Importance of Mobile Banking

[mobbanking]

7 Reasons To Use Mobile Banking

Mobile banking is a service offered by retail financial institutions like banks, with which customers can manage their bank account(s), conduct financial transactions, enroll for new banking...

Mobile banking was taken as a serious business avenue to diversify their profits in different fields

[mobbanking]

7 Reasons To Use Mobile Banking

Mobile banking is a service offered by retail financial institutions like banks, with which customers can manage their bank account(s), conduct financial transactions, enroll for new banking products/services like a loan, and so on from a remote, hand-held device like smartphones.

 It took mobile banking some time to gain the foothold among customers because of a lot of factors. People were apprehensive about it since it was new and difficult to use or adapt to, at first glance. But thanks to cellular carriers and fintech institutions, who started fiddling upon the idea of providing exclusive mobile banking services; mobile banking was taken as a serious business avenue to diversify their profits in different fields. But security was the bigger factor that bothered customers, which has been well-addressed now.

 This prompted existing banks and financial organizations to immediately catch-up or in fact beat the competitors down to implement the trend. As a result of this, there are also several non-banking organizations that provide e-banks to accommodate mobile banking in their business agenda. These options give varied choices to look at when it comes to mobile banking, even if they may not be as efficient as the ones provided by retail financial institutions like banks. Now, the mobile banking juggernaut has grown so much that it has served as one of the factors that made Wells Fargo close 400 branches in the USA!

 Should we ultimately resort to mobile banking? It’s a resounding YES! We are about to see the reasons why mobile banking must be a financial staple for everyone:

 1. Ease of Access & Use

Mobile banking platforms and applications provide an unparalleled customer experience. Then connect customers through to all the vital banking touchpoints from a single place. This also includes the connectivity of multiple bank accounts from a single mobile app. For instance, a customer of a bank in Malaysia can gain access to his/her savings account, credit card and debit card settings, trading account, check account balance, and perform a lot more actions from the designated mobile banking app itself! Mobile banking apps significantly improve the customer experience by giving a holistic interface for customers to financially engage with.

 How to activate mobile banking?

Activating mobile banking for your bank account or a bank service you have subscribed to, can be done in a few steps with your mobile. All you have to do is download your the mobile banking app of your bank, and log-in with your designated security PIN (which can be created later as identification as well), or registered mobile or e-mail details. Mobile banking for your account gets confirmed in no time after you enter the security details that are needed (as already provided by the bank). It’s that simple!

 2. Multitude of Features

Mobile banking lets you check your account balance on the go, transfer funds to any bank account and so on. For instance, there’s the Hong Leong Bank’s (HLB) Connect mobile banking application. The bank’s customers can also request or remind another Connect Hong Leong app user to send money. The transfer is done as soon as the other recipient accepts the request.

 Other features in the banking app include locating branches and ATMs using GPS, activating credit card, applying for an affordable Flexi Payment Plan on monthly instalments, and so on! Scan & Pay is another feature that makes merchant payments a whole lot easier, where funds can be transferred by just placing the phone camera to the QR of the recipient, through the bank’s app.

  This above screengrab of the Connect application is an example of how useful a mobile banking app can be, by making multiple customer touchpoints accessible in a very easy-to-use, omnichannel interface. There are similar bank utility apps in the market like the Hong Leong Connect mobile banking app, which make life easier for bank customers of Malaysia.

 3. High Security

Mobile banking is more highly secure than conventional internet banking. Apart from the existing heightened security in mobiles, banking apps use an upgraded firewall to ward off unsolicited information/financial theft, privacy attacks, password hack, or phishing. To keep the apps more secured, mobile banking apps have added fingerprint authentication and facial recognition (iPhones) wherever supported. Such biometric authentications are asked to be carried out before fund transfers and other bank-related actions, once enabled.

 Another security advantage is that your bank account is synced to your mobile app, registered mobile and also e-mail id. Every event that happens concerning your bank account or banking products/services is prompted through push notifications, message, and e-mail. The moment the system detects irregular activities with your account, a security prompt is sent out so that you keep tabs of what is happening; and you can also raise a flag immediately through the app if you find the financial activity to be suspicious or unintended.

 4. Cost & Time Efficiency                                                        

Mobile banking proves to be cost-effective at all turns. The need for an agent or a mediator to overlook banking processes like loan, withdrawal, insurance, or balance transfer is greatly reduced. This is because the app gives direct access to bank personnel, with 24-hour in-app assistance. Several time-consuming procedures are seamlessly automated in a secured manner, at your will.

 Disbursements, repayments, and monthly instalments are some of the financial actions through mobile banking that prove to save time by a great magnitude.

 5. Paper-free Banking

Let us face it. Bank procedures have traditionally required paper for statements, requests, deposits, and so on. It is difficult to keep track of financial paper trail of your financial engagements with the bank. And in a fast-paced and digitally evolving world, it feels tedious to maintain papers for getting things done in banks.

 Thanks to mobile banking, this trend has considerably reduced for very few essential procedures. With the advent of technology, banks store all the vital customer and account information in a secured cloud that can be accessed through the mobile banking application. Ongoing paperless, vital banking details and transactions are all saved and visible to the authorized customer in a comprehensive mobile banking timeline, designed and regulated to perfection.

 6. Hassle-free Application Process

Loan application process is now more hassle-free than ever with mobile banking. Credit card application and loan application from working individuals and small businesses have seen an exponential rise year after year, ever since the inception of mobile banking. Mobile banking empowers customers to apply without inhibitions as it becomes a quick, digitally mastered process.

 Credit-scoring and risk assessment is non-partisan in mobile banking, as it is system automated. This has helped customers increase their fair chance and probability in getting their bank-related applications received positively. Also, mobile banking has enabled quick-approval in as fast as 24 hours, upon fulfilment of terms & conditions.

 7. Personalized Banking

Not just banks, many other businesses and their verticals face revenue issues as they fail to understand customer expectations. But when a customer starts using mobile banking, their transactional data and the corresponding online behavior helps banks a great deal. Mobile banking can help track customers’ organic financial needs, by implementing practices like Data Analytics.

 This is a win-win for both customers and their bank – on one side, customers receive updates on financial and banking products that they have really shown interest in but haven’t communicated; on the other hand, banks know their customers better and curate products in keeping with their interests.  Feedbacks and interactions with customers through mobile banking are also safe-kept by banks to enhance overall customer experience.

 Mobile banking for the millennium and beyond!

Mobile banking addresses all the legacy problems that had inhibited banks, in terms of speed, efficiency, convenience, simplicity and a plethora of features – all in one place. According to Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America (BAC), the success of mobile banking isn’t all because of millennials alone. Boasting of huge profits through mobile banking, BAC has landed on 35.3 million digital customers, which exceeds the number of millennials in the USA.

 This goes to prove that mobile banking has only seen the first phase of its evolution, with more state-of-the-art benefits for customers in store for the future. It is fast becoming the preferred channel of interaction for all banking needs. Activate mobile banking for your account if you already haven’t and get a glimpse of amazing possibilities for the future of banking.