Apps

Article: Mobile Mobility: Understanding Youth Dissatisfaction in Mobile and Online Services

This article originally appeared in the ABA Banking Journal. Conventional wisdom states that it’s much easier to retain clients than attract new ones. With that in mind, it’s crucial for banks to understand what drives customer satisfaction, and what can cause unhappy clients to leave.   Corporate Insight recently conducted an online survey of 1,000 bank customers to understand the relative importance of online and mobile banking features and the overall customer experience. Our Bank Customer Survey Report summarizes our key findings and highlights pertinent themes and trends found in the total survey sample. When we asked participants about the likelihood of moving their primary checking account, 10% reported that they would “probably” or “definitely” switch accounts in the near future.

Article: CI First Look – The Evolving Mobile Payments Landscape

Introduced in May 2011, Google Wallet instantly became a focus for the hype around mobile payments. The app was one of the first serious efforts to have a phone enabled with near-field communication (NFC) technology replace a physical credit card at the point of sale. A year later, though, Google Wallet has struggled to gain widespread traction due to a lack of NFC-enabled phones, minimal network infrastructure and an absence of merchants that accept Google Wallet outside of major cities. In the meantime, PayPal and Apple have developed new products and partnerships that could take mobile payments in very different directions.

Article: American Express and Capital One Launch Mobile Deals

In recent weeks, both American Express and Capital One added new deals listings to their mobile apps. American Express added a My Offers section to its iPhone app listing nearby partner merchants with discounts. Offers come in two types – blue, which credit cash back on the client’s card statement, and green, which provide discounts at checkout. Capital One Deals, available on iPhone and Android apps, offer in-store and online discounts credited to the client’s statement.

Article: Mobile Customers are Twice as Likely to Switch Banks

The following is a finding drawn from our upcoming Bank Customer Survey Report, set to be released in late June. Firms that engage Corporate Insight for a custom Bank Website Audit will receive the report for free. Corporate Insight's recent Bank Customer Survey found that mobile banking customers are twice as likely to switch firms as customers that have not logged into their bank account via a mobile device in the past 12 months. The survey asked 1,000 bank customers the likelihood that they would move their primary checking account to a different financial institution. Only 7% of non-mobile using customers said that they would “probably” or “definitely” switch to a new firm in the near future. This compares to 14% of participants that do use mobile banking.

Article: May Trends & Highlights - Financial Firms Discuss Facebook, Unveil New Apps and Revamp Websites

Corporate Insight's monthly Trends & Highlights analyze key online releases, updates and themes across the financial services industry. For past Trends & Highlights, please check the T&H Archive.  May Trends & Highlights Summary Financial firms shifted their attention to the initial public offering of Facebook this month, with 5 firms offering some form of messaging about the company’s IPO. Mobile apps remained a popular topic amongst firms in May, with 10 firms releasing new or significantly upgraded apps. Additionally, firms released a number of revamped sites and/or sections over the course of the month.

Article: Presentation - The "App"etite for Mobile Devices

Corporate Insight President Michael Ellison recently presented at the 2012 LIMRA Marketing and Research Conference, offering his perspective on mobile trends in the insurance industry as well as a range of other areas of financial services. The presentation also contains best practices and key recommendations, including the importance of thinking “mocial” – utilizing social media and mobile to create a strong relationship management tool for advisors. Please click below to view and download the full 23-slide presentation from Corporate Insight's SlideShare page. Make sure to follow us on SlideShare to stay up to date with our latest presentations!

Article: The Financial Services Industry Looks Beyond the iPad

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2012 Issue of Consulting Insights.   A year ago in the Spring 2011 Issue of Consulting Insights, we discussed the retail financial services industry’s first steps in the mobile tablet space, highlighting early adopters of the iPad such as E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade. These innovators were among the first to experiment with different techniques to adapt mobile content for the larger tablet screen. The industry has come a long way in 12 months. A growing number of firms, like Charles Schwab, Citi, Discover and Vanguard, have introduced their first iPad apps. Today, though, new devices are beginning to catch the industry’s attention. With Android tablets gaining popularity, financial services firms have begun to develop apps for use with these alternative devices.

