Post on 16-Mar-2018
MOBILE APPS FOR
BANKING 2016
TECH SAVVY CLIENTS LET DOWN BY
SHORTCOMINGS
Benchmarking – Ranking – Recommendations
www.MyPrivateBanking.com
September 2016
5th edition
Carmela Melone
Analyst
Report Extract
Original Report with 179 pages
Plus comprehensive data appendix
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 2
CONTENT
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6
2.0 RANKING TABLE 9
3.0 METHODOLOGY 11
3.1 SELECTION OF BANKS AND APPS 11
3.2 THE CRITERIA 12
4.0 WHAT IT TAKES IN 2016 TO EXCITE MOBILE BANKING
CLIENTS – A STRATEGIC GUIDE 21
4.1 VISUALIZATIONS AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TOOLS ARE THE
NEW STANDARD 23
4.2 PAYMENT ADD-ONS: IT’S ALL ABOUT CONVENIENCE 27
4.3 BANKS ARE NUTS ABOUT PEEK BALANCE FEATURES 28
4.4 DESIGN, NAVIGATION, AND UX DETERMINE AN APP’S SUCCESS 28
4.5 WHY COPING WITH MOBILE APP SECURITY IS SUCH A CHALLENGE 29
4.6 HOW TO DEAL WITH INCREASING COMPETITION FUELED BY DIGITAL
(CHALLENGER) BANKS 30
5.0 DIGITAL CHALLENGER BANKS – A QUICKLY GROWING
THREAT FOR RETAIL BANKS? 31
5.1 MOBILE-ONLY VS. TRADITIONAL: WHERE ARE THE COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGES? 31
6.0 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 39
6.1 IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT PAYMENTS 39
6.2 SMARTWATCH APPS CATCH UP WITH WINDOWS AND BLACKBERRY
COVERAGE 40
6.3 VISUAL ELEMENTS SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF 41
6.4 THE HIDDEN RISK: CONVENIENCE TRUMPS SECURITY 43
6.5 BANKS ARE SLOWLY IMPROVING THEIR APP CONTENT 44
6.6 MOST BANKS FAIL TO TURN THEIR APPS INTO A COMMUNICATION TOOL 45
6.7 BANKING APPS LACK INNOVATION AND AUTOMATION 46
6.8 MANY BANKS SURPRISE WITH A THOROUGH DIGITAL STRATEGY 47
6.9 GOOD APPS FOCUS ON MORE THAN JUST PAYMENTS 48
6.10 APPLE WATCH APPS 51
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 3
7.0 TOP THREE STAND-ALONE APPS 56
8.0 PROFILES 57
8.1 ABN AMRO 57
8.2 ANZ 60
8.3 BANK OF AMERICA 63
8.4 BARCLAYS 66
8.5 BBVA 69
8.6 BMO 72
8.7 BNP PARIBAS 75
8.8 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 78
8.9 CAPITAL ONE 81
8.10 CHASE 84
8.11 CIBC 87
8.12 CITIBANK 90
8.13 COMMERZBANK 93
8.14 CREDIT SUISSE 96
8.15 DANSKE BANK 99
8.16 DBS 102
8.17 DEUTSCHE BANK 105
8.18 FNB 108
8.19 HSBC 111
8.20 ING 114
8.21 KBC 117
8.22 NAB 120
8.23 NATIONWIDE 123
8.24 NATWEST 126
8.25 PNC 129
8.26 RBC 132
8.27 SANTANDER 135
8.28 SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE 138
8.29 STANDARD CHARTERED 141
8.30 TD BANK 144
8.31 U.S. BANK 147
8.32 UBS 150
8.33 UNICREDIT 153
8.34 WELLS FARGO 156
8.35 WESTPAC 159
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 4
9.0 BEST PRACTICES: THE BEST MOBILE APPLICATION FEATURES 162
9.1 PAYMENT SOLUTIONS 162
XXX – Chat and pay simultaneously 162
XXX – Also with great Apple Watch features 163
XXX – Payment app with value-added features 164
9.2 APPS THAT ADD TO FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE 165
XXX – Financial education with a fun factor 165
XXX – Will you be ready to retire? Find out! 166
9.3 WHEN BANKING CLIENTS PARTICIPATE IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 167
XXX – Invites clients to join them in building apps from scratch 167
XXX – A sneak peek of the new version 168
9.4 MORTGAGE APPS AND TOOLS 169
XXX – Automated real estate advice 169
XXX – Leveraging augmented reality 170
9.5 APPS THAT ENABLE CLIENTS TO CONTROL AND IMPROVE THEIR SPENDING BEHAVIOR 171
XXX – Never lose track of expenses 171
XXX – A handy overview thanks to spending categories 172
XXX – Gives clients full control of their money 173
XXX – Keep clients on track with their savings 174
XXX– Continuous monitoring of clients’ finances 175
9.6 BANKING APPS WITH OUTSTANDING CONTACT AND ADVICE FEATURES 176
XXX – Smart customer support line 176
XXX – Multichannel communication 177
AUTHORS 178
DISCLAIMER 179
ORDER THE REPORT HERE
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 5
