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Mobile banking apps should be targeted and unique
August 26, 2009
Mobile-Financial.com blogger Kent McNeil questions the strategy behind some mobile-banking programs. Are financial institutions really targeting the right consumers?
That sounds a bit obvious, but many surveys over the past 18 months have found many financial institutions are moving to the mobile channel simply because their competition is, or they believe their customers want the service.
Keeping up with the proverbial Joneses is not necessarily a bad thing, McNeil says, but if FIs don't have a clear strategy backed by research in place before they launch a mobile campaign, they may "miss the mark":
Simply rolling-out a mobile banking service may not work if you are marketing to the wrong group, or worse yet, implementing a solution that your customers do not like or know how to use.
Mobile banking should target more than a bank's or credit union's current online users. Mobile uses are technology savvy, younger and more likely to own a smartphones than the general online-banking user.
Nearly 40 percent of mobile banking customers will not be online users, McNeil says:
According to a white paper published by Fiserv called "WP Mobile Banking ROI,"Absa, one of South Africa's largest financial-services firms, has twice the number of mobile-banking users as it does online users.
Identifying all the potential users will help an FI focus on the type of mobile-banking solution or solutions these potential customers might find appealing.
FIs also need to be unique in their mobile offerings, and they should not assume that only millennials text. McNeil argues that "everyone texts":
Nothing can be assumed about Generation Y and Generation X. Generation Y is addicted to text messaging, but Generation X is also very technology savvy and has the earning power to afford Blackberrys and iPhones. From this can you conclude that Generation Y wants SMS banking and Generation X wants Smartphone banking? To find out, ask your customers.
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