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Mobile banking apps are saving consumers time and effort
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Posted By Will Jones on Jul 24, 2014 |
Mobile banking – are FI’s ready to take advantage?

Almost every day sees a new headline about the all-pervading presence of mobile devices in modern life. But amid executive snapchat remarks around the average person checking their smartphone 150 times a day is a significant success story for banks in particular. With mobile banking apps offering up previously unimaginable response rates from their customers, this sea change in customer behaviour means people are saving themselves time and effort when it comes to managing their finances. So why is it important that banks keep up with public demand for mobile services and future technologies which could save them even more time and money?


Saving 24 hours a year

Newly-released data from RBS Group illustrates just how convenient mobile banking is for consumers. Downloading and using mobile apps to manage their money on the move saves their customers 96 million hours, as well as 24 million miles of travel – every year. For individuals, juggling busy lives, this equates to 24 hours saved annually and, with that, 73 miles of journeys. Where 20 years ago, customers would visit a branch in person, key transactions can now be carried out on smartphones, saving the customer an average of four trips a month.

This digital-first customer experience also adds a level of unrivalled convenience to daily lives. RBS Group reveals that 7.17am is the most popular time for customers to make a mobile payment on the app and 8.06am is the time when the majority of log-ins to mobile banking occur, as people start their day with a quick balance check to see how their finances are.


The age of mobile access

It all points to the changing relationship FIs have with their consumers. The age of mobile access, with banking on-the-move, is a time when institutions have to respond quickly to meet the customer demands for convenience and flexibility. Customer service goes far beyond the opening and closing of branch doors at set times; banks now present their brand and their services minute by minute. This daily interaction with customers on their favourite device (which is always by their side) heralds unprecedented benefits fora financial institution.

That said, successful mobile banking implementation doesn’t mean banks can rest on their laurels. Consumers want to access the latest functionality – whether that means peer-to-peer mobile payments or quick balance updates – and they want any new service to work seamlessly and without delay.

RBS Group has already seen rapid uptake of its own mobile offering, with three million customers actively using their mobile app and 100 million transactions made in 2013; with their users checking their accounts every day on average.



What to do with all this engagement?

The question, for banks and FIs in general, is what they should do with the levels of engagement a good mobile app provides. How do they make sure their mobile app stays on the front-screen of users’ smartphones and is there an opportunity for banks to do more with this exposure?

The simple answer to this question is ‘mobile commerce’. Already trusted to handle day-to-day payments, balances and account transactions, the mobile banking app is perfectly placed as an engaging and trusted channel to present and sell other products and services – provided they are relevant to the user. This is the essence of mobile commerce – where networks of retailers are linked up to mobile app users by relevance and context.

For example, if I have a golfing holiday deposit in my account statement, my banking app could send me an in-app notification of a golf equipment promotion, pointing out on my mobile’s map the ‘bricks and mortar’ outlet, or linking to an online retailer. The bank is already saving me time and effort, so why shouldn’t they save me money with discounts and promotions I might like?

The key takeaway for FIs here is that the mobile banking app is already seen as useful – habitual use of these apps means banks have consumer eyeballs on their platform 28-40 times a month. Knowing this means they can enhance their brand by being even more useful and at the same time opening up new revenue streams with commerce content. And in this fast-moving, connected world, if banks don’t start offering such services, their competition will.

http://www.monitise.com/insights/2014/07/24/mobile-banking-apps-saving-consumers-time-effort/