A recent article in Bankrate discusses the maturing of mobile banking in which consumers now rely on their mobile devices to handle more and more of their financial activities, particularly in the moble app. While mobile check deposit used to be the lynch pin of the mobile banking app, a reason for downloading it given its unique feature. Some say cardless ATM access is another feature that may stimulate more use of the mobile app. Whatever it may be, financial institutions need to continue to improve mobile banking to be more supportive and intuitive into the nature of consumer’s banking and personal financial needs to compete more effectively with more popular mobile apps that may circumvent the bank relationship.
“The rise of technology has threatened the role that banks play in our lives. Many bank executives are worried that services like Uber could make their brands less top of mind and leave them more like plumbing. Mobile banking is an opportunity for banks to nurture those relationships by finding ways to be there when you need them. Card controls are a great example of that, but banks are exploring other approaches, like sorting through your transactions to see where you may have overpaid for an item or showing you local deals in your neighborhood.”
The latest findings from Mercator Advisory Group’s Cu upcoming report, Digital Banking: Improvements Needed to Compete with Fintech, mobile banking is growing rapidly, but more consumers are accessing their FI websites by mobile devices than using the mobile banking apps. Mobile banking users communicate more frequently than in any other channel and they also are more likely to be using a wider variety of channels to communicate and engage with their financial institution. Most mobile banking app users say they try to use their mobile banking app for as many activities as they can. And, overall satisfaction with mobile banking app is high, but consumers are least satisfied with the range of activities they can perform in the app. While remote check deposit is one of the most common features of mobile banking apps, less than half say their mobile banking app offers quick and easy login and authentication, though it is one of the most important features they expect in a mobile banking app. That is why many financial institutions are looking at offering virtual assistants either by voice-activated skills or embedded in text-based chatbots. Virtual assistants are now used by 45% of US adults and many of them would feel comfortable using these assistants for banking functions, including 1 in 3 who already do. Financial institutions will remain at top of mind by making their mobile apps more easily accessible and broadening the features it offers to integrate support for the financial decisions they make in daily life.
Overview by Karen Augustine, Manager, Primary Data Services at Mercator Advisory Group
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