Even if the task is not easy, it is clear that customers, regardless of their age, today prefer to carry out their transactions on their mobile (check their balance or deposit funds, for example). In its comparative analysis of the functionalities of mobile banking around the world in 2016, (“2016 Global Mobile Banking Functionality Benchmark”), the Forrester firm shows that many banks are far from offering the same level of interaction on mobile for their sales and services, and that this is reflected in the activities of customers.

It is also possible that this is slowing down the adoption of mobile banking. In fact, although 53% of smartphone users have used mobile banking services in the past twelve months, this percentage has only increased by 3 points since 2012, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey entitled “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services ”(Consumers and financial services on mobile). According to this survey, security is the main obstacle, with the difficulties associated with small screens and the use of banking applications. According to the “State of Digital Transformation in Financial Services” report published in 2017 by Adobe and Econsultancy,

Now let’s look at solutions to manage these barriers and use mobile to acquire customers and deepen relationships with them.

Get customer acquisition off the ground.

It all starts with customer acquisition. 87% of digital leaders anticipate that mobile will become the main or first source of account opening in the next three years (source: study on the state of digital transformation in financial services). To direct prospects to their website, most banks currently use mobile search, social media, and display ads. However, they do not go so far as to allow customers to open an account or apply for a product on their smartphone (source: comparative analysis by Forrester on the functionalities of mobile banking around the world in 2016).

This gives banks the opportunity to stand out from the competition by simplifying searches, requests and, ultimately, membership itself, on mobile. Today, customers cannot complete the transaction without their computer. This creates frustration for those looking for the satisfaction of immediate membership on their mobile.

You should therefore offer a responsive, user-friendly and secure mobile application and membership process. This does not mean, however, that we should give up the computer or, far from it, paper forms. Instead, you should implement responsive forms and documents that integrate with existing apps and websites, the idea being to allow users to perform offline operations and then sync them when they log on. You should also make sure that once logged in, they will easily find the information related to mobile banking, security and privacy.

To deliver the best possible experience that will ensure you the highest conversion rates, you need to rely on segment targeting, analytics-based tracking, and A / B testing. The lessons you will learn will also be useful for processing other requests: from car loans to credit cards.

Balance preferences for different channels.

Once you have acquired mobile banking customers, the question arises as to whether to encourage everything mobile, all the time. The answer is no. You can always offer options on mobile to efficiently access all of your products and services, but think of customers who did not grow up with a mobile in hand, or who are not familiar with digital: they have always need to be met at a branch to complete their loan application or choose a credit card, with the help of their advisor. In other words: access from a computer or a visit to a branch are complementary to the mobile experience. Like other channels, integrating the web and mobile apps requires a solid digital foundation to unify data, manage content, and test and optimize experiences.