Essential Features of Mobile Banking Apps

Since the start of the epidemic, customers have been asking for more advanced electronic banking choices. Citizens Bank recently conducted research that found that most customers now select their banking partner primarily on the basis of mobile and online banking capabilities (40 percent of consumers citing this as the most important factor, compared to only 27 percent citing the convenience of physical branch locations). 

Your organization's customers desire financial management at their fingertips more and more, especially on their phones. According to a recent Insider Intelligence poll, over 80% of participants mostly used mobile devices for their banking. You must provide excellent mobile banking to match your customers' needs if you want to compete with startups and banks that focus just on mobile.  

A successful mobile banking experience in 2022 will include more than just the essentials. Of course, simplicity, security, and speed are what your clients need. However, consumers now also demand cutting-edge mobile banking capabilities that were previously exclusive to Internet or local branch banking. 

Statistics on Mobile Banking

• 87% percent of users use their mobile banking app at least once per month. (Redux)
• The ability to request a replacement card is the mobile banking feature that has seen the most growth in use over the last year, with 54% of users using it compared to 44% a year earlier. (Redux)
• Most customers (48 percent) say their preferred method of handling their bank accounts is on a mobile device. The American Bankers Association
• Most Gen Zers (57%) and millennials (60%) favor mobile banking. (ABA)
• Those with some college experience or a college degree are more likely to use mobile banking to access bank accounts than those without any college experience. (FDIC)
• Higher-income families also reported using mobile banking the most. (FDIC)

But in order to stay competitive, what mobile banking services can your Bank offer? It would help if you thought about implementing these seven brand-new, crucial mobile banking features either right now or in the near future:

Features of Mobile Banking App Development

1. Improved card management
2. Tools for creating budgets
3. Opening of an account
4. Banking via text
5. Commercial and business services
6. Wearable technology and widgets
7. Quick payments

Continue reading for more about these seven aspects.

1. Improved Card Management

Customers utilize mobile banking for reasons other than convenience. Reaction time may also be quite significant in some situations, such as potential credit or debit card theft. As a result, "in a 2021 survey, 47% of consumers ranked the ability to turn off a payment card in a mobile app as' extremely valuable.''

Another way you can assist consumers in preventing fraud is to establish daily debit card restrictions that safeguard consumers in the event that their cards are misplaced or stolen. 

However, those who often use their debit cards and sometimes make significant transactions may prefer a temporarily increased daily card limit. Let's say your client is at a furniture shop and is thinking about making a larger-than-daily buy. While they're the shop, they would want to temporarily establish a higher limit. Suppose a consumer is making a large purchase. In that case, it is simpler for them to seek an increase in their credit limit and establish an expiry date when they may create temporary limitations using a mobile app. Convenience like this leads to more satisfied and devoted customers. 

Conventional approaches to managing misplaced or stolen debit cards can include a laborious procedure of contracting with the financial institution, standing in line, and managing documentation. With only a few touches on mobile banking applications, customers can quickly freeze their cards and safeguard their funds. 

Users may temporarily block their debit cards using the quick card lock function in case of lost or stolen cards, questionable transactions, or even safety measures while traveling. The procedure is easy to follow; you must connect to the mobile banking app and choose the "Lock Card" option. 

Users may access their cards with the same speed and ease even when the card is subsequently located, or the issue is fixed. 

The card lock option is particularly helpful for parents who want to give their kids some financial autonomy. Parents may quickly freeze their debit card if their kid misplaces it to avoid abuse. 

2. Budgeting Tools

According to the insider intelligence survey, money management –a newly introduced area for mobile banking –had the second-highest demand for features. Keeping track of which businesses can access customers' financial data is difficult since many services ask for users' credit card and bank account information. 

Customers of your institution may keep track of their spending, savings, budgeting, and classification with the use of budgeting software, which aggregates data from many institutions into a single platform. To help customers better manage their budget, you may provide them with an app that compiles all of their financial data from all three institutions, such as Discover and Chase, in addition to their accounts at your institution. 

What benefit does your financial institution get from providing a budgeting app? You gain a customer's loyalty every time you make their experience more convenient. Customers may transfer funds across accounts with the aid of budgeting software, and you can provide tailored advice on how to meet their financial objectives. In the event that your organization has a competitive edge, this characteristic also presents marketing chances. For instance, you may get their business if you can provide an identical loan for 4% while the client has a 5% loan to another bank. 

3. Account Opening 

Your organization's customers may need help applying for a new account. Streamlining this procedure for your current clientele might boost their loyalty. Consider enabling current clients to use your mobile banking app to apply for another account with your organization. 

Accessing your money so it can perform the tasks you need it to is the entire purpose of having a mobile app. This includes the flexibility to deposit checks, pay bills, pay back loans, and move money between accounts from any location. 

4. Text Banking Commands

Even without mobile data being accessible, text banking enables users to swiftly and conveniently text institutions for information. When the customer texts an order, the institution responds with information or confirmation on the client's accounts. 

Customers may carry out the following actions using text banking:

• Check amounts on loan and deposit accounts
• Examine recent past events
• Verify the loan amount that is owed.

SMS warnings for potential fraud, such as transactions above a specific threshold or from an unfamiliar device, may be set up. Customers can read and react to mobile notifications more quickly than warnings delivered to a PC since they almost always have their mobile devices with them. 

5. Commercial and Business Services

It is not only individuals who demand improved mobile banking services. To remain competitive, businesses also need the speed and ease of mobile banking. 

In addition to offering business-specific features like the ability to send a wire or an ACH batch, the top mobile banking applications for businesses also provide the typical features of mobile banking, such as bill pay and picture deposits. 

Here are just a few justifications for providing your business banking clients with a feature-rich mobile application.

