Abstract
Overview
Javelin' s 2009 Mobile Banking Scorecard ranks the consumer mobile-banking
offerings offered by 18 of the nation' s 40 largest banks, based on deposits.
The benchmark covered three areas of mobile banking: Features, Access and
Marketing. Secretshoppers harvested information about each bank' s features by
searching their websites and phoning customer service representatives multiple
times. Of the top 40 institutions analyzed from July through September 2009,
18 offered mobile banking to their customers. All told, Javelin reviewed 26
criteria, including 18 features, six points of access and two marketing
issues. The 18 banks offering mobile banking were ranked and awarded gold,
silver or bronze status. This report also includes a profile of USAA Bank.
Primary Questions
- What are banks offering, and how has that changed over the past year?
- Which bank offers the most complete mobile-banking experience?
- How do the features offered score according to Javelin' s benchmark
weights, by access, security and features?
- Who are the industry leaders and what sets them apart from the rest?
- What is the future of mobile banking?
Key Findings
Gold category winners were USAA, Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and Bank of America,
respectively. Mobile-monitoring features are exploding: 72% banks surveyed
offered all seven account-monitoring features. Mobile money-movement features
are lagging; for example, only 33% of institutions allow transfers between
customers at the same financial institution. No bank is allowing unique mobile
enrollment or opening accounts via the mobile channel yet. For access, the
WAP/browser method still leads at 72%, but downloadable applications (67%) and
SMS text message banking (44%) are gaining ground from 2008. iPhone
applications are virtually mandatory: 67% of institutions offer them already,
while 56% offer BlackBerry applications and 50% offer other smartphone
applications. One out of three of the iPhone applications are thin
“wrapper applications” that neatly wrap around the institution' s
mobile online offering. In marketing, positioning and placement need further
work, two banks provided substandard marketing about their mobile offering,
and four attained below average scores. Three of the banks made no mention of
security on their website, even though security fears rank as it is one of the
strongest factors holding consumers back from adoption. Conversely, two-thirds
of the banks did a good job of security messaging.
Features:
Financial institutions were reviewed for 18 features of most immediate
marketing value to the FIs with mobile banking. These features included mobile
monitoring, money movement, and advanced capabilities. Mobile monitoring was
measured by the ability to 1. Check balances for a demand deposit
account. 2. Account history for savings and checking accounts.
3. Check balances for a credit card account. 4. Account history
for credit cards. 5. The ability to view other accounts. 6.
Receive SMS/text message alerts. 7. ATM/ branch locator. Money movement
capabilities were measured by: 8. Bill pay. 9. Funds transfer
between personal accounts. 10. Funds transfer between customers at the
same FI. 11. Funds transfer between two different FIs. 12.
Transfer funds to different FIs between customers. Advanced capabilities were:
13. Unique enrollment in mobile banking. 14. Open accounts.
15. Financial two-way alerts. 16. The ability to view current
rates. 17. Opt-in mobile marketing. 18. Bilingual.
Methodology
This report uses phone-based mystery shopper investigations, as well as
Javelin' s review of websites for the financial institutions included in the
survey. Javelin chose these methods specifically because those are sources
available to customers - and a lack of full information on websites or a lack
of awareness among customer service representatives about specific product
offerings can crimp adoption. The data was collected from July to September
2009.
The initial rounds of research were performed over the phone with customer
service representatives and using each FI' s website. Forty of the top U.S.
banks, sorted according to deposits from Q4 2008, were surveyed using the
above methods to determine whether they offered mobile banking services.
Eighteen FIs offered consumer-facing, full-function mobile banking services as
of July 6, 2009.
For these 18 financial institutions, six researchers called each bank' s senior
customer service representatives in mobile, online, or general customer
service numerous times, requesting an experienced specialist using mystery
shopper techniques. The total quantity of required CSRs (on a per-FI basis)
was recorded, along with the CSR' s name or employee number, when available, as
well as the date and time of the call. The required number of calls on a
per-FI basis ranged from five to nine, with the average being seven to assure
high-quality results.
To receive credit, the service must fit specific criteria. Banks were
benchmarked according to their services' basic Access (six features reviewed,
with a total possible weight of 35 points), Marketing (two features reviewed,
with a total possible weight of 12 points), and Features (18 features
reviewed, with a total possible weight of 43 points). All told, Javelin
reviewed 26 features, with total weighted score of 90 points representing a
100% score. (See Figure 1.) Future versions of this report will build upon
this research incorporating new capabilities as they become available.
Report Statistics
- Audience:
- Financial institutions: E-commerce, online-banking,
mobile-banking and marketing strategists.
- Vendors: Mobile-banking platform providers and vendors,
mobile-network operators and mobile-banking marketers.
- Author: Mark Schwanhausser, Analyst, Multichannel Financial Services
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