Customers are demanding more from banks than ever before. Digital banking has been on the rise for over 10 years, and COVID-19 has accelerated this even more, with a reported 200% increase in new mobile banking users this year. Plus, data suggests this trend will continue over the long term. In a recent survey, less than half of consumers said they will return to branch banking post-pandemic, with more than 60% stating they will continue to digitally bank. Why? While safety and access have been driving forces during the pandemic, now that consumers have experienced the convenience of digital banking, many won’t want to go back to their old ways.
The fact is, if you want customers to stick with your bank, you need to establish a long-term digital banking strategy. Our digital banking consulting can help you do that.
A recent survey found that 14% of consumers are considering switching their primary bank in the next six months, and 43% of potential switchers are looking to move in the next 90 days. As banking customers become more reliant on digital channels to complete routine tasks, banks will need to elevate their user experience on those platforms to retain customers.
Further compounding the issue, with an increase in digital banking, proximity to a branch location is now way less important. Removing the need for customers to be geographically located near their financial institutions makes it easier to search for the bank with the best digital offering, regardless of where it may be. This just reiterates that if your banking experience is subpar, customers are going to look for better options.
Customers' expectations around digital banking aren’t always complicated. Banks may not need to reinvent the wheel but they do need to prioritize where to focus. By leveraging digital banking consulting and improving the right aspects of their mobile apps, financial institutions can make a big impact on their customer satisfaction (which will pay off in dividends now and after the COVID-19 pandemic)
Every institution is unique in it’s offering and what customers need and want from its digital suite of tools. When creating a new digital strategy, we’ll examine and make recommendations on the features where you need to focus. These can include:
What customers want | How banks can improve |
Contactless banking | Enhance your omnichannel strategy to ensure that your digital channels – mobile app, website, voice skill – offer truly touchless options |
Easy digital onboarding | Help new customers easily join your bank by making the digital onboarding process simple |
Self-Service | Grant customers the ability to transfer money, deposit checks, and bank efficiently and on their own timeline |
Security & privacy | Create a security strategy that keeps customer data safe from a breach and communicate the policy and its updates regularly |
Mobiquity’s proprietary Friction Report offers business leaders insights into how the world’s top apps perform so that they can make meaningful decisions and enhancements to their own mobile applications.
For banking, we analyzed the mobile apps offered by Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo. We know what customers are looking for and how their needs have changed since COVID-19 hit and banking digitally has increased.
The first step in building a lasting relationship with your customer is to make sure their first engagement goes smoothly. And yet many banks don’t have a process to make onboarding completely digital across banking products, leading to low conversion rates and high costs.
Consider the following when thinking through how to digitize your client acquisition strategy:
At this point, you should want customers to be able to self-service their onboarding. What channels would you like them to be able to onboard themselves? Think through these types of questions when organizing around your digital strategy.
If you’ve decided you want your customers to have the option to open an account without the need to physically come into a branch, you’ll need to consider how to securely enable this experience. This is especially important to consider in banking, as security and digital identity verification will be necessary to protect both you and your customer.
If the technology works but the experience is confusing or difficult for your customers, the whole program will quickly lose its luster and your ROI will suffer. Ensure that your user experience is seamless so that you get back what you’ve put into the program.
We have expertise in digital banking consulting and can deliver best practices from other customer-centric industries. Check out the work that we’ve done with others such as Bank of the Philippines and Bank ABC, in addition to the innovative programs we’ve developed for brands like Wawa, Purina, and Nestle.