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30 August 2007
Posted in
Banks
If you want to know what the Mac Friendly section is all about, check out this page. You can also add provide information about your experiences by completing this form.
The original submission by Ron Mayes on KiwiBank (www.kiwibank.co.nz) saw them rated as 'Poor' for a website that featured no mention of the word "Macintosh" and only a slight acknowledgement to the fact that people may be using other browsers. Things then improved when Carl submitted comments, but the rating remained due to very confusing support pages. These pages sadly haven't changed at all since the last submission, but a new comment from a Kiwibank customer sees a new Mac Friendly rating of "Good"...but only just.
Rating - Good
At the time Carl submitted information, he commented...
"The Kiwibank web site is not entirely Macintosh friendly but I do know they at least test the site on macs. I have been using Safari with Kiwibank's internet banking service for 4 years now and all of the Kiwibank Internet banking features are usable within Safari. Within the service you can set up text banking, email/text alerts, PDF email statements (all of your statements are archived), download statements in various accounting formats, mobile banking (a java app that uses https) and you can set up all of this through Safari."
OK...so you're probably wondering what is wrong with the site?
"The only faults are slight text misalignments (formatting). Previous posts on NZMac.com claim their website does not claim to support Macintosh platforms but there is now a page that at least mentions limited support."
Keep in mend as you read the rest of this page, that the concept of Mac Friendly isn't simply about what works. It's about how aware a site is to the fact that there are Mac users out there. It's about looking at companies that go to the trouble of acknowledging Mac users and making them either comfortable...or in the case of a site that doesn't work for Mac users, simply telling us so. Let's look at what Kiwibank say you need to use the site...
https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/banking/loginhelp.htm#sysrequirements
"What are the minimum computer requirements for Internet banking? To use Internet banking you need to have a computer that has: An Internet connection, Internet Explorer 5.01+, or
Netscape 6+, or Mozilla 1.6+ or Mozilla Firefox 0.8+"
That's not bad...but it's not good either. The danger here for Mac users is that all too often you'll see a browser that is available for the Mac (such as Firefox mentioned here) but on use, you'll find companies really mean the PC only version. It should also be noted that this list is very out of date. I would suggest they acknowledge some of the more recent versions of browsers as compatible also. When they talk about other browsers they do in fact acknowledge Mac users with the following comment....
https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/banking/loginhelp.htm#unsupportedbrowser
"What if I don't use Internet Explorer, Netscape or Mozilla?
Although we don't fully support them, we have tried Internet banking with Opera and Safari with satisfactory results. You may find some graphics does match what you see within the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape browsers, but otherwise the site should allow you to view your accounts and transactions."
That's not too bad. See the use the term "Safari"? That means they know we're out there, so why can't they be a bit more specific and mention Macs by name elsewhere? We're not suggesting preferential support or treatment, just more explicit support for Macs and PC users. Because later on, they kinda slip up a bit....
https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/banking/loginhelp.htm#iemac
"Internet Explorer 5.x for Macintosh computers"
This is the only mention of the term "Macintosh" in the whole support section, and in this area they talk about settings to apply to Internet Explorer on a Mac. Now let's put this into context. As far as we can tell, it has been added to the site since September 2005. But here's the rub...in June 2003 the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit announced that work on Internet Explorer for Mac would stop and Microsoft ended all support for Internet Explorer at the end of 2005. Kiwibank are advising Mac users how to use a browser not in development beyond 2003 and not supported at all since the end of 2005. That is exceptionally poor!
In the last review of Kiwibank, they were rated "Poor"...with the comment at the time that they were close to being rated "Good". Carl reported that he could use their banking site with Safari even though the bank advise that it may not work. They have even gone to the trouble of mentioning Safari....that also deserves credit!
A new user comments in their submission...
"I just want to say that I use Kiwibank's website for online banking all the time, and I have never had any trouble viewing or accessing any part of it in Safari.
It is true that they do not have specific help advice relating to Safari, but I just want to point out that I have never had any problems in the first place logging onto, or using their site."
The problem with the site is careless use (or lack thereof) of technical specifications and the inclusion of an incredibly obsolete browser for the Mac as the only Mac specific support. The support page is poorly written. With just a little bit of technical writing, well worded comments and listings, they could easily inform all users much more directly. It is sad to see that so many months after the last submission, little has changed on their support page. That said, the new submission from an NZMac.com reader comments...
"Since I have never had any browser related issues with the website, and since their services do not directly relate to a specific operating system (i.e., they are not an internet service provider) I think they deserve at least a 'good rating."
...and in this instance (albeit reluctantly) NZMac.com agrees.