How to Maximize the Efficiency of Your Mobile Banking Solution

Gone are the days when bank customers had to visit their local bank branches to access their accounts. Thanks to the rapid growth of the internet – more specifically, the use of mobile phones – most banks can now offer digital banking to their customers. More so, mobile banking solutions are revolutionizing how customers access core banking services. From account management to application of loans at any time, both customers and banks are enjoying multiple benefits.

However, while most, if not all, financial institutions have a mobile banking solution, there is still a lot of ground to be covered in terms of centering these channels on consumers. Most banking institutions fail to realize that the best financial approaches are focused on consumers and not on the products. 

Developing and releasing a mobile banking solution to the market is one thing; onboarding consumers smoothly using these apps is another different ball-game. Research shows that only a third of consumers who try to open and onboard online using mobile apps complete their applications. Besides, only half of them are able to fund their accounts remotely using these mobile platforms. 

This shows that a mobile banking app should offer more than just interfaces that show account balances and transaction histories. 

5 Tips on Maximizing the Efficiency of Your Mobile Banking Solution

Your mobile banking solution should provide meaningful engagement between you and your customers. So how do you do this? 

Here are 5 tips on how you can maximize the efficiency of your mobile banking solution.

Keep it simple – prioritize design quality over functional quantity

Today’s digital consumer- the young and tech-savvy millennial – prefers a simple and intuitive mobile solution. Unfortunately, most financial institution’s mobile applications are just mobile versions of web-based apps. This means a heavy function platform with an overwhelming amount of information. 

While it is advisable to have a mobile banking solution with lots of features, the presentation of this information is key. Take, for instance, a consumer who downloads your app intending to open an account. However, on clicking the open account button, they are presented with multiple long pages of information required. The likelihood of this customer abandoning the application process is quite high.

You need to simplify this process by keeping your customer engaged. Ensure the design functionality leverages the unlimited capabilities of smartphones. For instance, if the application needs an ID image for the KYC compliance, let the customer take a quick snap of their ID while still on the app. Besides, trigger data extraction from the picture that auto-fills other parts of the account application form. 

Such ease of use can only be obtained if your mobile banking solution is;

• Designed with the consumer in mind.
• Designed separately rather than being a mobile version of your already existing web version. 
• Digital-centric. Stop relying heavily on phone calls for communication with your customer when you can easily engage them on the mobile platform. Use chatbots and voice, among other interactive tools.

Self-service is key

If you aim to become an internet-only bank, strive at ensuring your mobile banking solution allows customers to serve themselves. As indicated earlier, if, for instance, your mobile banking solution doesn’t allow for account onboarding using the banking app, then you are losing out. 

No mobile user wants to call your toll-free number every time they want to open an account. Ensure your mobile solution allows users to complete all their actions without the need to call customer service or visit your branch location. 

Some common ways most banks are using to eliminate friction points in their mobile banking solutions include;

• Allowing e-deposit of cheques.
• Biometric logins.
• In-app loan calculators.
• Ability to deactivate and activate credit and debit cards.

Eliminating such friction points improves your customers’ banking experience on the platform while also reducing your operational costs.

Next-gen customer support

In the current digital era, customer behaviors are changing rapidly. Banks need to adapt and embrace the new challenges and opportunities brought about by this accordingly. As you might know all too well, each consumer generation brings its own challenges to bank structures. While millennials were able to trend the line between digital and traditional banking services- hence didn’t cause a lot of disruption – the next generation (Generation Z) will cause much more disruption.

For instance, today’s digital consumer requires more than the FAQs section in your mobile platform help tab. There is an increased need for integration of chatbots and other interactive tools such as video.

Most importantly, experts believe that secure chatbots will transform customer experience in digital banking platforms. On the other hand, voice banking is also another interesting feature that promises a lot in improving customer service. 

Next-gen technology such as IoT, AR, and VR can be pivotal in providing individualized and real-time customer service to accommodate the Gen Z customers’ digital preference.

Selling products within mobile platforms

Most financial institutions are yet to replicate the face-to-face sale of their products that occurs in the physical branches on their mobile banking channels. With most people rarely visiting their bank branch, you need to ensure your mobile banking solution can deliver personalized product sales messages to customers effectively.

Mobile banking comes with an array of customer data, from geographical to marketing preferences and spending habits. This data provides internal and external insights that can be used for in-app mobile marketing. 

For instance, you can target customers with personalized marketing messages or product offerings such as loans based on their spending habits data. Moreover, with the existing data that your bank has on a particular customer, you can easily simplify and hasten their loan applications. This ensures they don’t look elsewhere or quit the process before checking out when applying for your financial products.

Therefore, your mobile banking solution should integrate a contextual sales strategy that uses advanced customer data analytics. This will help integrate services you intend to sell within the Personal Financial Management (PFM) tools rather than just pushing products down your customers’ throats.

Balance security and ease of use

Did you know most mobile banking customers are worried about data security and privacy, but that doesn’t stop them from engaging in digital banking heavily? This is why online bill pay has grown steadily over the past few years despite the bad press about data breaches and cyberattacks.

According to a Fiserv survey, mobile bill pay and digital wallet use have increased by up to 48% and 53%, respectively. So, what does this mean to your mobile banking solution? Well, while security is vital, do not overemphasis on building a secure mobile banking solution that impacts on the customer’s ease of use. 

Finding the right balance between security and usability is key. Fortunately, with new technologies such as self-service password reset, it easier now to push past the limitations of traditional banking systems.

According to this article, the best way to balance both of these key aspects is to use security by design approach when developing your mobile banking solution. Simple features such as password checkers, expiring of inactive sessions, and integration of 2FA provide guarantees of safety and are too complicated for the customers. 

Remember, apps with a minimalist design are easy to use for users and have simpler code, which means fewer security vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

The functionality of your mobile banking solution should exceed the customers’ expectations from the onset. The key to maximizing its efficiency lies in the solution’s ability to not only digitize as many banking processes as possible but also in streamlining customer’s omnichannel experiences.

These 5 tips are just but a few key aspects to look out for when checking on the efficiency of your mobile banking solution. Others we haven’t highlighted may include; 

• Mobile app analytics. This helps in improving customer engagement strategies through pain point analysis, app retention analysis, crash log monitoring, among others.
• Benchmarking your competitors.
• Improve mobile web experience.

These tips aim to improve the functionality of your mobile banking solution while simplifying the user experience.