ath Power Research Shows Customers Willing to Pay as Much as $11 Per Month for Mobile Banking

BOSTON, March 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ath Power Consulting, an industry leader in financial services research and customer experience strategy development, today announced the release of The ath Power 2012 Mobile Banking Study™. Key findings revealed that banks are not adequately promoting their mobile banking offerings, and that Remote Deposit Capture is the missing feature most sought by customers. The National study ranked customer satisfaction with today's mobile banking offerings, and USAA earned the top spot with 73 percent of its users claiming high satisfaction.

Based on combined survey and user audit research, "ath Power designed this first-of-its-kind study to provide banks with direct customer feedback about their mobile banking offerings and to offer actionable insight into how they can leverage this channel for improved adoption, customer loyalty and revenue opportunities," said Mike McEvoy, Managing Director, ath Power. "The study also reveals where technology providers should place their greatest efforts in developing and improving these applications for banking institutions, and what future functionality banks will require to support their customers' needs."

"The revenue potential for banks who add compelling features to their mobile offerings could be significant," noted Frank Aloi, President and CEO, ath Power. "However, it is alarming that only 10 percent of users were prompted to first use their bank's mobile channel by their actual bank.  This indicates a clear lack of customer education, yet an obvious opportunity for banks to take initiative to promote their offerings." 

Other Key Findings:

• Mobile customers are more loyal.  About 1 in 8 mobile banking customers say they'll change banks within 2 years compared to 1 in 5 among the general customer base.
• The quality of a mobile offering is a major factor in choice of bank among the mass affluent and small business owner segments. 
• The mobile channel is set to play a big role in fraud prevention as mobile adoption improves and consumers become more familiar with alerts.
• Customer support is lacking.  Only 1 out of 5 users were offered any option to customize their user interface and 40% failed to find links for technical support.

About The Study

In an online survey, 1,527 mobile banking users provided information about their current banking behaviors and assessed their present mobile banking experiences on several dimensions including ease-of-use, satisfaction and problem resolution.  In the hands-on audit, 350 mobile banking users sought out certain features and performed specific tasks using their mobile banking applications. They provided detailed feedback on their direct user experiences and their reactions to the various functions - checking balances, transferring funds, etc.  Visual appeal, readability, navigation and speed were also evaluated.  More than 240 banks and credit unions were represented in the survey and 63 institutions were represented in the audit.

For more information, please visit athpowermobile or email [email protected].   

About ath Power Consulting

ath Power Consulting is a premier provider of customer experience solutions for the financial services industry, offering customized survey research, mystery shop study, competitive intelligence, market analyses, training and development, and strategic brand planning.  ath Power owns the largest panel of financial services field representatives in the nation, and executes more proprietary banking audits than anyone in the industry.  Since 1997, our fully customizable solutions have helped improve customer retention, build brand loyalty and increase profitability, performance and market share for banking, credit card, mortgage, insurance and investment organizations across North America.  To learn more, please visit www.athpower.com.

SOURCE ath Power Consulting