Varolii partnered with Wakefield Research to conduct a survey of 627 American consumers about their experience with mobile banking applications.

1. CAN YOU BANK ON
YOUR BANKING APP?
A survey of Mobile Banking
consumer experiences

2. P2 © 2013 Varolii Corporation. All rights reserved. Varolii is a registered trademark of Varolii Corporation
No matter what you are looking for, the phrase “there’s an app for that” is usually true. However,
Americans are not getting the “app-titude” they want when it comes to banking apps. New research
reveals a surprising disparity in what consumers want in an app and what they actually get from their
financial institution.
Varolii, a leading provider of customer interaction management solutions, recently commissioned a
survey of 627 American consumers about their experience with mobile banking applications.
While the majority of smartphone and tablet users (52 percent) say they have downloaded their bank’s
mobile application, the findings show that customer expectations now go beyond basic functionality
and reveal a strong desire for advanced, proactive capabilities.
This report highlights what consumers want in their mobile banking application, the risks banks run
if they fail to deliver the desired functionality or fail to adequately promote its availability to their
customers, and ways in which financial institutions can combat this “app-athy” and drive higher
value from their mobile applications.
HAVE YOU EVER DOWNLOADED AN APP
FROM A BANK ON YOUR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET?

3. Mobile Banking Survey Report, January 2013 / P3
IF THEY DON’T USE IT, THEY’LL LOSE IT
(AND YOU MAY LOSE THEM)
Mobile banking apps are expected to improve the relationship between customers and their bank by
providing an easier, faster and safer way to manage their finances. Yet, if the app isn’t useful,
consumers are likely to delete it.
Varolii’s research shows that, of those who have downloaded a banking app, roughly 40 percent say
they have thought about deleting it. Patience is even thinner among the newest banking customers—
46 percent of 18 to 34 years old have considered dumping their bank’s app. This raises the question
of where current mobile banking apps are falling short of meeting the “easier, faster, safer” desires of
their users.
Don’t risk losing momentum toward widespread adoption of mobile banking by ignoring customer
feedback. Data collected from surveys like this one and user ratings in the mobile app stores can
provide key insights on how your applications could be improved.
No longer are banking customers satisfied with just checking their account balance. They increasingly
want—and expect—to be able to conduct more advanced functions like depositing checks and
receiving real-time notifications on account activity from their mobile banking apps.
HOW STRONGLY DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE
FOLLOWING STATEMENT - I HAVE CONSIDERED DELETING MY BANK’S APP?
(AMONG THOSE AGES 18 - 34)

4. P4 © 2013 Varolii Corporation. All rights reserved. Varolii is a registered trademark of Varolii Corporation
Even if an application supports such advanced features, there appears to be a failure to effectively
promote these to the user base. Nearly half (45 percent) believe their bank app offers only basic
functionality, especially among those over the age of 55, who were 36 percent more likely to respond
that their application enables only basic functions over the population as a whole.
Getting a customer to install your application is just the first step. User education is critical,
particularly as new functionality is made available. Don’t rely solely on application updates to
promote these enhancements. Feature them prominently on your website and in email.
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING
FUNCTIONS DO YOU WANT
YOUR BANKING APP TO HAVE?
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES YOUR BANKING APP?

5. Mobile Banking Survey Report, January 2013 / P5
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
Mobile device users feel that a bank’s responsibility extends beyond simply providing access to
account management features. Nearly 2 in 3 (64 percent) believe it’s their bank’s responsibility to
immediately alert them when they have a low balance or insufficient funds to pay a bill.
And, the younger the customer, the more strongly he or she believes in the importance of banks
being proactive; nearly 3 in 4 18-to-24-year-olds (73 percent) believe they should hear from their
banks versus just over half (56 percent) of those 55 years or older.
More than half (54 percent) also want to be notified if there is unusual activity on their account or if
someone makes a change to their account information.
IT IS MY BANK’S RESPONSIBILITY TO
IMMEDIATELY ALERT ME WHEN I HAVE
A LOW BALANCE OR INSUFFICIENT
FUNDS TO PAY A BILL.

6. P6 © 2013 Varolii Corporation. All rights reserved. Varolii is a registered trademark of Varolii Corporation
Sixty-eight percent of consumers also report that a banking application could have helped them avoid
a financial problem such as a costly and embarrassing overdraft or forgetting to pay a bill on time.
And, among those under 35 years old, a remarkable 80 percent believe it could have helped.
While consumers want information that can help them proactively avoid a potential problem, it’s not
what banks offer. The number one feature that survey respondents want from their banking app is
notice of irregular account activity and yet 81 percent of those surveyed say they have never received
such notices.
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING
FUNCTIONS DO YOU WANT
YOUR BANKING APP TO HAVE?
NEARLY 70% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE A BANKING APP COULD HAVE
HELPED THEM AVOID A FINANCIAL PROBLEM IN THE PAST.

