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By: Angelique Paccione
At the end of 2016, there was an estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide using mobile banking. This shift to mobile is providing banks with an opportunity to generate more customers by offering easier ways to bank from anywhere in the world. 86 percent of millennials already use mobile banking, and 71 percent of this generation believes mobile banking will continue to transform their banking experience. Even local community banks and credit unions are going digital.
Mobile banking has gone beyond mobile. It’s on Apple watches, IoT devices, and smart assistants like Amazon Echo. The easiest way for banks to stay ahead of the competition is by gathering and analyzing mobile banking trends to better understand the market and learn emerging trends. With technology’s rapid changing speed, 2017 is bringing more innovation into the world of banking.
Mobile Payments
Millennials have paved the way of mobile banking. 86 percent of millennials already use mobile banking, and the other generations aren’t far behind. In the future, we can see a decline in the use of credit cards because people will be using their phones to make payments. Services like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay are growing progressively and exponentially. Apple Pay alone reports growth of one million new users each week!
Voice Payments
Voices will be the new keyboards to our devices. From smart homes to smart cars, voice is revolutionizing the tech world. Toyota’s Sandy Lobenstein, VP of connected strategy & product planning, said as voice assistants are becoming more common in cars, in-vehicle voice payments will be gaining traction in the near future, as well. It’s not hard to imagine considering talking cars are in the new lineup.
MasterCard and Samsung have paired up to further develop Samsung’s line of smart fridges. Users can now order and pay for their groceries through voice. Capital One is already testing voice applications with Cortana and Alexa. US Bank and USAA are searching into using voice technology as an extra security feature. The power of voice is growing.
Smart Bots
One day, you might not have to wait in long lines at the bank for financial help. Bank of America is already on top of this with their own smart bot “Erica.” Erica can interact with customers over voice or text through mobile banking and can even offer advice.
Smart bots use machine learning, predictive analytics, and cognitive communication to help consumers conduct every piece of financial transactions from making payments to saving money to paying down a debt. Some people predict they might be better at making decisions than bank clerks.
Challenger Banks
Welcome to the digital age! Could you imagine running to the bank by just pulling out your phone? Now, you can. Challenger banks are banks that don’t have any branches and only engage with customers through digital media. Customers and regulators are responding very well to this new banking method because of its unique mobile banking experience. Challenger banks are creating a different avenue that traditional banks are struggling to match.
API Banking
API stands for application program interfaces. An API is merely a set a protocols, logic, and tools that allows developers to programmatically interact with banking solutions and functionality, without having to interact directly with the bank’s back-end systems. APIs are at the heart of smartphone applications and service-driven websites because they allow the app to pull in data from multiple sources and manipulate it in different ways.
APIs will transform banking by making it easier for banks to connect with fintech startups. By the end of this year, 75 percent of the top 50 banks in the world will open their API. The bank that can figure out how to effectively offer APIs for their services through partnerships will be the bank of the future.
When mobile banking was first introduced, it was to attract new tech-savvy customers. Within a short 10-year span, that technology is nothing new. It has grown immensely across all demographics – which means this year’s trends will grow just as fast, if not faster.
