"The bank & credit union industry is very competitive when it comes to Web development and companies can benefit from the independent evaluation of their online efforts," said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. "In terms of banks & credit union websites, judges are looking for sites that both inform and educate their users. They should not overtly cross-sell products and services as this disrupts the user experience."

Web sites are judged on seven criteria including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copy writing and ease of use. Each WebAward entry is judged against other entries in its industry category and then against an overall standard of excellence.

All entrants benefit from receiving valuable feedback in terms of their specific scores compared against the average scores for their industry. They also may receive specific comments from the WebAward's professional judging panel on their Web site development efforts.

Winners of a WebAward in the bank & credit union categories will also receive:

•    Image plaque or certificate of achievement
•    Increased visibility for their company
•    Marketing opportunity to promote the company website to the media
•    Links to your site from the highly ranked WebAward site to help SEO
•    Admiration of peers, friends and co-workers

Banking
2006 - Carat Fusion for Wachovia Championship 17
2005 - Agency.com for Sainsburysbank.co.uk
2004 - Ion Global Limited for HSBC Card Services HK

A complete list of past winners and the entry form for companies who wish to compete for 2007 honors can be found at the Best Bank Web site page
    
Credit Union
2006 - Webnbeyond for Union America Mortgage
2005 - America First Credit Union for www.americafirst.com
2004 - Imirage, Inc for APCI Federal Credit Union
   
A complete list of past winners and the entry form for companies who wish to compete for 2007 honors can be found at the Best Credit Union site page

Using the quantifiable data collected from more than 15,000 Web site evaluations over the past decade, the WebAwards has defined and recognized industry-specific benchmarks for successful Web sites in each of the seven judging criteria and released an Internet Standards Assessment Report to detail the findings of the study. A copy of the 2008 Internet Standards Assessment Report, including details regarding the bank & credit union industries, will be provided to all participants.

Judging for the 2007 WebAwards will take place in June through August, with winners announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet marketing professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Web sites with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology. Past judges have included top executives from leading organizations such as Organic, Inc., Ogilvy Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, Blattner Brunner, Comedy Central, Sun Microsystems, Refinery, Euro RSCG, EPB Interactive, New York Post Interactive, The Cincinnati Enquirer, J. Walter Thompson, Xerox, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Modem Media, and Answerthink just to name a few.

The 2007 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: Burst Media, PRWeb, Misukanis & Odden, Small Army, SimpleFeed, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences, NewsUSA, eComXpo, MediaPost's OMMA conference, TopRank Online Marketing, Creative Chocolate Printing Company, OTOlabs, Internet World UK, Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster Radio, Rovion's InPerson and eMarketer.

About the WebAwards
Now in its 11th year, the annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industry categories by evaluating Web sites and defining benchmarks based on the seven essential criteria of successful Web site development. The goal of the Web Marketing Association, sponsor of the WebAwards, is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Web site assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Web site. For more information, visit www.07webaward.org.