7. Mobile Banking Survey Report, January 2013 / P7
Nobody likes to be surprised when it comes to money, especially if a bad situation could have been
avoided with forewarning. Mobile banking users think such warnings should be delivered through their
applications. Pushing notifications of low balances, unusual activity or loan payment due dates to the
mobile application gives customers the opportunity to take immediate action to avoid costly and
embarrassing situations. And since the mobile application itself provides the means to fix most of
these problems, its value is reinforced with every actionable notification.
Other top functions that consumers want in their banking application:
• Ability to make payment on loan or bill (51%)
• Notice of low balance (46%)
• Transferring money to accounts outside of my bank (44%)
• Depositing a check from a mobile phone (43%)
This research shows that most banks are not meeting this need. Seventy-six percent of consumers
have never received a notice of changes to account information while more than 68 percent have
never been notified of a low balance or reminder to pay a bill.
Not only do they want to be contacted but many want to be reached on digital channels. The top
ways that consumers want to receive these notifications and reminders are by email (47 percent), text
message (22 percent) and through their smartphone application (13 percent).
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING
MESSAGES, IF ANY, HAVE YOU EVER
RECEIVED FROM YOUR BANKING
APP?

8. P8 © 2013 Varolii Corporation. All rights reserved. Varolii is a registered trademark of Varolii Corporation
With consumers showing such a wide variance in communication channel preference, banks and
other financial institutions must find a way to economically tie their system of record to a system of
engagement. Standalone solutions for each channel will not cut it. This approach is too costly in the
aggregate and runs a high risk of confusing the customer with too many messages about the same
activity. Look for cross-channel solutions that capture and act on customer preference and orchestrate
proactive communications in a way that ensures time-critical information is delivered to the customer
in a way that drives them to take immediate and desired action.
PUT MORE POWER AT THE CONSUMER’S FINGERTIPS
It is an exciting time for mobile applications. Banking applications are on the rise and an ever-growing
base of young consumers are using them and expecting more advanced capabilities. We live in an age
of instant information and seamless connections. As a result, the modern digital consumer
expects high-quality customer service at their fingertips. It’s clear that consumers believe banking
apps can help them, but they are not yet getting what they need.
As a result, banks’ investments in the mobile banking are at a critical junction. If apps offered the
compelling functionality that customers want, we would expect usage to increase over time. However,
survey results showed that nearly half of consumers are using their mobile banking app the same or
even less than when they first downloaded it.
IN GENERAL, WHICH OF THE
FOLLOWING METHODS DO YOU
PREFER WHEN YOUR BANK NEEDS
TO CONTACT YOU ABOUT YOUR
ACCOUNT?

9. Mobile Banking Survey Report, January 2013 / P9
To drive greater adoption, banking institutions must take a more active role in helping customers
manage their finances and offer ways to proactively reach them through their applications with
real-time notifications of events that impact their accounts. By “interaction-enabling” a mobile banking
app, banks can ultimately improve financial health and create a better customer experience.
Beyond a mobile app, financial services companies also need a coordinated approach to reach mobile
customers across voice, email, text and mobile apps with the right information at the right time.
The rapid and broad adoption of mobile banking applications provides an almost unprecedented
opportunity for financial institutions to lower their cost of service while at the same time improving
customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. To fully realize these benefits, banks must meet customer
demands for functionality—in particular, proactive alerts. The more you use this ubiquitous channel to
interact with your customers and the more value-add services you enable through your mobile
banking app, the more likely customers will be to stay engaged with it—and with you.
DO YOU USE YOUR BANKING APP
MORE OR LESS OFTEN NOW
COMPARED TO WHEN YOU FIRST
DOWNLOADED IT?

10. P10 © 2013 Varolii Corporation. All rights reserved. Varolii is a registered trademark of Varolii Corporation
Notes on Methodology
The national survey on mobile banking consumer experiences was conducted by Wakefield Research, an independent
market research firm on behalf of Varolii, from December 3 to December 10, 2012. The 627 respondents included American
smartphone and tablet users over the age of 18.
Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the
number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this
particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.9 percentage
points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented
by the sample.