More efficient, modern and faster, the mobile bank evolves with the habits of the customer who is more and more used to doing Smartphone and Tablet operations.
In this perspective, the innovative and technological drive of the “Bank at hand” starts above all from applications (app) “designed” according to the characteristics of immediacy and simplicity typical of mobile devices.
According to the latest report from the Mobile Banking Observatory of Abi Lab, the Bank's Research and Innovation Consortium promoted by the ABI, all the banks in the sample analyzed offer services via the Smartphone app, for the Tablet, instead, the share of banks that offer them stands at 89%. The percentage of responding banks (44%) is lower, offering services for wearable devices (Wearable Devices), which are able to connect and interact with people or objects even through the Internet.
On average, each bank / banking group offers the 3 app. As for the services offered, alongside the basic banking functions, the trading services of financial instruments (trading) reported by 78% of banks, direct payment services between people (P2P), offered by 67% and functionality are widespread. expense management (39%). The various functions can be offered in a single reference app or with an ad hoc app for a specific service: the most obvious examples are the electronic wallet, or the so-called mobile wallet, offered by 28% of the responding banks, and the Mobile POS (electronic payments with credit or debit cards by connecting the mobile device to the POS), reported by the 17% of banks; both features are mainly managed with an app added to the "classic" mobile banking app.
In terms of future strategy, a trend of re-centralization seems to prevail. The Abi Lab analysis shows that 38% of banks with ad hoc apps plan to integrate all the services and features offered in a single app and that another 25% will start a consolidation of the apps offered.
On the other hand, the 70% of banks with a single app believe they are continuing on this path without providing additional apps for specific features.