use a banking app at least once a week
1 in 3want to do all their banking
on apps
1 in 5
UK consumers have embraced mobile banking
…and apps are a factorwhen they choose their bank
Image created by Wilson Joseph, from the Noun Project
would switch banks to get a better app
1 in 5
But when we reviewed leading banking apps, none offered an
outstanding experience
Image created by Wilson Joseph, from the Noun Project
Highest and lowest scores for app UX and functionality
75%32%
We assessed the UX of 5 UK retail banking apps, using a range of different research techniques
Image created by Wilson Joseph, from the Noun Project
Qualitative user research
In-depth interviews
& observation of bank
customers using the apps
Quantitativesurvey
Nat rep survey of 400
consumers, conducted
by ResearchNow
Expert heuristic analysis
Assessment of the apps
against 65 usability criteria
by two UX researchers
Analysis ofapp reviews
Analysis of thousands of
reviews from the Apple and
Google Play app stores
☐✓
We discovered that banking apps are letting down customers
in 3 key areas:
Image created by Wilson Joseph, from the Noun Project
Functionality1.
Payment experience
2.Convenience
3.
Banking apps are missingkey functionality:
Source: ResearchNow, UK NatRep survey, December 2014
% of UK consumers who want this functionality
64%
See pending payments
57%
Managedirect debits
52%
Add newpayees
Consumers don’t want to have to channel shift away from apps
but limited app functionality means they have to
When they shift, they choose channels that cost banks more
61% visit thewebsite
costing banks
£0.16 per visit
11% ring the
call-centre
costing banks
£0.86 per call
25% visit a
branch
costing banks
£2.90 per visit
Sources: ResearchNow, UK NatRep survey, December 2014; Javelin Strategy & Research
While some banking apps are still struggling with the basics
‣ Naming: banks’ language (“transfers” versus “payments”) confuses consumers
‣ Unhelpful forms: when users make an error, apps don’t alert them, or help them fix it
‣ PayM: trying to pay someone not registered for PayM is frustrating and disappointing
Many apps don’t consider their users’ convenience enough
In dozens of little ways, these apps make users’ lives harder
Some apps don’t balance security and convenience appropriately
Users check their balance as often as several times a day,and want to check quickly.
Requiring full log-in every time slows down this low-risk activity.
…although some are doing better than others
Tesco’s Balance Peek: swipe down to reveal balances for 5 seconds
Many apps don’t offer search, filter or pagination for transactions
To find older transactions, users of this app have to laboriously scroll back through the months
Some apps waste space on things that aren’t important to users
Using half the screen for the balance & account info means only a few transactions can be seen at once
Transaction details are squashed to fit and so they’re hard to read.
Want more? Download our full research report for more ways banking apps can be improved
Click here toget your free
summary report
Adaptive Lab is a digital innovation company.
We partner with companies to solve problems and transform businesses through human-centred design, rapid prototyping and user testing, then agile and lean development of web and mobile services.
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Find out more at our website: www.adaptivelab.com