Credit union mobile banking apps have come a long way. It’s important to start with that single and meaningful fact. Gone are the days when even leading credit unions used buggy, confusing, poorly-rated mobile apps.
But just because they’ve come a long way doesn’t mean that there’s nowhere left to go. The capabilities of mobile are still improving, and consumer expectations are still increasing.
So, where does BankingON fit into all this?
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The Past, Present, and Future of Mobile Banking Apps
We’ll get to BankingON soon. First, it’s important to know what the stakes are.
- The Past: How much do we need to talk about the past? 10 years ago, most mobile banking apps were but a twinkle in any credit union’s eye. Even more recently, mobile apps have been clunky, web-based, and difficult to work with (for users and developers alike).
- The Present: Today, mobile apps are much stronger than they were even a few years ago. However, there’s still a proliferation of web-based apps. These are clunky on mobile devices, often slower, and don’t integrate seamlessly with other vendors and fintechs.
- The Future: Although predicting the future is dangerous, one thing is certain: native mobile apps with better integrations are table stakes. If a banking app doesn’t perform on par with fintech, challenger bank, and other native mobile apps, it will quickly lose favor—as will the providing institution.
Mobile banking platforms are heading in a sophisticated direction. It’s not enough for an app to simply work. Today and in the future, it must work well. Here’s what that means:
Mobile Native vs. Web Mobile Apps
There are numerous differences between mobile native and web mobile apps. But a few differences truly set the two apart—and give the advantage to mobile native apps.
First, mobile native apps are faster than web mobile apps. While this may seem like a small quibbling point, it certainly is not. Users who must wait for several seconds between clicking a button and getting a result will not be happy. Compare that to native mobile apps which navigate instantly…
Speed is usually the first difference between a good experience and a frustrating one. Slower is worse in apps, always. In fact, it takes only 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about a website or app. So, not only is speed critical, but so is the design.
Second, mobile native apps use modern UI/UX principles. This makes them easy, intuitive, and enjoyable to use.
The user interface (UI) is essentially the look and feel of the app screens.Simplicity is key to a clean, consistent, and navigable interface.
The user experience (UX) focuses on the user’s journey and interactions throughout the app. A great UX begins by building user-centric journeys and cutting out everything else. It also eliminates extra clicks, friction, and confusion while navigating in the app. In turn, this drives satisfaction, engagement, and adoption
Third, mobile native apps can use system resources. Web apps can’t. So, if your platform—or a vendor/partner/fintech integration—needs to use GPS or your camera, you’ll need a mobile native app.
Similarly, when dealing with those vendor/partner/fintech integrations, mobile native apps offer a seamless experience. Web apps often take the user to other sites or feel like cumbersome, shoehorned-in elements.
Web apps force users to load new screens whenever they click on something from a different vendor. And, because vendors have siloed experiences, users can’t easily navigate back to where they left off. Switching between screens requires pages to load from scratch.
Mobile native apps make everything look like it’s part of the app, rather than outside of it. Plus, they store session data to eliminate redundant data and screen loading
Vendor Independence and Flexibility
The pace of technological change is not about to slow down now. CU 2.0 works with several credit unions that work with 10–40 new vendors per year. The fail forward fast approach is increasingly popular with high performance credit unions of all sizes.
Integrating new technologies into your mobile banking app is not always easy. With some platforms, you can expect 6 months of integration time—if it happens at all. That’s not conducive to an agile, flexible banking experience!
And if we’ve learned one thing in the last 2 years, it’s the importance of flexibility… and the adaptability to pivot quickly if needed.
The next generation of mobile banking apps needs to empower credit unions teams to move quickly. Integrating Okta, a chatbot, or other technologies should happen on the credit union’s timeline, not the platform provider’s. That reduces vendor reliance, too!
Where BankingON Fits In
BankingON is part of the next generation of mobile banking providers. To be clear, they’re not the only option out there, nor are they a fit for every credit union. Currently, they’re built on Fiserv’s Architect platform.
However, what’s intriguing about BankingON is their approach to mobile user experiences (UX) and banking technology. They don’t just want a mobile app to work… they want it to exceeduser expectations for experience.
Mobile apps can’t be built solely by engineers—UI/UX experts must be involved.
Apps are fast becoming the front door to your brand. The experience must be optimized, intuitive, and easy to use. If it’s clunky or outdated, users will avoid it.
Furthermore, if the app is difficult to enhance and work on, your credit union will soon hate it. Your mobile banking app should never be the thing that stops you from rolling out new features, services, solutions, or member tools.
BankingON is part of the new generation of credit union mobile app providers. They understand that credit union’s need to develop features faster and accommodate best-of-breed technology partners. They also understand that members require incredible UI/UX centered around their needs and finance goals.
As mobile banking continues to rise, we’re seeing trends, institutional needs, and member expectations solidify and mature. BankingON and providers like them are part of that future.
How does your app stack up?
Additional Resources
Design and experience are two things that truly set leading apps apart from the rest. CU 2.0 looks for products and strategies that improve ease-of-use wherever possible.
Keep in touch with the latest technologies with our Fintech Call Program, or meet new fintechs face to face at the next Fintech Meetup.
Finally, check our growing 2.0 Guides section for fintech and vendor rankings.
