Tell me more…

If you noticed, not all services offered on Maybank2U website are included on its mobile app. In return for mobility and convenience, the apps has been stripped down to offer limited services compared to what already had been offered in its website.

For example: Prepaid top up with PIN, one-off payment, new third party account transfer, insurance and investments are a number of services which had been dropped from this app.

What if I want to use current website on my mobile?

Good question. So I did a little sleuthing – I checked Maybank2u website on my mobile and found out that the above services are not available as well. The current Maybank2U website also does not render very well when viewed on mobile. As a front-end developer, this bugs me a bit (OK, a lot).

In the end, I decided that I am just going to use the Maybank2U mobile website just to check the account balance and none for those heavy duty banking stuff.

But I still want to use it on my smartphone. How can I do that?

On 29^th November 2013, Maybank2u rolled out a new interface for the website. As a front end developer, on my first glimpse I knew straight away that it is a responsive design. Despite a lot of people bashing the new interface on social media, I found that it works very well on mobile devices. This new design works well on any devices no matter what the screen size of the device. Most importantly, the new design offers all the services they have on desktop view.

The only thing is that the new design is now reverted to the old one.

Bummer! But how do I get to the Maybank new interface?

First step is to open Maybank2u on your mobile browser. Once loaded, click “Visit Full Website” link on the bottom of the page. Now, you will see normal Maybank2u website on your mobile browser. Go ahead and click that first banner of the slider (red area on below screenshot) which then will redirect you to new Maybank2u interface.

For easy access to the new interface, simply create a bookmark and make a shortcut on your Homescreen.

Do you have any other hacks? Do share them in the comments.

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Maybank2u – Malaysian’s favourite online banking service

I have always been hoping that Malaysian websites would become better at adopting web technologies and employing smarter user experience design. I must say that despite being the most visited Malaysian website, Maybank2u does not take lead in both areas. In terms of design, it’s probably how a banking website should look, though I have seen better ones. Plus, I’m not in a good position to comment as I’m no designer.

Flashback…

Personally, I think the navigation structure is somewhat unintuitive. I remember the first time I logged into the website some four years ago and was overwhelmed by the Dashboard. There was no visual focus on banking functions useful to me. I became distracted and felt a little lost.

Does your OS come with a digital clock? If not you can use ours!
So I decided to explore one banking options after another. The first one said, quite naturally, ‘Accounts & Banking’. Clicking the link took me to a page with a secondary navigation menu on left. But hold on, what’s that about ‘Bill Payment’? I thought I saw something about bills in the homepage?

We have another link for you to pay your bill, in case the first link is, erm, down.

I then clicked the back button in my browser. It didn’t take me to the previous page. Instead it says, due to security, I was not allowed to use the back button at all and the system promptly logged me out. I felt frustrated and confused – how could the back button possible cause any security issues? (Update: It appears that the website now supports use of back button, notwithstanding their initial security concerns. I didn’t realize it until I test it again in preparation of this post.) I have tried another online banking websites before, but they let me browse the way I do, back button and all.

So I logged in again. And I saw that the homepage has a link that reads ‘Bills & Statements’ (although they meant different things). I was puzzled by the logic used by the UI designer when designing the navigation structure. When I clicked on the link, it took me to a page with a totally different main navigation structure. While the style looked the same, the main navigation structure was so out of touch that I’m certain they were built with the only integration to each other being the link.

You must click on ‘Online Banking’ first before you log out, because… you are not on an online banking site now?
I felt uncomfortable browsing a banking website patched up like this. So I decided to go back to the previous section I landed on when I first logged in, to get some bearing. Again, forgetting about the ‘security’ reason for disabling the usage of the back button in browser, I clicked on it and I was logged out again.

No, it wasn’t like this (this is when the user logs out on his own). I remembered clearly that they said I was not allowed to use the back button in my browser because it was not secure.

I couldn’t get used to how I need to change my browsing habits and got fed up by it, so I decided to discontinue exploring any further until I absolutely need to use its online banking service.

What Went Wrong?

I think what went wrong for me was:

• Confusing navigation structure
• Lack of visual cue on things ought to be focused on
• Enforcement of browsing habits change

Four Years Later…

It has been four years since I started using Maybank2u and I realized that  the only thing they have improved is the support of  the cautionary back button (duh). I don’t know when the change was made because since my first or second visit, I have made myself adapt to their no-back button policy until today (damn, I feel so stupid).

Maybank2u is not the only Malaysian banking website that causes my itch, but I will save the rest for another day. 😉

P.S.:

I tried to access Maybank2u today by the address maybank2u.com.my and it didn’t work. My gut  feeling  told me it’s probably caused by one of the most common issues with Malaysian websites—the www and Only www Syndrome.

So I tried www.maybank2u.com.my. Voila, it works, and I’m right about the www and Only www Syndrome. 😉

We vow not to serve any visitors trying to reach us without ‘www’ in the web address.

The post My Maybank2u Experience appeared first on Stampede: the strategic design & technology company.