Attention banks: Consumers want more payments data in apps

• Key insights: Consumers require more payment information in bank apps. 
• What's at stake: Banks can lower payment disputes and mitigate churn with better apps. 
• Expert quote: "Giving customers more information reduced the cost to serve those customers,"  said JD Power's Jennifer White.

A new Datos Insights report highlights that banks are missing the mark by not providing sufficient payments-related data in their mobile apps.

The report focuses on "innovative banking app features" to win new business and improve customer loyalty. These include the ability to manage subscriptions, greater purchase transparency and loyalty management tools. 

Roughly one-third of consumers say each of these features would make them likely to switch banks if their current financial institution doesn't offer them, according to Ron van Wezel, strategic advisor at Datos Insights. Adding these features not only minimizes customer attrition. There are also cost savings and revenue opportunities, he wrote in an email to American Banker. 

Here's a deeper dive into how banks are falling short on providing customers with important payments-related data:

Greater transaction clarity

One problem that consumers frequently face is recognition failure. They see a charge, don't recognize the billing name and assume something is wrong, van Wezel wrote. A notable 74% of consumers who encounter an unfamiliar charge have already contacted their bank before they discover it was legitimate, and 67% say better in-app transaction information would have prevented the dispute altogether. "That's a meaningful reduction in charge-back costs and inbound service volume," Van Wezel noted.

The desire for more transparency applies to both credit card and debit card transactions, Jennifer White, managing director of financial services intelligence at JD Power, told American Banker. Providing merchant names, time stamps, locations and other purchase details in mobile banking apps would help customers recognize charges, she said. Roughly a third of consumers told JD Power they experienced fraud in the past 12 months, and the amount of money that they're losing is growing. "Giving customers more information reduced the cost to serve those customers," she told American Banker.

Souped-up subscription management

Consumers also desire more control over recurring charges directly within their banking app. This includes the ability to pause, cancel, or review subscriptions, rather than forcing them to hunt through each merchant's settings or call customer service, according to Ron van Wezel. While it sounds counterintuitive, Datos Insights' research found that offering consumers an easy cancellation option makes 79% of them more willing to sign up for new subscriptions. "Control drives adoption, not hesitation," Van Wezel wrote.

Some banks, including JPMorganChase and Capital One, offer subscription-control features. Chase, for example, allows mobile app users to see which companies charged their stored cards, insight into possible irregular charges for recurring payments, and businesses where they need to update their card after getting a replacement. Capital One customers can use Eno, the banking company's digital assistant, to stay on top of recurring charges and receive alerts ahead of a free trial expiration, helping prevent unintended subscription renewals.

Loyalty management

Mobile app users also want more tools related to loyalty management, according to van Wezel. Today, consumers have to log into each merchant's or airline's loyalty portal separately to check their points balance or redemption history. "Integrating that into the banking app means consumers see their rewards in one place, alongside their transactions," van Wezel wrote. Datos Insights' research shows that 86% of consumers participate in at least one loyalty program, 78% use their rewards at least once a month, and 75% say they find auto-tracking of loyalty rewards in their banking app moderately to extremely valuable. "What struck me about this finding is that the space is largely uncontested — most [financial institutions] haven't moved here yet. That's a meaningful opportunity for early movers," he wrote. 

Greater flexibility

JD Power's White said customers also want mobile apps to provide more flexibility, which includes scheduling, editing, canceling, and splitting payments for checking and credit card accounts. Customers also want easy access to their history — being able to search by merchant for both banking and credit card. For many customers, particularly under the age of 40, "debit cards function just like a credit card, and they need the same experience to support them," White told American Banker.

Another driver of customer satisfaction is access to real-time balances. 2025 data from JD Power shows that 81% of customers with at least a checking account say their bank offers real-time account balances, which means that one out of every five customers "is in the dark," she told American Banker. "For bank customers who are living paycheck to paycheck, lack of access has a significant impact."

Banks need to start somewhere

Many banks are held back by integration complexity, but they need to start somewhere, van Wezel noted. He recommended they begin by focusing on transaction transparency and subscription management. Transaction transparency has the strongest operational case, based on the potential to reduce disputes. Subscription management, meanwhile, can increase subscription adoption. "I'd frame them to the business as cost reduction and revenue enablement, respectively," he wrote.