Corporate banking user experience is becoming increasingly important as financial institutions adapt their platforms to meet changing expectations from commercial clients. Corporate financial professionals need strong security to protect high-value transactions, but they also expect authentication and payment approval processes to be convenient, efficient, and compatible with the devices they use throughout the workday.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is addressing that balance by adding Apple Watch functionality to its CashPro corporate banking platform. The capability allows users to pair an Apple Watch with their mobile token and generate a one-time password, providing another way to securely access CashPro Mobile and approve transactions without relying on a separate physical token.
One of our themes across the various advisory services during the 2019 timeframe (also driving the written agenda) is customer retention, which in the commercial & enterprise payments service is supported by the UX. This means that banks in particular need to adapt to the new industrial ecosystem and deliver what clients want in way that suits them, which becomes more pronounced as a new demographic takes hold across global corporate environments.
Themes for success in commercial banking and payments
The announcement by Bank of America Merrill Lynch through their newsroom site is indicative of such adaptation, as they have added a token feature to their CashPro corporate banking platform, allowing Apple Watch to pair with their mobile token for easier access to the CashPro Mobile application. Although security can be a pain in the neck for end users, most understand that protecting the keys to the vault is rather critical in the age of breaches, malware, business e-mail compromise and synthetic fraud. That is especially true of the corporate financial professional who approves substantial payment and lending transactions on a daily basis.
‘Bank of America Merrill Lynch has taken another step on its digital transformation journey with the introduction of Apple Watch capabilities into the CashPro ecosystem. With this development, CashPro Mobile users will be able to pair their Apple Watch with their mobile token and generate a one-time password, delivering even greater convenience by:
- Making the security of a token available directly from Apple Watch.
- Eliminating the need to keep a physical token.
- Accelerating the ability to securely approve transactions.’
As we pointed out in a recent report titled Fintech in Corporate Banking: Digitize or Miss the Boat, the most forward thinking institutions are viewing the world as it will be in the age of 4IR, not as it is or has been before. So this kind of ongoing adaptation and improvement is part of that mind shift, and critical to banking success.
‘The addition of Apple Watch into CashPro follows a series of the bank’s technology improvements to the mobile experience, beginning with the CashPro Mobile app itself in 2017. Bank of America was the first bank to introduce a digital token, and last year, the company integrated that feature into the CashPro Mobile app, eliminating the need for users to toggle between screens. Other recent investments include biometrics, simpler navigation, enhanced user interface, a personalized home view that allows clients to take action on their most critical to-do’s, and the ability to send feedback directly from the app.’
Security will remain a critical requirement in commercial banking, particularly for professionals responsible for approving substantial payments and other financial transactions. However, stronger security does not necessarily have to result in a more cumbersome experience. Integrating authentication into devices that clients already use can help financial institutions maintain security while reducing friction.
The Apple Watch capability builds on a series of improvements Bank of America has made to CashPro Mobile, including digital tokens, biometrics, simplified navigation, personalized views, and other enhancements intended to make corporate banking more convenient. Together, these developments demonstrate how incremental improvements can contribute to a broader digital transformation strategy.
They also reflect changing expectations among commercial banking customers. As a new generation of financial professionals moves into decision-making roles, business banking platforms will increasingly be compared with the intuitive digital experiences users encounter elsewhere in their personal and professional lives.
Improving the corporate banking user experience can therefore become an important component of customer retention. Banks that successfully combine security, convenience, personalization, and efficient transaction management will be better positioned to strengthen existing client relationships while competing for new commercial banking business.
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group