01. Understanding the Industry: The current state of mobile marketing within the financial sector

Methodology

As with previous Episerver mobile commerce reports, we surveyed over 1,000 consumers to understand how they are using mobile devices to purchase and manage their finances on the move. Having developed an understanding of consumer expectations for the financial market, this data was compared to the existing apps and mobile websites of 40 leading financial services providers around the US and UK.

This comparison examined twenty factors across Android phones, Android tablets, iPhones, iPads and mobile sites. These factors included whether a retailer provides adequate security information, whether a site supplies content marketing tools (finance trackers, videos, how-to guides) and whether they were easy to navigate on a small-screen device. Having assigned each financial service provider a score, Episerver has developed a league table of the best, and worst, mobile financial retail sites.

Best use of mobile: American Express

American Express (AMEX) took the lead in both the UK and US benchmarks, scoring high marks for its seamless design and usability across all platforms, regions and mobile devices. While AMEX is available on all platforms, it scored particularly high on both Android mobiles and tablets. This was aided by the use of location services and the latest “Touch ID” security features, helping to quell customer fears that manging finances on the go is not as safe as using a laptop or desktop PC.

Best UK mobile site: Gocompare.com

Despite receiving the best overall score, American Express fell down slightly for its in-browser mobile site. Gocompare.com, on the other hand, scored a colossal 81% - one of the highest rankings gained across any category or device. Unfortunately, despite the intuitive nature and responsive design behind Gocompare.com, the insurance provider has failed to offer any mobile or tablet apps for both Apple and Android, losing it significant points in the overall benchmark.

Best US mobile site: Barclaycard US

Of the American companies benchmarked, Barclaycard US took the number one spot for its responsive mobile site. Although falling slightly below Gocompare.com in the international ranking, Barclaycard US racked up additional points for its responsive design, clear contact details and prominently labelled security certificates.

02. Consumer concerns: Meeting the demands of the new financial consumer

Getting serious about security

Of those consumers surveyed, 25% are currently frustrated by the complex security logins used by financial services apps. At the same time, however, 39% think that existing financial mobile applications do not provide a high enough level of security. This has proved a difficult contradiction for financial service providers to overcome, with increased security often adding layers of complexity to the login process.

Several of the highest scoring applications overcame this issue by making use of the iPhone and iPad’s built-in “Touch ID” fingerprint scanner. This helped to provide a fast, simple, yet highly secure, login.

Another simple way to address security concerns is through the use of a clearly labelled security certificate. This simple visual signpost can make all the difference when attempting to persuade customers to make a large purchase or manage their finances on the go. Unfortunately, while some mobile websites are required to provide an in-browser security certificate, less than 10% of the apps we benchmarked made use of this simple tactic.

If financial providers are to win over their customers, they must first reassure them that their services are secure. This not only means providing a visible security guarantee, but also incorporating the latest secure hardware and software as part of their apps.

Navigation: Finding your way

Due to the complex nature of financial services purchasing, encouraging users to sign up or buy on their mobile phones can be a real challenge. Given the amount of information that is required, most users would rather switch to a laptop or tablet and avoid filling in multiple forms on a six-inch mobile screen.

As a result, tablet-friendly applications are more important than ever for financial service providers. Of the 40 services benchmarked, 68% provided Android tablet apps, while only 62% had iPad apps. Unfortunately, several of these applications were simply stretched versions of existing smartphone apps, making them difficult to navigate and not aesthetically pleasing to use.

One in five consumers claim that they are overwhelmed by the amount of information in financial service apps, while 44% consider ease of use to be a significant factor when deciding whether to download such apps.

As new regulations have come in, it’s meant more information has to be presented to the customer, whilst increasingly those customers are using smaller screens – that presents an obvious challenge

- Adam Moran, Senior Marketing Manager, Swinton Insurance

Separate or simplify?

While financial services providers may need to cut down the complexity of their apps, deciding what should and shouldn’t stay is a careful balancing act. Although consumers are annoyed by the complexity of financial apps, 34% still claim that they are frustrated by the limited functionality offered by mobile-specific applications and sites.

In an effort to address this use, and overcome the wide variety of information inputs required by financial apps, Aviva has split its service into six different mobile apps, each with its own specific function.

While this has simplified Aviva’s multi-service offering, the need to continuously install and switch between apps could be seen as adding steps to the user journey – something which may frustrate users in the long term and become a barrier to cross-selling.

Best use of mobile

As audiences increasingly flit between various applications, platforms and screens, it grows ever harder for marketers to maintain their attention. As a result, informative and useful content offers the best solution to keeping customers engaged.

Of those surveyed, 1 in 5 customers expect mobile applications to include additional content and advice. This demand is especially high within the financial sector, where complex purchases often leave customers confused and seeking easy to understand how-to guides for financial advice.

Of the companies benchmarked, only a small handful are making the most of content marketing within their tablet and smartphone applications. In an effort to simplify their apps, those providers that do offer relevant and helpful content typically redirect users to their desktop websites for long form blogs, videos, articles and advice.

One application that did take a content-led approach was the MyAviva iPhone app. This includes a host of useful in-app content, including help guides, financial tools and embedded video. Other retailers would do well to learn from this example.

Four ways financial services can boost the mobile experience

01. Design mobile experience with customer intent

Given the complexity of financial purchasing decisions, a clear and structured navigational approach will prove vital in retaining customers throughout the mobile sales cycle. Apps must provide a variety of persuasive and informative content, without cluttering up the user’s overall buyer journey. By collaborating with their application developers and designers right from the outset, marketers can ensure that their mobile user experiences are optimized for maximum usability – ultimately driving customers towards a sale.

02. Simplify your approach

When developing a mobile strategy, there is a fine line to walk between user experience and device capabilities. On the one hand, there is a need to create unified experiences across all platforms; on the other, the opportunity to play to the specific strengths of each device. While this is true across all mobile retail, the financial sector in particular seems to struggle with a lack of continuity. By relying on separate mobile sites rather than responsive design, many of the financial service providers benchmarked failed to provide a high level of continuity in terms of both usability and design.

03. Security should be central

When attempting to convince customers to commit to large financial decisions on the go, reassurance over security is paramount. In the case of mobile websites, this should be achieved through the use of a clearly labelled SSL certificate. For apps, the simplest solution may simply be a visual signpost, such as a padlock icon or the inclusion of official software security badges. At the same time however, there is a critical balance between advanced security and ease of use. As hardware advances, additions such as Apple’s Touch ID are helping to overcome this issue on the retailer’s behalf. With this technology in place, it is now just down to the financial providers themselves to develop effective apps that make the most of these technologies in a user-friendly way.

04. Convert customers with content

Content marketing sits at the heart of any effective mobile marketing strategy. This is especially true within the financial sector, where customers are likely to require help and guidance throughout their buyer journey. Apps that embrace a variety of how-to guides, video content and helpful in-app tools (finance trackers, loan calculators, etc.) will be better positioned to build customer trust, influence buying decisions and, ultimately, increase mobile sales.