Why Banking Apps Need to Be More Than Just Banking Apps

Consumers are using mobile banking apps like never before. The pandemic served as a catalyst for mobile adoption, as the portion of consumers reporting that they most often used mobile banking apps to bank rose from 33% pre-pandemic to 44% since it began. Importantly, this change is not temporary and instead is expected to persist even when the pandemic ends.

• Seventy percent of consumers view their increased use of digital banking channels as permanent, according to a Citizens Bank survey.
• The same survey found that nine in 10 consumers said they now do at least some of their banking via digital tools such as mobile and online banking

This edition of the “Digital-First Banking Tracker®” examines the recent trends in consumers’ usage of mobile banking apps, including the growing interest in banking apps that do more than just simple banking tasks.

Around The Digital-First Banking Space

In a nod to the growing desire for more robust banking app experiences, First Federal Bank of Kansas recently launched a re-designed online banking platform and mobile app for both its business and consumer customers. The bank designed the app to create a user-friendly experience for managing a variety of financial needs. The app includes a window that allows users to connect accounts to different financial institutions (FIs) to help consumers better manage their finances by tracking account balances and spending habits as well as building custom budgets.

For more on this and other stories, including which bank was voted the best consumer digital bank in Africa, visit the Tracker’s Companies To Watch section.

Atomic’s Head Of Markets On A Digital-First Approach To Paying Employees

As the portion of consumers interested in using digital tools to manage their financial affairs grows, FIs and FinTechs are stepping up to meet this demand. One area ripe for innovation is the payroll space, said Lindsay Davis, head of markets at Atomic. In a recent PYMNTS interview, she explained how Atomic overcame payroll pain points by leveraging digital technology to create a more effective, streamlined consumer experience.

To learn more about Atomic’s approach to innovating employee payments, read the Tracker’s Insider POV section.

Consumers Want More From Their Mobile Banking Apps

In an era when consumers are using mobile banking apps in record numbers, it comes as no surprise that consumers are using these apps to handle their basic banking needs. These include viewing statements and account balances, transferring funds and paying bills.

What may be surprising, however, is that there is a growing demand for these apps to handle far more than just simple banking tasks. Consumers increasingly want to use their banking apps to handle almost all their financial needs, including making peer-to-peer payments, finding ATMs and budgeting and tracking their finances, among other financial-related activities.

To learn more about consumers’ expectations for mobile banking apps, including the role of virtual assistant functionality, read the Tracker’s PYMNTS Intelligence section.

About The Tracker

The “Digital-First Banking Tracker®,” a collaboration with NCR, examines how consumers’ expectations regarding their mobile banking applications have evolved to include much more than simple banking functionality.