TABLE OF CHARTS
Ranking table 10
Table: List of criteria and types of apps that can score 18
Chart: Criteria weighting 2016 19
Chart: Comparison of criteria category weightings (2015 vs. 2016) 19
Chart: Global mobile data traffic from 2015 to 2020 21
Main disruptors of mobile banking technology 22
Accounts list vs. graphical view of accounts 23
Transaction history: detailed list vs. history chart 23
Credit card account information only vs. graphical presentation 24
Screenshots Wally iOS app 25
Screenshots Mint 26
Chart: Total revenue of global mobile payment market 2015-2019 27
DBS digibank! Slide and Hold feature 28
Screenshots app store comments 29
Table: Key data N26 32
Table: Key data Atom Bank 33
Table: Key data digibank! by DBS 34
Table: Key data Simple – Better Banking 35
Table: Key data Monzo by Mondo 36
Table: Key data Monese 37
Chart: criteria coverage traditional vs. digital banks 38
Chart: Overall criteria coverage 2016 vs. 2015 39
Chart: Availability of mobile apps 40
Chart: Core functions for clients 41
Chart: Add-ons for clients 41
Chart: Number of apps offering payment add-ons 42
Chart: Security and privacy 43
Chart: Customer retention and marketing 44
Chart: Contact and finding the bank 45
Chart: Technical features and support 46
Chart: Strategy and navigation 47
Heat map of the banks’ performance in the main categories 48
Chart: Top 5 banks vs. average results 49
Banks that improved remarkably: CIBC, UniCredit, ANZ, FNB, and UBS 50
Chart: Apple Watch banking app providers – launch dates 51
Table: Apple Watch banking apps assessment 54
BNP Paribas Mes Comptes on the Apple Watch 55
Deutsche Bank Meine Bank on the Apple Watch 55
Table: Top three stand-alone banking apps 56
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 6
SUMMARY
1.0 SUMMARY
>> While mobile devices continue their
triumphant advance in the digital arena, the
world’s leading retail banks are struggling to
keep up with the fast-paced development of
the innovative digital features their
customers demand. This innovation gap
poses significant risks for established
financial players as they face increased
pressure from new digital challenger banks
and a customer generation of digital natives
that quickly lose patience when their digital
needs are not met. <<
These are key findings of the report that analyzes
and ranks, for the fifth year running, the mobile
apps of 35 leading retail banks worldwide and,
where applicable, the Apple Watch apps. In total,
113 smartphone and tablet apps were assessed
according to 49 criteria and 27 Apple Watch apps
were evaluated according to 11 main functions. The
report benchmarks, among others, core functions
for customers; functional add-ons; content and
features for marketing and strategy and navigation.
The apps offered by six digital challenger banks
were evaluated as well.
The research data reveal that most banks have a
solid track record for many of the must-have
features, such as account overview (79% of
maximum possible benchmarking points) and
convenient payment methods (88%). However,
there is a pronounced lack when it comes to
innovative features like chat and messaging
functions (29% of the maximum points), interactive
content to help and educate customers (31%) and
digital tools to help customers get a grasp on their
personal finances (41%). The report details the
strengths and weaknesses for all relevant features
and functionalities for the banking sector overall
and separately for each analyzed bank.
MAJORITY OF RETAIL BANKS AT RISK OF
LOSING OUT TO DIGITAL CHALLENGER
BANKS
The majority of retail banks are not responding
adequately to their target clients’ digital
expectations, which are driven by the strong trends
detailed in the reports. For example, banking clients
are switching from being passive consumers of
account information to actively managing their
personal finances through powerful mobile apps.
