Banking is a sector impacted by the old-fashioned approach. While many clients are happy with human interaction with the bank, a growing share of the market prefers to do things faster. Mobile banking was conceptualised and put in practice in the United States of America better than in any other country.
According to US statistics, more than half of the
clients of a financial institution offering mobile service, would have no qualms whatsoever to leave their bank should the mobile app no longer be available. In a nutshell, once you start using mobile banking you cannot live without it.
In Asia banking apps are well spread among clients. In countries such as Singapore it is an indispensable tool. The country is so crowded and hectic that queuing at the bank would take too much of one’s precious time. Although Oman is not as crowded as an Asian metropolis, queues are quite tiring here as much as everywhere else. On the Facebook page of an Omani bank — recently bragging about their new Likes milestone — the first comment was a totally unrelated: “Today I waited one and a half hours in queue.” Queues are frustrating for everyone.
I have yet to meet a human being who would say: “I love wasting my time in queue.” Same goes for parking. And we all know the situation of parking in Oman. Mobile banking is the shortcut and the solution to both parking and queuing.
It is interesting to identify the three main customer profiles that are currently not using mobile apps. The first one is the group of those staying away from banking apps because of security concerns.
The second type of clients are unsure how would mobile banking benefit them. Lastly, the third group are those who do not use any app simply because their bank does not have one yet. This last group is the easiest to satisfy. If mobile banking is a crucial service to them, all they need to do is to change bank. If it is not so urgent however, they can wait until their bank is ready to offer a mobile app.
Those who do not see how to benefit from mobile banking need to try at least once to perform an easy task such as a money transfer. When they realise how fast and convenient it can be, they will probably become more loyal customers. The first group however, the one encompassing customers afraid of security breach, is the most difficult to deal with.
They look at technology from a scaring perspective. Usually their fear does not manifest alone. They are afraid of other services, such as social media, mobile phones, Internet banking, ATM, CDM and so on. Marketing schools teach that we cannot satisfy everyone while in branding we learn that a satisfied client is our best marketing tool. In my opinion the best way to turn around a mobile banking scared prospect is to get his/her own friends and/or family members to convince him/her.
No matter how good is the communication team of a bank, they would eventually fail to convince all of their clients that mobile banking is safe. Some would certainly trust the bank, but many would not. However when the recommendation comes from our close friend or family members, compared to an advertisement, we have a much higher likelihood to accept the suggestion and take a calculated risk.
In some European countries as well as in both US and Asia, mobile banking has started growing into much more complex type of interactions.
Some of the advanced features may scare far away most of the conservative banking clients. For instance, it is now acceptable in many countries, and offered by many banks, to deposit a cheque just by taking a picture of it. Other banks have launched voice recognition, so that clients can literally tell their cellphone to perform a task such as money transfer.
The more the time goes by, the more IT innovations bring new ideas into mobile banking. The most efficient and fastest way of offering a service nowadays is through the billions of smart phones in the pockets and purses of men and women all around the world.
Mobile banking has been proven to be a tremendous branding tool, able to catalyse clients to their bank. The case study of Bank of America is remarkable. During the financial crisis that badly hit the world a few years ago, clients lost trust in the banking system. Bank of America was not immune.
Its country ranking dropped. It became hard to retain existing customers as well as to expand the new clients base. Mobile banking was one of the tools that the bank decided to embrace in order to win back clients. It worked like a marvel. It was a huge success with millions of clients starting a new account and millions of them becoming an mobile banking user.
Mobile apps are no longer a gimmick that banks offer to impress their clients. It has become a productivity tool that grabs the attention of demanding clients, often those that move around with a lot of money. The clients that banks cannot afford to lose.
http://omanobserver.om/mobile-banking-a-major-productivity-tool/
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