Digitally Disrupting The Finance Industry
eople are obsessed with money. In 2015, people are also obsessed
with their smartphones and tablets. It is natural that apps that help
people bank, manage their money, make payments and find financial
information would be popular in the apps stores. Thousands of apps help
people keep track of their money. But which finance-related apps are the
best?
The average app quality score of the nearly 6,500 finance apps in Google Play and Apple App Store, as rated by their U.S. customers.
P1
ARC REPORT • NOV. 2015
HOW CONSUMERS RATE THEIR FINANCE APPSMeasuring mobile customer experiences from nearly three million app store reviews.
By Ben Gray
64/100
ARC from Applause studied the finance industry to determine which
brands are on the leading edge of the digital revolution. In our inaugural
report in the broader finance space, ARC analyzed how U.S. customers rate
the app quality of 45 brands with the most popular apps—including banks,
expenses, payments, personal finance and taxes (see Figure 1). What did
we discover? Banks tend to have poor app scores, while expense managers
are a cut above.
10 Popular Brands Earn High Quality Marks
ARC from Applause authored this report to help finance brands
understand how U.S. customers perceive their flagship Android and
iOS app quality. ARC considered 358 of the most popular finance apps
for inclusion before narrowing our focus to 45 of the most popular
brands, based on volume of app store feedback (see Figure 2). After
crunching nearly 3 million app store ratings and reviews, our inaugural
Applause Finance App Quality Index is comprised of the apps with more
than 5,000 reviews.
100908070605040300 10 20
Expense managers
Personal finance
Taxes
Payments
Banks
7973706145
POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT WINNING
FIGURE 1: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX – INDUSTRIES
AVERAGESCORE
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015 AVG. SCORE INDUSTRY MIN/MAX
figure 1
2
100908070605040300 10 20
Spending Tracker
Credit Karma
Goodbudget Budget Planner
Redfin
Capital One Wallet
MyTaxRefund BY TURBOTAX
TaxCaster BY TURBOTAX
MileIQ
Mint Bills & Money
BillGuard
Zillow Real Estate
Square Cash
Concur
Trulia Real Estate
Mint
Citizens Bank Mobile Banking
Venmo
Trulia Rentals
Zillow Rentals
Chase Mobile
Discover Mobile
Navy Federal Credit Union
Barclays Mobile Banking
Western Union Money Transfer
PayPal
Barclaycard
Acorns
Amex Mobile
IRS2Go
Capital One Mobile
SunTrust Mobile App
CommBank
U.S. Bank
Android Pay
Fidelity Investments
Bank of America
TD Bank (US)
Wells Fargo Mobile
Virtual Wallet BY PNC BANK
Regions Mobile
Ally Mobile Banking
HSBC Mobile Banking
Citi Mobile
PNC Mobile Banking
Money Network Mobile App
3,001
91,961
5,872
7,517
5,379
20,669
2,904
2,347
22,617
5,865
49,740
1,632
12,946
27,855
23,435
5,284
5,646
13,380
3,710
28,406
5,226
9,207
23,240
8,724
43,288
8,213
4,543
3,967
5,008
16,749
8,349
9,316
15,414
26,304
4,587
28,831
3,842
22,015
4,316
3,596
3,538
5,297
6,813
9,380
6,115
2,711
54,074
1,587
8,399
3,297
17,492
2,516
3,118
40,965
4,973
53,381
5,706
18,458
22,837
71,507
5,451
4,335
3,339
2,871
51,281
9,954
3,015
N/A
2,118
26,131
662
2,308
2,538
647
24,392
4,365
26
5,248
N/A
1,579
13,205
1,322
8,798
1,376
2,119
1,571
582
4,637
2,220
479
86.5
84
83
80
80
79.5
78.5
77
77
76.5
74
73.5
73
72
71
66.5
65.5
65
63.5
62.5
62.5
62
60
59.5
59.5
58.5
57.5
55
52.5
52
51.5
47
45.5
44
43.5
38.5
38.5
37
36
33.5
32.5
29
28.5
27
25
-0.5
-4
-1
-2
6
-2
-2
1
-1
2
1
2
0
-3.5
-1
-5
-3.5
-6
2.5
4
-3
-1.5
11
5.5
2.5
0.5
2
0.5
1.5
-3.5
23
2
-3
-4
4.5
0.5
-4
-3
0.5
-1
-2.5
-4
0
0
-5
POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT WINNING
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX
AVG. +/-
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
ANDROIDREVIEWS
IOSREVIEWS
AVG. SCORE ANDROID IOS
figure 2
3
Apps That Have Room To Improve
Reviews of finance apps span the entire customer journey, from
researching financial needs to discovering brands, getting quotes
and applying for loans and mortgages, finding branch locations and
receiving alerts. When customers feel well served or underserved, they
have a channel in app stores through which to share experiences—
good and bad (see Figure 3).
