Ease of use and navigation is the most important element for bank and credit card mobile app users, according to a J.D. Power study of consumer satisfaction. Specific drivers of ease of use are fingerprint login, quick access to account balances and streamlined funds transfers, the survey found.
“Even with the mobile channel having the highest satisfaction and consistency of all channels, adoption is stubbornly low — particularly when compared with overall smartphone penetration,” said Bob Neuhaus, a director at J.D. Power. “The challenge for both retail banks and credit card companies is to establish accessible entry points that ease resistant customers onto the mobile channel where they will, in all likelihood, quickly find that they are very satisfied with the experience.”
The survey found that 31 percent of retail banking customers use mobile apps, while just 17 percent of credit card customers do. Among mobile banking holdouts, trust in the security of the platform is the biggest factor; less than half of respondents said their personal information would be “very secure” while using their bank or credit card app.
The survey covered apps from large and regional banks and large national card issuers. The industry average for banking app satisfaction was 855 points out of 1,000. Above average scorers were Capital One (870), Bank of America (865), TD Bank (860) and U.S. Bank (859). USAA, a top mobile performer, would have scored 910 but was not included in the rankings because of its membership eligibility requirements. The average credit card app scored 872, and above average companies were Discover (895), Capital One (888), Barclaycard (886), Wells Fargo (876) and Bank of America (875). USAA would have scored 895.
