OREANDA-NEWS. October 21, 2009. At the Baltic Financial Forum held in Riga, Metasite Business Solutions published the 2009 Baltic E-Banking Report of the electronic communication channels of the Baltic retail banks. According to the report Sampo Pank and Swedbank share the first place in Estonia. It can be stated that neither the current economic recession nor cost reductions by banks have had any negative impact on the quality of services provided by the Baltic banks, reported the press-centre of Sampo Bank.

According to the results of the research study conducted by Metasite Business Solutions, in Estonia the best e-banking and mobile banking services are provided by Sampo Pank and Swedbank which have achieved equal results this year. Compared to the prior year, both banks have managed to raise their service level, although Sampo Pank has slightly outstripped Swedpank.

According to the analysts of Metasite Business Solutions neither the current economic recession nor cost reductions by banks have had any negative impact on the quality of services provided by the Baltic banks. On the contrary, the average number of points attributed to the Baltic banks has even risen by 12 per cent.

This year’s study was the first one in the course of which the usability of the services of the mobile bank was analyzed. It appeared that the Estonian banking systems provide a considerably better technical support to the device than the banking systems of the other Baltic countries.

The overall rankings of the study are as follows: Sampo Pank (14.2 points), Swedbank (14.2 points), Krediidipank (13.7 points)), SEB Pank (12.5 points), Nordea Pank (12.2 points), Parex Pank (10.6 points), Marfin Pank (9.6 points), Handelsbanken (9.0 points), Tallinna Aripank (8.4 points), DnB Nord (7.5 points).

The Baltic E-Banking Report presents the results of an independent research study in the course of which the strengths and weaknesses of the e-banking and mobile banking services provided by all Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian banks are analyzed. The current year’s report is the seventh of the series of similar annual reports prepared by Metasite Business Solutions. In evaluating banking systems the following criteria are evaluated: functionality, clarity, convenience and customer service responsiveness.

The overview of the results of this and prior year’s reports in the form of spreadsheets is available on: http://www.powerhouse.ee/metasite. Additional summary information about the recent reports published by Metasite is available on Metasite’s website:
http://www.metasite.net/?l=ebanking_report2009 and

http://www.metasite.net/?l=ebanking_report2008. 

The report contains a comparative analysis of more than 40 000 data units. In the 2009 Baltic E-Banking Report 39 retail banks are analysed: 10 Estonian, 17 Latvian and 12 Lithuanian banks. The Baltic E-Banking Report compiled by Metasite Business Solutions is the most comprehensive and thorough research study conducted in the Baltic countries.

Metasite Business Solutions (http://www.metasite.net), founded in 1998, provides management consulting, specialized research, development and outsourcing services to clients in the Baltics and in the other EU countries. Metasite Business Solutions primarily focuses on serving clients in the following three sectors: financial services, telecommunications & media and energy & utilities. Metasite Business Solutions helps its clients to determine the most important trends in the sector, to map and optimize customer relationships, to combine various customer service channels, to develop online self-care interfaces, as well as customer-focused business processes which can be used in e-banking, management and product development.