Banks must respond effectively to these trends and
the report outlines how they should adapt their
mobile app offerings accordingly.
At present, the banking sector shows in many
respects an inability to innovate and catch up with
society’s wider trends of digital innovation. This is
an alarming development, as gaps and
shortcomings in retail banking apps expose a clear
risk that new nimble competitors, so-called digital
challenger banks or neo-banks, will take advantage
of the established players’ weakness and make
substantial inroads – particularly with the Millennial
Generation. The report profiles seven digital
challenger banks and explains which innovations
are required to appeal to this new generation of
clients.
BNP PARIBAS, SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE, UBS
AND DEUTSCHE BANK TOP OVERALL
RANKING
The top performers in our analysis continue to
enhance and evolve their mobile apps in an effort
to keep pace with new technologies and the steadily
rising bar of client expectations. This year’s winner
in MyPrivateBanking’s benchmarking is again BNP
Paribas with 70 points out of 85. Three banks share
the second rank this year: Société Générale, UBS
and Deutsche Bank, each of which achieved 68 out
of 85 possible points. The fifth rank goes to DBS (66
out of 85 points).
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 7
SUMMARY
TOP 5 MOBILE APPS OFFERINGS FOR RETAIL
BANKING 2016
RANK 2016 BANK TOTAL POINTS
(MAX. 85)
1 BNP Paribas 70
2 Société Générale
68
2 UBS 68
2 Deutsche Bank
68
5 DBS 66
Full rankings of the 35 wealth managers’ mobile app
offerings and their performance for each of the 49
evaluation criteria are detailed in the report and in
a comprehensive data appendix. In addition, the
results for each wealth manager are summarized in
individual profiles, including specific
recommendations for improving their mobile apps.
Six digital challenger banks’ offerings were
evaluated along the same criteria.
Banks should start today to take critical action in
respect of their mobile app portfolio to prevent new
competitors from gaining further inroads and meet
fast-changing digital consumer needs. It is crucial to
provide a seamless customer journey; tools that
give clients the power to manage their finances and
measures that make sure clients love to use the
apps. The best mobile banking app is worth nothing
if clients don’t want to use it due to inferior
usability, lots of web-based content, slow and
cumbersome navigation and non-optimized
content copied from the bank’s websites.
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 8
RANKING TABLE
2.0 RANKING TABLE
RA
NK
BA
NK
TO
TA
L P
OIN
TS
AV
AIL
AB
ILIT
Y O
F M
OB
ILE
AP
PS
(M
AX
. 4)
CO
RE
FU
NC
TIO
NS
(MA
X.
15)
AD
D-O
NS
(MA
X.
5)
SE
CU
RIT
Y A
ND
PR
IVA
CY
(MA
X.
7)
CU
ST
OM
ER
RE
TE
NT
ION
AN
D M
AR
KE
TIN
G
(MA
X.
14)
CO
NT
AC
T O
PT
ION
S
(MA
X.
8)
TE
CH
NIC
AL F
EA
TU
RE
S
AN
D S
UP
PO
RT
(M
AX
. 18)
ST
RA
TE
GY
AN
D
NA
VIG
AT
ION
(MA
X:
12)
BE
ST
PR
AC
TIC
ES
(MA
X.
2)
1 BNP Paribas 70 … … … … … … … … …
2 UBS 68 … … … … … … … … …
2 Société Générale
68 … … … … … … … … …
2 Deutsche Bank
68 … … … … … … … … …
5 DBS 66 … … … … … … … … …
6 … 63 4 10 4 5 8 6 12 12 2
6 … 63 4 10 5 5 11 3 13 10 2
8 … 62 4 11 5 5 10 5 10 10 2
9 … 59 4 10 4 5 6 6 10 12 2
10 … 58 4 13 5 5 7 4 10 8 2
10 … 58 4 12 5 6 8 3 10 10 0
10 … 58 4 12 5 3 10 6 8 9 1
10 … 58 3 9 5 4 10 8 8 10 1
14 … 57 4 9 5 3 7 7 12 9 1
15 … 56 3 14 3 5 8 3 9 10 1
15 … 56 4 13 3 4 6 5 9 10 2
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 9
RANKING TABLE
RA
NK
BA
NK
TO
TA
L P
OIN
TS
AV
AIL
AB
ILIT
Y O
F
MO
BIL
E A
PP
S
(MA
X.
