Your credit union website hosting provider not only affects your business, but it can also impact your current and potential members. Because your credit union’s website can be considered a virtual branch, web hosting for your credit union is a critical component of your business strategy. Credit union web hosting that adequately meets your specific needs ensures consistent performance and security for your website users.
Website Reliability and Uptime
Unlike your brick-and-mortar locations, your credit union website should be open 24/7/365. As such, your site must be up and running smoothly and quickly whenever current or potential members visit. If your site is down, current members can’t access the information they need to manage their accounts, which is unacceptable for customer service and relationship building. For people shopping around for a bank or credit union, your website being down can damage your credibility, causing them to look elsewhere for financial services.
Even if your website is up, slow loading time can be detrimental to user experience. HostingTribunal.com lists some key stats about how web performance influences user experience:
- 53% of users leave when a website takes more than three seconds to load.
- 74% of mobile users leave when a website doesn’t load after five seconds.
- 75% of users won’t return to a website that takes more than four seconds to load.
- 52% of members attribute quick loading time to member loyalty.
- User satisfaction decreases by 16% for each 60-second delay in loading time.
For member satisfaction, you should be confident that your credit union website hosting provider can guarantee constant uptime and provide you with the bandwidth required for speedy load time.
Website Security and Monitoring
Selecting a trustworthy credit union website hosting company is akin to installing a security system at your brick-and-mortar location. Just like you wouldn’t leave the doors to your business always unlocked, you shouldn’t leave your website vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Even the largest financial institutions are susceptible to a cyberattack when website hosting is not up to par. In July 2019, a software engineer hacked into a Capital One bank server, stealing personal data of more than 100 million people. The New York Times reported the hacker stole 140,000 Social Security numbers, 80,000 bank account numbers, and millions of credit card applications. The engineer worked for Amazon Web Services, which hosted the database that was breached.
If your credit union web hosting provider fails to protect your members’ information, they aren’t the only ones who suffer. Your bottom line may also take a hit if you have to pay for credit monitoring or to settle legal claims.
Final Words
Exceptional credit union web hosting safeguards an optimal user experience and your members’ finances and identities. CUWebsite™ offers credit union web hosting on a VPS system in a data center located at an SSAE 16 SOC 1 facility to guarantee 100% uptime for your site. In addition to implementing AT&T’s DDoS Defense System and daily malware scanning, our exclusive BankSITE® Security Monitor alerts you if your website has been compromised. Contact us to discover how our credit union web hosting solutions can deliver an unmatchable user experience for your members.
