Do you remember high school English and Literature classes where the teacher spent weeks digging deeper into the text of such classics as Moby Dick, A Separate Peace, and Catcher in the Rye? Digging deeper into the Consumers and Mobile Financial Services survey reported by The Federal Reserve has been a similar experience, minus the fear of any pop quizzes and what questions will be on the exam, of course. The report provides an excellent look into how credit union members are viewing and using mobile banking, and it is up to the credit union to examine the results and draw conclusions on how it will impact their own mobile banking strategy.
Below are some more results from the survey that identified the 8 most common activities consumers perform with their mobile banking apps. The percentages are among already identified mobile banking users from the survey:
- Checked an account balance or checked recent transactions - 94%
- Downloaded mobile banking app - 71%
- Transferred money between accounts - 61%
- Received an alert (ie, text message, push notification) from the financial institution - 57%
- Deposited a check electronically through the mobile phone camera and banking app - 51%
- Made mobile payments (bill payments) either through app or website - 48%
- Located the closest ATM or branch - 40%
- Transferred money from account to another person - 25%
It would be beneficial to know these results when designing both your product and your marketing strategy for mobile banking. It will also guide your credit union in developing member education of new products. For instance, touting the convenience of checking an account balance and then transferring money when a member forgets about an upcoming payment would be a great marketing tool. Whereas members who already use mobile banking would benefit from learning how it can be used to pay friends on the spot for a split restaurant bill or concert tickets. Further, the fact that mobile lending and remote controls for cards have yet to make the list can spur some product development on how to differentiate your app from the competition.
Don't worry, unlike your high school Literature class, there will not be a test on this...
