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Growing popularity of banking apps
According to the report by NetB@nk prepared by Polish Bank Association, by the end of 2020 there was almost 14 million users of mobile banking apps logging in at least once a month. What is more, this group of customers logs into onto their bank accounts much more often – on average the number of logins can reach over 25 times a month. Thus, for banks mobile app is a necessity that allows them to compete with other institutions and to provide their customers with secure access to their accounts and payments.
Interestingly, according to the very same source, in our country there are almost 7,5 million mobile-only users – people who use mobile apps only and stopped using their desktop version. For comparison, by the end of IV quarter of 2019 there were 11 million mobile users and 6,5 mobile-only users – therefore, the sharp rise is clearly visible. There are no doubts that COVID pandemic had an impact on such a dynamic of this result.
As we can conclude from all the information mentioned above, mobile banking apps grew to be one of the most important communication channels in financial industry. For many customers they have become a basic source of knowledge about their finances. Banks try to use the popularity of digital channels by introducing different added services complementary to their product offer. Sources of payments, secure environment, customers’ trust and users with confirmed identity are at their partners’ disposal. Financial institutions, by implementing such services, aim to stay ahead of the competition, improve their customers’ loyalty, reduce the number of users that leaving the bank and create a new source of income.
The advantage of new features brought to life
A good example of using a service as a distinguished feature can be a subscription management service implemented in a mobile app of SGB Bank. It is still a unique feature on the Polish market, allowing customers to see:
- Active subscriptions on a given payment card (I.e. Netflix, HBO, Spotify).
- Service providers and online stores that have an access to data belonging to customer’s payment card after it was used to complete a purchase.
- Mobile wallets, such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay, FitbitPay and devices that were used to activate some payments.
Apart from accessing the information, user can lock or unlock the payments for subscriptions and shopping on a given card. Additionally, in case of mobile wallets, customer can remotely remove card from any device.
Another interesting case in mobile banking apps is a feature supporting COVID vaccinations that was launched in April 2021. On one hand, it presents the user with all the available methods of registration to a vaccination, on the other – it contains a link to an online registration system. System MojeID is used to verify the customer and it is integrated with online banking systems from various banks being a part of SGB Group.
Additional features, additional income
There are many additional features on the market that are no longer unique, but are still uncommon, as they are offered in just a few banks. Parking payments, an option to purchase a bus ticket and pay motorway fees are just some of them
Customers enjoy the opportunities given to them by new features in applications (banking ones and others), as they make their lives easier. Those users do not have to look for a parking meter to pay for a spot or wait in line to the newsstand to purchase a bus ticket. For example, in Warsaw, according to the statistics provided by ZTM (Public Transport Authority in Warsaw), in February 2021 over 25% of all bus and tram tickets were purchased in different mobile applications, including the ones provided by the banks. The number of such transactions is growing every year, reaching millions of interactions in a single bank of average size. I am certain that such a service can share the fate of the mobile phone top-ups – the very first service available in all banks in Poland.
