Mobile banking levels the playing field for customer loyalty

by. Tom

Consumers clearly demand more convenience from their banks and credit unions, and mobile banking is the one category where the smaller banks are challenging their big league competitors:

When it comes to mobile banking, “There’s no one bank who really hit the ball out of the park,” said Dan Latimore, senior vice president in the banking group at research and consulting firm Celent. [as quoted in the current issue of Bank Director]

The majority of banks seem to be trying to woo new customers with the convenience factor, using free mobile banking as a draw. The plan is to use mobile banking to save on in-branch overhead, and the hope is that smartphone owners are a better class of banking customer.

But these days, the novelty of mobile banking has worn off. Banks of any size can offer convenient mobile banking services such as remote deposit, bill pay, and even peer-to-peer transactions, so basic mobile banking is no longer a market differentiator. Being able to check your balance, move money, and do basic banking from your phone are the just price of entry these days, What will distinguish the true innovators are extending mobile support to additional banking services, such as loan qualification.

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