Just ten apps earned above average app quality scores of 66 or greater
based on more than 10,000 reviews:
■ Credit Karma (84) [Android | iOS]
■ Redfin (80) [Android | iOS]
■ MyTaxRefund by TurboTax (79.5) [Android | iOS]
■ Mint Bills & Money (77) [Android | iOS]
■ BillGuard (76.5) [Android | iOS]
■ Zillow Real Estate (74) [Android | iOS]
■ Concur (73) [Android | iOS]
■ Trulia (72) [Android | iOS]
■ Mint (71) [Android | iOS]
■ Citizens Bank Mobile Banking (66.5) [Android | iOS].
What is the greatest commonality? The top ten apps do not share much
in terms of category, coming from banks, personal finance and taxes.
What the apps do share are passionate customers who sing the praises
of their experiences because they make it easier to check account
balances, manage expenses, do your taxes and more.
4
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
FIGURE 3: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX – BANKS
Citizens Bank Mobile BankingChase Mobile
Discover MobileNavy Federal Credit Union
Barclays Mobile BankingBarclaycard
Amex MobileCapital One Mobile
SunTrust Mobile AppCommBank
U.S. BankFidelity Investments
Bank of AmericaTD Bank (US)
Wells Fargo MobileRegions Mobile
Ally Mobile BankingHSBC Mobile Banking
Citi MobilePNC Mobile Banking
Money Network Mobile App
66.562.562.56260
58.55552
51.547
45.543.538.538.537
33.532.529
28.52725
-54-3-1.511
0.50.5-3.5232-34.50.5-4-3-1
-2.5-400-5
5,28428,4065,2269,207
23,2408,2133,96716,7498,3499,31615,4144,58728,8313,84222,0153,5963,5385,2976,8139,3806,115
5,45151,2819,9543,015N/A662
2,53824,3924,365
265,2481,579
13,2051,3228,7982,1191,571582
4,6372,220479
FIGURE 3: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX – EXPENSE MANAGERS
Spending TrackerMint Bills & Money
Concur
86.57773
2,71140,96518,458
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
-0.5-10
-0.5-10
3,00122,61712,946
figure 3
FIGURE 3: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX - PAYMENTS
Capital One WalletSquare Cash
VenmoWestern Union Money Transfer
PayPalAndroid Pay
Virtual Wallet by PNC Bank
8073.565.559.559.54436
3,2975,7064,3352,11826,131N/A1,376
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
62
-3.55.52.5-40.5
5,3791,6325,6468,724
43,28826,3044,316
5
U.S. customers rated the strengths and weaknesses of the nearly
6,500 finance apps in Google Play and Apple App Store and identified
elegance, stability, security and satisfaction as the four primary areas
of concern. Five banks and six apps received more than 5,000 reviews
and were rated by their customers with below average app quality:
■ Money Network Mobile App (25) [Android | iOS]
■ PNC Mobile Banking (27) [Android | iOS]
■ Citi Mobile (28.5) [Android | iOS]
■ HSBC Mobile Banking (29) [Android | iOS]
■ Ally Mobile Banking (32.5) [Android | iOS]
■ Regions Mobile (33.5) [Android | iOS]
■ Virtual Wallet by PNC Bank (36) [Android | iOS].
