What’s mobile’s next act?

Mobile banking growth was relatively steady in 2014, after a year of impressive growth in 2013. With adoption of tablets and smartphones steadily climbing, mobile banking can be expected to once again increase in 2015, according to a study by Javelin Strategy & Research.

Javelin’s study delved into how institutions will achieve that further growth.

The research also named specific financial institutions deemed leaders in providing mobile banking services.

• Innovation. Spearheading new features is important for financial institutions to attract new customers.

One critical feature is providing multiple ways to reach a customer service representative. USAA is the only financial institution of the top 30 financial institutions that offers contacting a customer service representative or virtual assistant within its app.

Another key customer support feature includes click-to-call capability, with 70% of top financial institutions providing this feature within the app or browser.

• Maxing the mobility. Money movement and mobile monitoring features are key areas of focus for financial institutions in 2014. One new money movement feature, mobile photo bill pay, is already supported by 10% of the top 30 financial institutions.

• Mobile RDC. A similarly innovative capability is mobile remote-deposit capture which grew to 90% support among the top 30 financial institutions from 77% in 2013. With such a high percentage of major financial institutions offering the feature, nonparticipating banks and credit unions should move quickly to add support for mobile remote-deposit capture.

“Mobile banking features can encourage customers to switch to a new banking relationship,” says Mary Monahan, director of Mobile at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Banks that hope to capture the loyalty of these mobile bankers need to wisely invest in mobile banking technology for the future, such as instant balance viewing (before entering credentials), mobile photo bill pay, mobile P2P transfers, and support for mobile banking enrollment through a mobile device.”

The study finds Bank of America, BBVA Compass, BMO Harris, Chase, Citigroup, Citizens Bank, Citizens Bank, Discover Financial, Fifth Third, First Republic, Regions, U.S. Bank, USAA, and Wells Fargo are topping competitors in mobile banking.

Find out more about “2014 Mobile Banking Financial Institution Scorecard”