Article: Mobile Banking Reaches the Regionals

Mobile banking websites and apps have become increasingly important to smartphone users over the last several years. Nearly all major national banks now offer their customers a variety of ways to perform their banking on the go, and with demand as high as it is, regional banks can’t afford to sit on the sidelines either. One interesting case is Dollar Bank, located from southwestern Pennsylvania to northeastern Ohio, which has been riding the mobile wave long before many larger firms. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Dollar Bank is once again beating many larger firms to the punch.

Article: Digital Frontiers Week Recap

We want to thank everyone that visited the Corporate Insight Blog last week during our second annual Digital Frontiers Week. The following is a rundown of the pieces we released last week focusing on social media, mobile finance and other emerging technologies impacting the financial services industry: Free 18-Page Guide - Getting Started with Pinterest: Strategies for Financial Services Firms Augmented Reality - Three Uses for Financial Services Pinterest: 3 Ideas for Financial Services Firms Ameriprise Uses LinkedIn to Enhance Advisor Searches Citi's Innovation Loop Delivers Social Feedback Insurance Company Mascots Thriving on Facebook

Article: Augmented Reality Eyewear - Three Uses for Financial Services

The recent unveiling of Google’s augmented reality eyewear project (called “Project Glass”) and its accompanying video have sparked a lot of conversation about the future of communication and technology.  With the potential for seamless integration between the visual world and information technology, how would our interactions with people, goods, and the physical world around us change?  These questions have led us here at Corporate Insight to explore how financial firms could utilize this technology.  Judging by financial firms’ current app offerings, integration with augmented reality eyewear isn’t as far-fetched or far off as it would seem. Here are three ways financial services firms can use augmented reality eyewear to better serve their clients:

Article: Cash, Credit, or PayPal?

PayPal’s efforts to move away from online-only transactions have intensified of late.  The firm followed up its recent introduction of PayPal Herewith the new SmartPay app. Released in partnership with convenience store Cumberland Farms,  SmartPay makes paying for fuel fast and convenient. Using your smartphone’s GPS, SmartPay pinpoints your location, asks for your pump number, and after fueling, allows you to pay using your PayPal account.  After the transaction is processed, a receipt is sent to the e-mail address linked with the PayPal account.

Article: Paypal Responds to Square with a Triangle

The mobile payment landscape currently resembles the Wild West with giant corporations, social media outlets and ambitious upstarts all vying to become the payment method of choice. PayPal is the newest entrant in the mobile payment market, throwing its hat into the ring with the release of the PayPal Here app and its own triangular mobile card reader.

Article: Corporate Insight’s Tuesday Tips – 3 Basic Mobile Security Tips For Clients

Every Tuesday, Corporate Insight will release recommendations to help financial services firms improve a key aspect of the online user experience. Recommendations come from our Monitor Services, which cover the banking, brokerage, credit card, asset management and insurance industries.   Keeping an account secure used to mean shredding papers or storing sensitive documents in a safe place. Today, new security measures must be taken as more clients take advantage of the convenience of paperless statements and mobile account apps. This week, our Mobile Monitor team passes along a few fundamental mobile security tips for clients:

Article: Citi’s Fresh Take on iPad Banking

The months leading up to the publication of our mobile report, Money on the Move: Mobile Finance Review 2011, saw firms launch a dizzying array of new apps and tools. While the pace of mobile development slowed as the summer took hold, by no means has it ground to a halt. Most recently, Citi has joined the trend of financial institutions on the iPad with an innovative new app. Banks have been slower to embrace the iPad than brokerages; Bank of America and Chase became the first just this May. The delay is due in part to the greater challenge banks face adapting content to the tablet. Brokerages can simply enhance the securities data and charting capabilities from their iPhone apps. On the other hand, bank-related information doesn’t lend itself as naturally to a larger display.

Article: Mobile Apps and More in June

Quite a few firms we track introduced applications for various mobile devices last month, proving that consumers’ obsessions with on-the-go convenience are no fleeting trend, even when it comes to trading stocks and creating ETF watchlists. In addition to mobile app launches, firms began the summer with new online resource centers, acquisitions and ventures.