Easy accessibility

Offering mobile check deposits can help your company customers who now drive to your institution to deposit checks save significant time and money. The same advantage applies to approving transactions straight from a phone, including ACH transfers for payments, receivables, and payroll. 

Business owners who travel often or don't spend much time in front of a computer may find this feature extremely helpful.

Restricting Access for Employees

Businesses may tailor an employee's access and control levels using mobile banking. For instance, they may let a worker deposit checks using a smartphone without giving them access to account numbers, balances, or other private information. 

Continuous Access to Account Data

Using mobile business banking, an account owner may monitor and control the amount on the company's account from anywhere at any time, enabling tighter control over business spending. 

Mobile banking may be used by both small and big businesses to resolve financial issues swiftly. If you can resolve your business account owners' problems, they will also stick with you. 

6. Widgets and Wearables

Wearables are in demand. Smartwatches, in particular, provide financial organizations with a significant chance to reach a diverse clientele. Provide applications that are compatible with smartwatches so that your clients can handle their money more conveniently. 

Moreover, wearables may provide more security. To lower the danger of fraud, many wearable gadgets incorporate biometric security, such as fingerprints or other physically unique signatures that cannot be replicated. When worn, smartwatches are also difficult to lose or steal. "They provide a chance to build additional digital contact points with clients in order to make their experience seamless and expand their usage of digital banking. The security of wearable banking supports its most essential value add."

With widgets, you can quickly access applications' data without opening the program. One example is a calendar widget, which lets you quickly see the events coming up on your calendar without opening the calendar software. Even while some smartphones have certain default widgets installed, you may provide your consumers with consumer's access to other widgets by having them download the appropriate software. 

7. Instant Payments

It will be simple in the near future to allow your organization's consumers to make fast payments. Mobile banking is the best method to let your consumers access this cutting-edge technology. 

In order to empower banks of all sizes and in all American communities to provide secure and effective immediate payment services in real-time, 24/7, the Federal Reserve Banks are creating a new instant payment service called FedNow. 

Businesses and individuals can send and receive instant payments quickly through financial institutions that are part of the FedNow Service. Recipients will have full access to funds immediately, giving them more freedom to manage their finances and make timely payments. The service will serve as a Launchpad for financial institutions and other service partners to provide clients with cutting-edge quick payment solutions. 

In the digital economy, instant payments are desirable due to a variety of factors. Firstly, they may use technology found in mobile applications or websites that provide online banking and bill payment services, enabling users to make payments without having to interact in person. 

These payments are a fantastic way to manage cash flow and make time-sensitive payments since they usually take just a few seconds to execute and make the money accessible to the receiver virtually instantly. Finally, rapid payments facilitate the transmission of extensive facts about the underlying transaction together with the payment itself, making a plethora of new product and service options possible.

8. Obtain and Use Reward Points

While banks have long provided customers with cashback and other benefits for using their debit and credit cards, the addition of incentives to mobile applications makes the process of earning rewards more streamlined and user-friendly.

For instance, Bank of America now provides an entire section of its mobile app called BankAmeriDeals devoted to cash bank incentives. When using a BofA debit or credit card to make a purchase, customers may peruse all the retailers and offers that qualify for cashback benefits inside the app. Customers can quickly check what incentives they qualify for while they're already out shopping, making optimizing their cash back easier. Users may access all of their cashback benefits using the app. 

Some banks could provide points that you can redeem on a mobile app after earning them through certain purchases. U.S. One bank that has made it simple for users to redeem points whenever and wherever they want is called the Bank. Opening the Bank's mobile app allows users to access the rewards page, where points may be exchanged for various products and services, including travel, gift cards, goods, and credit. 

9. Integration of Digital Wallets

With more merchants using cashless payment options, digital wallets are starting to become standard. A recent Banked poll found that over 62% of customers had used a digital wallet the previous month. 

A bank, a smartphone manufacturer, or a third-party business may provide a digital wallet. Since transferring money to someone using a digital wallet often carries no costs, it helps users save expenses while enabling them to store money digitally and make payments using their cell phones. Typical instances include the following:

• Apple Pay: Compatible with Apple devices, Apple Pay links credit or debit cards to enable customers to make contactless purchases online, in shops, and via applications.
• Google Pay: In a similar vein, Google Pay enables contactless payments and can be connected with Google services. It is compatible with Android smartphones.
• Zelle: This feature allows users to transmit money straight from one bank account to another and is available in more than 2,000 bank mobile applications.
• PayPal: PayPal enables users to connect credit/debit cards and bank accounts and even save funds inside an account. It is a payment option for several online retailers and allows money transfers and online payments.

Banks may facilitate customer access to digital wallets by integrating third-party services into mobile banking applications or making their bank accounts compatible with digital wallets, even though banks don’t supply maren'tpular digital wallets directly. 

Digital wallets simplify payments greatly, but they may also make it simpler to fall victim to fraud. Make sure you only transfer money and make payments to people you can trust. Often, all you need to verify is who your money to, which is their phone number or email. 

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Conclusion

How do you choose which smartphone app is the finest when there are so many to pick? Verify that the mobile app developers follow these recommended practices before selecting one:

They adapt to consumers in the ever-evolving mobile environment.

Interoperability with external services is given top priority.

They fight the impulse to alter things only for the sake of changing them.

Before issuing patches, they test everything and everything again.

They understand that consumers also use other applications; if your app doesn't improve, they'll move.

They give it significant thought before putting actual advertisements or marketing messaging on valuable sites.

Your financial institution now has the chance to reimagine the client experience and contribute to the future of mobile banking. Instead of lagging behind the competition, you can take the lead with an outstanding mobile banking app.