Consumers want more from mobile banking apps

Today, there's a mobile app for just about every activity, and banks have long been a provider of this technology for their increasingly on-the-go customers. However, when the Varolii Corporation surveyed 627 U.S. consumers they found that current banking app functionality is way behind what consumers today expect, particularly younger mobile users.

Most consumers surveyed believe banks need to be more proactive by providing personalized, real-time notifications of events that are about to impact their accounts, such as irregular account activity or bounced checks.

For example, Varolii's "Can you Bank on your Banking App?" study found that almost half (46%) of respondents want to be notified of a low account balance to avoid going overdrawn or embarrassing payment situations, or to be reminded about a bill that's due for payment (51%).

The younger a bank customer, the more likely they are to expect this kind of proactive service - 73% of 18-24 year olds versus 56% of those age 55 and over.

"We believe that most institutions are operating on second generation applications. Today, institutions need to upgrade to the next level by embedding more proactive, rules-based outreach into their application code," said David McCann, CEO at Varolii.

"It is also important to realize that smartphone apps are just one more channel that has to be orchestrated into a holistic customer experience across voice, text, email and mobile devices."

Tags: banking trends, consumer survey, customer experience, mobile, mobile apps, text alerts, U.S.