Financial institutions are getting people into their apps, evidenced by the mobile channel’s status as the workhorse of banking. The problem is customers aren’t staying for more than a “log in, log out” experience that is typically transactional in nature. As banks look to build engaging mobile experiences for their customers—the kind that build loyalty and keep folks coming back—they would do well to take lessons from nonbanks such as Amazon, Apple, Strava, and Target.

Such companies—along with other retailers, food services, and self-improvement apps—are building first-rate experiences, continually improving them, and raising the bar for what banking customers will come to expect. Their innovations in initiating engagement, knowing customers, and reaching out to consumers proactively and reactively hold important lessons that financial institutions can apply to make their own apps better.

Key questions discussed in this report:

• How are apps from retail outlets, streaming companies, and the like engaging their customers?
• Why have financial institutions struggled to engage customers deeply with their apps even as mobile has become the workhorse channel for banking?
• How can FIs redesign their apps to put the most informative, engaging content where their customers can find it easily?

Companies Mentioned:

Amazon, Apple, Asos, Bookly, Care Of, Chase, Citizens Bank, LinkedIn, Macy’s, Noom, Regions Bank, Spotify, Starbucks, Strava, Target, Truist, Uber Eats, Walgreens