Troublesome to enter a bank account

Our government agencies and banks need to exercise some common sense in the design of their websites.

For online payment, they ask the customer to enter 3 separate fields - Bank, Branch, Account No.

They provide a drop down list for the Bank and a separate drop down list for the Branch. They do not provide the format for the Account No.

I had trouble locating the bank from a long drop down list. I had to search for it 3 times before I found it.

I also had trouble in locating the branch. My branch was previously Shenton Way, but has moved to MBFC. The drop down list did not provide MBFC.

Finally, I had to enter the Account No. A car dealer told me that I have to enter the full number, including the bank and branch code. The website did not indicate that this was necessary. So I entered just the 7 digit account code.

On all of our cheque books, we have the full account number, e.g. 7171-001-1234567. The website should just ask the customer to enter the account number as AAAA-BBB-CCCCCCC and provide an explanation - AAAA is the bank code, BBB - is the branch code and CCCCCCCC is the account number. I am sure that online users will be able to figure this out.

If they wish to help their customers, they can give a message like, "You are indicating account No 1234567 in DBS Bank, Shenton Way branch".