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Banks (Finance)

Banks Upgrade Mobile Apps to Meet Customer Demand

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Millions of customers are increasingly relying on mobile banking apps to manage their finances, with a significant portion of online adults using apps or websites to conduct banking activities. The Reserve Bank of India has urged banks to strengthen their information technology infrastructure, and now banks are upgrading their mobile apps to make transactions easier and more accessible. As a result, mobile apps have become the preferred customer interface for lenders, with many banks redesigning their apps to cater to customer needs.

Key Takeaways:

  • **Mobile apps are the new norm for banking**: 70% of online adults with a bank account use apps or websites to conduct banking activities, according to a Forrester report (Source: Forrester, 3 September report).
  • **Banks face difficulties in providing full functionality**: Mobile apps of most major banks, except ICICI Bank Ltd, lag in terms of full functionality, as stated in the Forrester report.
  • **Customers want a single app for all banking needs**: ICICI Bank recognized this trend and allowed customers of rival banks to use its app, enabling new users to open savings accounts digitally and use other services.
  • **Indias largest lender speeds up Yono app rollout**: State Bank of India is now working on a faster rollout of its Yono app, which was initially expected to be available to other banks within a year.
  • **Banks are redesigning their mobile apps**: State-run Bank of Baroda is looking to redesign its mobile app, which had 11.43 million downloads on Google Play Store at the end of March, to address customer pain points.
  • **Banks can win in mobile by reducing cognitive load**: Banks can improve their mobile apps by prioritizing features and design updates that support customers' top tasks, as suggested by Forrester.

Statistics:

  • 11.43 million: downloads of Bank of Baroda's mobile app on Google Play Store as of March (Source: Bank of Baroda).
  • 70%: online adults with a bank account who use apps or websites to conduct banking activities (Source: Forrester, 3 September report).
  • 3 September: publication date of Forrester's report on mobile banking.
  • 7 December: date when ICICI Bank executive director Anup Bagchi mentioned that customers are tired of using multiple apps for different purposes.

Sources:

  • Forrester, "Do banks need to rethink mobile banking", September 3.
  • Bank of Baroda, "RFP for Redesigning Mobile App", 2020.
  • ICICI Bank, "Press Release", December 7.
  • State Bank of India, "Yono App", 2020.
  • Legal Monitor Worldwide, "Banks Upgrade Mobile Apps to Meet Customer Demand", 2020.

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