It may not come as a surprise to many that consumers consider bank web sites somewhat less appealing than other types of web sites, but the reasons why might. According to a new study on consumer banking sites released today by Change Sciences Group, what really motivates consumers to take action on bank web sites isn't the latest promotion, cool features, or a wide range of product offerings. Instead, what consumers want the most from banks is the promise of simplicity.

The research benchmarks how 15 leading bank web sites support people seeking products and services. Although often commanding high traffic, bank web sites as a group are among the most poorly performing high traffic sites online. According to the research, bank web sites are 25% less usable than e-commerce sites like Amazon and Walmart, and 20% less usable than the personal finance site Mint. And unlike other industries, no one bank is significantly better than the rest, with 3 banks being tied in the top ranked position.

"The data suggests that banks have one of the toughest sells online and the way that most banks currently approach consumers may be missing the mark," says Steve Ellis, a Change Sciences founder. "We see in this research an opportunity for banks to retool products and services around simplicity as their central value proposition and make good on that proposition with the right kind of product and interactive design."

The new data is based on Change Sciences' Experience Cloud platform, which makes it possible to see not only how sites in a given industry compare to one another, but also reveals how they compare to the most usable, engaging, and most trusted sites online.