Online Banking USAA Online Banking Analysis:

Assessment of Positive & negative Impacts & Recommendations

The USAA online banking system has been specifically designed to provide the financial institution's customers with reliable, secure and virtual access to their accounts and supporting banking transactions globally. Through the use of any Internet browser, USAA banking customers can quickly sign in, access and view account information, transfer funds, and set up and use automated payments for their personal and business-related bills. There are also a series of preferences which can be configured by customers to further tailor their online bank accounts to their specific needs. This is particularly useful for creating automated bill payment alerts and transactions to make sure bills are paid on or before the due date, new loan or savings accounts are securely created and managed, and enabling cash transfers to USAA and other financial institutions' accounts. One of the most challenging aspects of online banking as a business is the tailoring of services to the minimum expectations of customers while judiciously and intelligently adding new ones to retain them loyalty and the reduce customer churn (Chong, Ooi, Lin, Tan, 2010). It is estimated that nearly 60% of banking customers leave their existing bank for another every year globally, with online banking have higher churn rates that have been notes as high as 75% (Mavri, Ioannou, 2006). For USAA to continually build a successful business, they must mitigate churn levels by continually adding new features to the online banking application and in so doing creating a more valuable customer experience.

Positive And Negative Aspects Of The USAA Online Banking System

In assessing the USAA online banking system, both the positive and negative aspects of its attributes and performance have been analyzed. Progressing beyond the basic foundational elements of security and reliability, online banking systems are increasingly being design to support advanced banking workflows across a very broad range of mobile devices. The positive aspects of the USAA online banking system and others like them contribute to a more customer satisfaction and reduction of churn, yielding higher levels of profitability and lifetime customer value over time (Chong, Ooi, Lin, Tan, 2010).

Social engineering is the most insidious form of security breach in that it attempts to mislead victims to provide their login and password information, in addition to highly confidential data including social security numbers (Claessens, Dem, De Cock, Preneel, Vandewalle, 2002).
From an accessibility standpoint, the USAA online banking web application is now available either directly from any web browser, from Apple IOS and Google Android applications as well. There are also accessibility options for the handicapped and those that require enhanced screen fonts and sound-based feedback to enable the disabled to also fully use the features of the USAA online banking systems as well.

A third significant benefit or positive aspect of the system is the augmented security that is designed into the USAA online banking system at the protocol and server level. This is specifically designed to ensure customers can reliably and securely access their accounts from any web browser, through their smartphone and tablet applications without risking having their data compromised. There is advanced authentication also defined using Secured Socket Layer (SSL) options in each browser supported, and implemented as a default feature of the Apple iOS and Google Android applications that USAA distributes free to customers. The bank also relies on advanced IPsec connections internally across Virtual private Networks (VPNs) that form the basis of its internal network that links regional offices and ATMs. IPsec has emerged as a standard in distributed banking networks as it is maps to the internet protocol (IP) address exactly, removing any potential for IP re-routing (Twum, Ahenkora, 2012).

The negative aspects of the USAA online banking system include the lack of integration to other, third-party banking systems, lack of consistency of SSL across all tablets and browsers,…