4)
CO
RE
FU
NC
TIO
NS
(MA
X.
15)
AD
D-O
NS
(MA
X.
5)
SE
CU
RIT
Y A
ND
PR
IVA
CY
(M
AX
. 7)
CU
ST
OM
ER
RE
TE
NT
ION
AN
D
MA
RK
ET
ING
(MA
X.
14)
CO
NT
AC
T O
PT
ION
S
(MA
X.
8)
TE
CH
NIC
AL
FE
AT
UR
ES
AN
D
SU
PP
OR
T
(MA
X.
18)
ST
RA
TE
GY
AN
D
NA
VIG
AT
ION
(MA
X:
12)
BE
ST
PR
AC
TIC
ES
(MA
X.
2)
17 … 55 3 10 5 6 9 4 10 7 1
17 … 55 4 11 4 6 7 2 11 9 1
19 … 54 4 8 4 3 8 5 11 9 2
20 … 53 4 8 5 5 6 3 12 8 2
21 … 52 3 6 4 4 8 4 11 10 2
22 … 51 4 10 4 5 4 3 11 9 1
22 … 51 4 9 4 6 5 3 10 9 1
24 … 50 4 7 3 6 8 3 9 9 1
24 … 50 3 9 5 6 5 3 12 6 1
26 … 49 3 12 4 5 3 2 10 9 1
26 … 49 3 11 3 4 5 3 8 10 2
28 … 47 4 7 4 4 5 1 12 9 1
29 … 44 4 7 4 4 6 1 9 8 1
30 … 43 1 7 1 3 5 4 10 11 1
30 … 43 4 5 4 3 4 4 8 11 0
32 … 40 3 5 3 6 3 2 12 6 0
33 … 36 3 3 2 7 4 2 8 6 1
34 … 35 2 5 2 4 2 4 10 6 0
35 … 32 3 5 3 4 2 0 9 6 0
AVERAGE POINTS
53.6 3.5 9.5 4.0 4.9 7.0 3.9 10.3 9.3 1.3
Ranking table
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 10
METHODOLOGY
3.0 METHODOLOGY
3.1 SELECTION OF BANKS AND APPS
In this fifth edition of our yearly benchmarking
report evaluating the world’s leading banking apps,
we analyze 113 apps offered by 35 banks to the
retail banking client segment. With the aim of
providing global coverage to take in important
trends around the world, the selection process
considers the banks’ assets under management as
well as their main countries of operation.
Apps that specifically target wealth management
clients were not included in this report, as we
released a dedicated study in May this year (‘Mobile
Apps for Wealth Management 2016’).
(… more in full report)
3.2 THE CRITERIA
The criteria applied to the 113 apps are spread over
nine major areas, including detailed items that
mirror the latest trends and requirements in terms
of mobile app technology and banking:
AVAILABILITY OF MOBILE APPS (MAXIMUM 4
POINTS)
(… more in full report)
CORE FUNCTIONS FOR CLIENTS (MAXIMUM
15 POINTS)
(… more in full report)
ADD-ONS FOR CLIENTS (MAXIMUM 5 POINTS)
(… more in full report)
SECURITY AND PRIVACY (MAXIMUM 7
POINTS)
(… more in full report)
CUSTOMER RETENTION AND MARKETING
(MAXIMUM 14 POINTS)
(… more in full report)
CONTACT AND FINDING THE BANK (MAXIMUM
8 POINTS)
(… more in full report)
TECHNICAL FEATURES AND SUPPORT
(MAXIMUM 18 POINTS)
(… more in full report)
STRATEGY AND NAVIGATION (MAXIMUM 12
POINTS)
(… more in full report)
BEST PRACTICES (MAXIMUM 2 POINTS)
(… more in full report)
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 11
WHAT IT TAKES IN 2016 TO EXCITE MOBILE BANKING CLIENTS – A
STRATEGIC GUIDE
4.0 WHAT IT TAKES IN 2016 TO
EXCITE MOBILE BANKING
CLIENTS – A STRATEGIC
GUIDE
The last ten years have seen great progress in terms
of general mobile functionality. For the last five
years, our report has tracked the performance of
retail banks’ mobile apps against a backdrop of
rapid technology evolution and significant shifts in
user behaviors, especially in relation to mobile
devices. Global mobile data traffic is increasing
rapidly and is not expected to slow down in the
coming years.
When Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007, the
mobile app market exploded and banking
applications targeting retail clients soon appeared
on the market. Since then a lot of progress has been
made in digital banking. Whereas back in the early
2000s mobile banking apps had very limited
features and content, today banks only stand out
from their competitors if they strive for best-of-
breed usability, innovation and functionality.
(… more in full report)
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 12
DIGITAL CHALLENGER BANKS – A QUICKLY GROWING THREAT FOR
RETAIL BANKS?
5.0 DIGITAL CHALLENGER
BANKS – A QUICKLY
GROWING THREAT FOR
RETAIL BANKS?
A new type of bank is invading the financial provider
market to compete with long-established
institutions and their mobile offerings. The
differentiating element of challenger banks is that
their entire range of banking services is offered via
digital channels only, without being backed up by an
established financial provider. In order to compare
the mobile apps of the digital or challenger banks
with those offered by the leading retail banks
worldwide we applied the same criteria to the new
players’ apps. We are wondering whether this new
way to bank will constitute a real threat to
traditional players. The benefits of these mobile-
only banks are obvious:
(… more in full report pages 31 to 38)
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 13
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
6.0 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Comparing the performances of the banks included
in the 2015 and the current edition of our
benchmarking report, it is obvious that they are
struggling with some major trends while adapting to
others pretty well. Some of the banks that are
regularly covered in this benchmark study came up
with completely re-designed core apps that adapt
to the latest design and navigation trends, which is
a promising development.
(… more in full report pages 39 to 55)
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 14
TOP THREE STAND-ALONE APPS
7.0 TOP THREE STAND-ALONE
APPS
(… more in full report page 56)
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 16
BEST PRACTICES: THE BEST MOBILE APPLICATION FEATURES
9.0 BEST PRACTICES: THE
BEST MOBILE APPLICATION
FEATURES
In this report we present the most outstanding
features, content and design identified in the
course of our most recent analysis of 113 mobile
apps from the world’s leading retail banks.
Following this year’s main trends, this chapter
covers noteworthy examples of innovative payment
options, particularly entertaining tools that add to
clients’ education, terrific ways to include clients in
the app development process, innovative
technology implementation such as automated
advice and augmented reality, personal financial
management tools, and excellent support and
contact features.
(… more in full report pages 162 to 177)
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 17
AUTHORS
AUTHORS
Steffen Binder, Managing Director and co-founder of MyPrivateBanking Research.
Steffen is Head of Research and oversees the research agenda and analyst teams.
He is responsible for creating and developing powerful concepts and relevant
content to help our clients navigate a rapidly changing digital environment. As
a regular speaker at finance and technology industry events around the globe,
Steffen is frequently quoted by leading business media such as the Wall Street
Journal, Handelsblatt and the Financial Times. Prior to this, Steffen was Managing
Director of Forrester Germany, Switzerland and Austria. He came to Forrester
through its acquisition of Forit GmbH, a leading European technology research
company, of which he was also a co-founder. Prior to that, Steffen was a partner at Monitor Company (Strategy
Consulting). He holds Master’s Degrees in Organizational Behavior from Rutgers University (USA) and in Public
Administration from the University of Konstanz (Germany).
Carmela Melone, Analyst, specializes in research in the fields of social media for
wealth management and mobile apps for financial advisors. Her specific areas of
interest are in software benchmarking, channel strategy and online security.
Prior to this, she worked at an exchange platform for intellectual property rights,
responsible for the digital media marketing strategy. Carmela has a Bachelor’s
degree in International Economics and European Studies from the University of
Tübingen (Germany).
MOBILE APPS FOR BANKING 2016 │ 18
DISCLAIMER
DISCLAIMER
IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMERS:
NO INVESTMENT ADVICE
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such an offer or solicitation would be illegal. This report is distributed for informational purposes only and
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investment, or undertake any investment strategy. It does not constitute a general or personal
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individual investors. The price and value of securities referred to in this report will fluctuate. Past performance
is not a guide to future performance, future returns are not guaranteed, and a loss of all of the original capital
invested in a security discussed in this report may occur. Certain transactions, including those involving futures,
options, and other derivatives, give rise to substantial risk and are not suitable for all investors.
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