit side by side. No guesswork.
- I hit Tab to jump through a form, and the focus ring stays visible. That’s a small win that helps a lot.
What trips me up:
- Maintenance windows happen late at night. I ran into one at 11:30 pm and sighed. I get why, but a clearer heads-up would help.
- The help center is good, but the search can return too many “close but not it” pages. Show me one great page, not ten okay ones.
Still, Ally sets the bar for calm design. It’s boring in the best way.
Capital One: Clean visuals, sharp search, a tad “salesy”
I keep a Capital One credit card. Their site looks modern—lots of white space and tidy icons. The transaction search is nimble. I typed “gas” and saw the right list at once.
What I like:
- Filters make sense: amount range, date range, merchant. No triple-click circus.
- Rewards pages show value clearly. I can see cash back totals without wading through fluff.
- Secure messages are easy to find, and the reply box is roomy.
What trips me up:
- Pop-ups that try to cross-sell feel pushy right after I pay a bill. Let me breathe.
- Some help modals are small, and the text wraps in odd ways. It’s readable, but a little cramped.
Overall, it feels like a modern shop window. Just tune down the sales pitch during “money chores.”
Bank of America: The mortgage portal is the hero
I used BoA for a mortgage. The general site can feel crowded, but the mortgage portal is the star.
What I like:
- The progress tracker for my loan was clear: received, review, appraisal, final. Green checks felt like high fives.
- The doc upload tool worked with drag-and-drop. I watched the upload bar fill, and it gave me a “received” tag right away.
- The messages area kept all notes in one thread. I didn’t have to hunt through email.
What trips me up:
- The main nav has so many items. On a small laptop, labels wrap and I lose my place.
- The homepage rotates promos. It looks busy, and I had to squint to find simple links like “wire transfer.”
If BoA applied the mortgage portal style to the rest, it would shine.
Discover: Polished and friendly, with one small hide-and-seek
I have a Discover card for the rewards. Their web design feels warm. Simple borders. Clear states. No fuss.
What I like:
- The rewards dashboard makes totals and ways to redeem very obvious. No math games.
- Secure chat responded fast on a Sunday. The chat box didn’t cover the thing I was looking at. Bless.
- Dispute a charge? The flow reads like a checklist. I finished in minutes.
What trips me up:
- Finding routing and account numbers for the bank side took too many clicks. Put that in a “quick details” box near the top.
Discover’s tone reads human. Even the error lines sound helpful, not snarky.
A credit union: Great rates, old bones
I tested Navy Federal on my cousin’s account and Alliant on mine. Both work, but the web skin feels a bit 2014.
What I like:
- They tell you fees in plain words. No treasure hunt.
- Transfers and bill pay are reliable, even if not pretty.
What trips me up:
- Small text. Tight rows. On a dim screen, it blurs.
- Form errors show up at the top, not near the field. I scroll up, then down, then up again. It’s a dance I don’t want.
I root for credit unions. A little spacing, larger type, and better error spots would go a long way.
Smaller organizations wrestling with legacy frameworks might find hope (and cautionary tales) in my field test of three off-the-shelf solutions—I tried 3 small-business web design packages, here’s what actually happened.
Patterns that work (with real moments)
- Sticky “Make a transfer” button: On Ally and Chase, it stays visible and saves clicks.
- Clear status tags: Chase showed “Pending” on a Zelle in seconds. Instant calm.
- Inline field help: Discover gave an example format right under the routing field. I didn’t leave the page to look it up.
- Sensible defaults: Capital One set the date range to “Last 90 days.” Perfect for a quick scan.
I catalogued a longer list of micro-interactions that pay dividends in trust inside my full Bank Web Design: A First-Person, Hands-On Review if you’d like the extended play-by-play.
Things that still hurt
- Surprise timeouts: I wrote a long secure message at BoA, got up for tea, came back, and lost it. A “You’re about to be signed out” timer would help.
- Hidden fees info: On some sites, wire rules live three pages deep. Put them near the wire form. Please.
- Overloaded dashboards: Chase packs a lot in. Good power, but it can overwhelm new folks.
If you want to see how a thorough UX/UI audit can inject clarity and confidence into legacy banking flows, bookmark this case study.
Tiny touches that build trust
- “Last login” line right under your name. It catches odd logins.
- Clear 2-step code status with a quick “Change method” link. Text, email, or app—let me switch fast.
- A known-issues banner during maintenance. Short, honest, and dated. Saves support calls.
- Keyboard focus rings that pop. I tab around a lot when I’m in a rush.
If you’re curious how other data-sensitive consumer platforms keep users feeling secure while nudging them through high-stakes actions like real-time messaging and profile edits, study the