On August 6, 1991, the first website was quietly launched and started a change in how people connected, learned, and banked. The first site, which can still be found online, provided information on the “world wide web” or what would become known as the Internet.
Financial institutions quickly began adopting this new technology both to connect with customers and to provide access to a new service – internet banking.
In late 1999, Jewett City Savings Bank introduced its first website, a colorful affair with information about the Bank’s history, products, and services. Like many sites at the time, it also stored important information about the “millennium” bug, a computer programming glitch that threatened computer functionality as we entered the year 2000 (or Y2K).
Pre-QR code, print newsletters produced by the Bank included “speedy” a cyber-shield which was used next to articles to indicate there was more information on the Bank’s website.
Today our website, which responds to the size of a visitor’s screen and includes interactive tools, online account opening and applications, and improved accessibility, reflects its importance as a first stop for our customers as they access their accounts and manage their finances.
While we can’t go back to those early days to see the traffic, we do know in 2012 the site reported 258,448 visitor sessions. In 2022 that number had increased to over 3.7 million – and continues to climb to this day!
