Modern users expect more from their financial institution’s mobile apps. Mobile banking apps are meant to make digital banking more convenient for end-users, yet according to the results of a survey by digital finance portal PYMNTS, 21.7 percent of users who use these apps are dissatisfied with them.
That means financial institutions have to continually refine their digital offerings to increase engagement and deepen their relationships with users.
Organizations today need trusted technology partners to develop features that integrate well into their existing digital platforms. Creating and launching new apps on a regular basis — or implementing frequent overhauls of design and functionality — can disrupt your user’s experience and diminish trust in your platform.
Let’s have a look at five questions a bank or credit union should ask during the vetting process in order to shortlist the best candidates to assist them with their digital platforms.
1. Does User Experience Come First?
Any feature, no matter how elegant its design or advanced its development, can fail to catch on if users do not understand why or how they should use it. A new feature is often developed with a “me-too” mentality: Just because another institution has it in their app, you should have it as well.
A good technology partner will perform tests and present the necessary data to demonstrate whether a feature is important or useful enough to warrant being added to an existing banking app. Then, it’s crucial for continued engagement to do consistent testing to refine the user experience.
2. How Do You Address Security When Building and Rolling Out Features?
While mobile banking adoption has increased, users still have concerns about security. They are “scared to death about data security and privacy, but that doesn’t stop them from using online or mobile banking tools heavily,” notes Bill Streeter, editor of The Financial Brand. “In fact, consumers’ digital banking engagement overall is growing.”
Financial institutions should ask partners whether security features are built into their offerings and whether these same security features can be ported and integrated into other applications.
3. Do You Have Relationships with Third-Party Data Providers?
Some features require access to third-party data sources, such as credit monitoring or mortgage rates.
A solid technology partner will have these data relationships in place so your financial institution does not have to establish and subscribe to these data sources on behalf of their users. Further, users will prefer this “all-in-one” experience of access to information from a single banking app.
4. Are Features All-in-One or Á La Carte?
Not all banks and credit unions are created equal, so their mobile apps should not be the same either.
Choose a technology partner that does not sell a single, one-size-fits-all product but rather a dynamic, customizable solution that meets the complex needs of your end-users. The end result should appear to be simple, but the selection, design, and development of features should not be.
5. Do You Measure What’s Working and What Isn’t?
Understanding your users’ use of particular features is important. Your technology provider should be able to provide app analytics that can tell you which services are being more used than others. Under-performing features can eventually be sunsetted, reducing the app’s file size or resource usage, and thus, improving the user’s overall experience.
Financial institutions should certainly ask these questions of their technology providers. In addition, they should keep on top of evolving and shifting user trends to determine which features should be added, upgraded, or even retired from their apps. It’s all about the digital experience: Positive experience leads to trust, which in turn leads to loyal users.
About Lumin Digital
Lumin Digital is redefining digital banking through its proprietary user engagement platform. By using user data and predictive analytics, financial institutions can create custom experiences for end-users, leading to a truly personalized journey and connected relationship.
Jake Wengroff writes about technology and financial services. A former technology reporter for CBS Radio, he covers topics such as security, mobility, e-commerce and IoT.
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