FIGURE 3: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX - PERSONAL FINANCE
Credit KarmaGoodbudget Budget Planner
RedfinMileIQ
BillGuardZillow Real EstateTrulia Real Estate
MintTrulia RentalsZillow Rentals
Acorns
84838077
76.574737165
63.557.5
54,0741,5878,3393,1184,97353,38122,83771,5073,3392,8712,308
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
-4-1-2121
-3.5-1-62.52
91,9615,8727,5172,3475,865
49,74027,85523,43513,3803,7104,543
FIGURE 3: APPLAUSE FINANCE APP QUALITY INDEX - TAXES
MyTaxRefund by TurboTaxTaxCaster by TurboTax
IRS2Go
79.578.552.5
17,4922,516647
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
-2-21.5
20,6692,9045,008
6
These apps missed the mark to optimize their experiences for mobile
moments. Short-term testing efforts (e.g., usability audits with experts
and customers, automated functional testing and security testing) will
flag and fix immediate issues but evaluating your mobile maturity,
adapting to more agile development processes and building a world
class customer experience program can further close any potential
disconnects between customers and their digital experiences.
But these brands need not despair. Citibank, for example, is already seeing
positive returns with v7 of its Citi Mobile iOS app that offers a completely
redesigned UI and navigation, as well as Apple Watch support and Touch ID
access. Citi realizes its customers’ expectations are growing every day and
a brand’s mobile experience has to grow as well—like Citi’s web experience
that was recently cited by Forrester Research for having the highest-rated
U.S. online banking functionality benchmark.
The Best- And Worst-Rated Finance Apps
Some finance apps emerged from the crowd with amazing reviews,
such as Spending Tracker and Credit Karma for Android and Square
Cash and TaxCaster by TurboTax for iOS (see Figure 4). Others stood
out for all the wrong reasons. Five of the six highest-rated apps were on
iOS, while the four lowest-rated apps were split evenly across Android
and iOS.
7
figure 4
FIGURE 4: HIGHEST- AND LOWEST-RATED FINANCE APPS WITH 5,000+ REVIEWS
Banks
Expense managers
Payments
Personal finance
Taxes
Regions Mobile
None
Virtual Wallet by PNC Bank
Zillow Rentals
IRS2Go
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
HIGHEST-RATED LOWEST-RATED
Discover Mobile
Spending Tracker
Square Cash
Credit Karma
TaxCaster by TurboTax
Some Brands Had Large Satisfaction Swings
ARC analyzed how the flagship app quality scores have evolved over the
past year—from November 2014 to November 2015. Thirteen brands
experienced user sentiment swings of four points or greater, with two
experiencing volatile shifts of 10 or greater. One good example is how
SunTrust fixed a login issue and introduced mobile check deposit to
its iOS app that resulted in its score
more than doubling from 22 to 54
and counting.
With the good, comes the bad. Most
of the apps with declining user
sentiment scores were vulnerable
to buggy releases, an inability to
achieve feature parity with faster
competition and rising consumer
expectations. ‘Tis life in the apps
economy.
23
11
6
5.5
4.5
4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-5
-5
-6
SunTrust Mobile App
Barclays Mobile Banking
Capital One Wallet
Western Union Money Transfer
Fidelity Investments
Chase Mobile
Credit Karma
Android Pay
TD Bank (US)
HSBC Mobile Banking
Citizens Bank Mobile Banking
Money Network Mobile App
Trulia Rentals
SOURCE: APPLAUSE ANALYTICS, NOVEMBER 2015
8
Complimentary Onsite Workshops
Applause is making this report’s author available for complimentary
onsite workshops that will enhance understanding of touchpoints
across your customer journey, determine how your company can get
to market faster with a rich digital presence and share insight into the
best practices that industry-leading brands have embraced to win.
Interested? Contact [email protected] today.
About ARC
ARC from Applause is a research group dedicated to providing insights
on the apps economy. ARC leverages data from a variety of sources,
including proprietary Applause data, to provide a 360º view of app
quality. ARC combines this with analysis into reports to help brands
and developers understand what’s happening in the apps economy.
Learn more at http://arc.applause.com.
About Applause Analytics
Combing through half a billion star ratings and user reviews submitted
across more than 30 million apps in the Android and iOS app stores,
Applause Analytics closes the gap between mobile developers and their
customers, generating actionable insights and quantifiable metrics
based on what users are actually saying about their app experiences.
Learn more at www.applause.com/analytics.9
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