Credit unions with highly rated mobile apps know that functionality – not flash – is key to success.
According to MagnifyMoney’s third annual Mobile Bank App Study, which scored more than 100 of the biggest banks and credit unions, eight of the top 10 mobile apps were from credit unions. And these eight CUs, including the Albany, N.Y.-based SEFCU, had one thing in common: partnership with the NCR Corporation, which designed and built SEFCU’s mobile app.
“SEFCU reviews app store feedback from users consistently to determine what features they like and where improvement is possible and/or necessary,” said SEFCU’s CEO Michael Castellana. “We have found that when we have made upgrades/changes in response to store feedback, users often return to leave a positive app review.”
SEFCU, which serves 350,000 members, first partnered with Digital Insights – an NCR company – 12 years ago, and worked with NCR to launch its app in 2011.
“Since 2011, SEFCU has had significant input on the app design and features. While SEFCU has the ability to opt-in and out of different features available in the app, we have done so with our members’ needs in mind,” said Castellana. “It is essential to consider your individual membership base when determining what features to choose.”
NCR’s Mobile Product Leader Dan Weis explained that the firm works with hundreds of CUs and spends a “significant amount of time” ensuring that NCR understands how clients define mobile app success, which can be a moving target.
“This insight helps ensure that we have an engaging, best-in-class mobile solution each and every time we update the mobile solution,” said Weis. “NCR always provides the opportunity to provide feedback through Idea Exchange, which enables clients to share their thoughts about the product and ideas for improvement.”
Mobile user uptick
Credit unions that collect and study behavioral usage data have a greater ability to increase member user rates, explained Robb Gaynor, chief product officer and co-founder of the Austin, Texas-based Malauzai Software. The firm counts 150 credit unions as clients.
“Benchmarking is critical. Being able to show a CU how they stack up against other CU’s in their region or asset level is critical,” said Gaynor. “The data tells you where to focus to create best-in-class engagement via mobile banking.”
In the mobile app game, there are leaders, such as USAA, that should be studied, explained Gaynor. He also encouraged credit union executives to study high-performing apps at the app store.
“There is huge insight in the comments, the unstructured data, not the star ratings,” said Gaynor. “You learn what to do and what not to do.” Gaynor added that 70% of negative app store feedback is about policies and procedures and CUs not educating members.
Members embracing authentication
With 145,000 active online banking members, Castellana said SEFCU’s mobile app user rates have increased since the credit union began offering remote deposit capture, which is now the most popular feature for the app’s 87,000 active users (55,000 of which use an iPhone and 32,000 of which use an Android).
“Members have really embraced fingerprint authentication, providing a quick, convenient way to access their account,” said Castellana. “While remote deposit has created an emotional attachment to the app, we have found that fingerprint authentication has increased the frequency that members log in and interact with the app.”
Providing a mirrored online and mobile banking experience for members is also required to increase mobile app user rates. If members have two different experiences, they often become disillusioned.
“Too many CU’s have outdated internet banking and their mobile app is from a separate vendor, so it is a completely different member experience,” said Malauzai’s Gaynor. “Mobile Banking must have all of the features of internet banking. Best-in-class CU’s are seeing 40% of their mobile users become mobile-only, but you can’t achieve those results if you don’t have functional parity, it is table-stakes now.”
Jeff Marshall, CTO at Omaha-based D3 Banking, echoed those sentiments.
“Credit unions need to make their apps simple and easy to use,” he advised. “being different may seem important to the credit union, but members don’t notice that much – just make it work smoothly.”
