This research project explores how to improve user experience in web applications compared to native mobile banking apps. It involves a market analysis to pinpoint best practices using a methodology derived from the Mobile Web Banking Rank. Since 2015, this methodology has offered a thorough, unbiased assessment of digital services. Mobile Web Banking Rank 2023 uses an evaluation system that analyzes banks with large user bases, employing two checklists totaling 1,099 criteria focused on Daily banking and Digital office tasks. Each bank's web application was also subject to usability tests and detailed interviews about user experiences with online banking on mobile browsers. The outcome of this work is a comprehensive set of systematized data that we are ready to leverage for your benefit.
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The study provides vital findings that can help banks assess their web applications' effectiveness and identify areas for improvement in the digital banking sector. Businesses looking to enhance their web applications can leverage these points to optimize user experience and operational efficiency.
While banks have effectively adapted their online banking interfaces for mobile browsers, certain persistent local issues, such as improper form adaptations, inconvenient scrolling, and less visible text, negatively impact user satisfaction and brand perception.
Navigation within online banks is designed to be user-friendly and largely mimics that of native applications. However, many banks still face challenges that render navigation less intuitive, such as the absence of universal search features and voice assistants.
A significant area for growth is the technical stability of web applications. Enhancements are needed in page loading speeds, timely information updates, and reducing system outages to improve the user experience during daily operations.
Historically, web applications have lagged behind native apps due to lesser investments as businesses focused more on mobile platforms. This has led to uneven functional development, with some tasks performed well or even better than in native apps, but others, like onboarding and regular login setups, show significant lags.
While some banks lead in digital efficiency across a range of online tasks, there is significant room for improvement in the web applications of many banking groups to meet industry best practices.
We are equipped with an array of best practices identified through our studies, and each of them can serve as a launching pad for further development. Here, we showcase several examples from such practices that have been proven effective in enhancing web application performance and user engagement.
Improving the regular login process can substantially increase login frequency. The review notes that the average login time for web applications is four times longer than for native apps. Streamlining this process is crucial for enhancing user engagement metrics like MAU (Monthly Active Users) and DAU (Daily Active Users).
QR payment features stimulate transactional activity. Among the banks surveyed, only a few offer a QR scanner that users can access readily from various sections of the app, enhancing the ease and speed of payments.
Implementing a single, intuitive menu system can significantly reduce search times for users. The review highlights cases where dual navigation systems (tab bar and burger menu) complicate user interaction, leading to inefficiencies.
The absence of a universal search feature can negatively impact activity and conversion rates. A well-placed, always accessible search bar that also suggests popular queries can enhance user experience and operational efficiency.
Enabling web push notifications can greatly increase user engagement with new products and services and ensure timely updates on potential fraudulent transactions. Most banks, however, do not offer such notifications, which could otherwise prevent the need for paid SMS alerts or manual monitoring by the customers.
The research method involved analyzing and comparing data from 2022 and 2023 to study the current discrepancies between web applications and native ones in performing specific tasks. This comparative approach helped identify key areas where web applications lag behind their native counterparts.
Until 2022, internet banking as a channel was increasingly overshadowed by mobile banking, and businesses mainly invested in the mobile platform. Therefore, historically, web applications fell behind native apps for several years.
As a result, the functional development of web applications has been uneven. Some tasks are implemented equally well or even better than in native apps, but in certain areas, there is a significant lag. These areas include onboarding, loan repayment, receiving transfers from other individuals, and others. The most significant and noticeable difference is in setting up regular logins. The lag here is the most pronounced: 90.7% among native applications and 66.3% among web applications.
The graphs illustrate the effectiveness of different bank groups' web applications in handling a variety of user tasks, benchmarking them across multiple categories such as access retrieval, product management, and transactional operations. The leading bank groups excel in areas like investment purchase and insurance buying, while other groups show strength in tasks like regular login and transaction monitoring. The data reveals a performance spectrum where certain banks outshine others, indicating specific areas where web applications could be optimized to match the efficiency of leaders in the field.
The future of bank web applications looks promising with a focus on enhancing user engagement and operational efficiency through streamlined processes and advanced features. As banks continue to invest in improving technical stability and user-friendly designs, web applications are set to offer a more robust, intuitive, and seamless banking experience that can rival native apps.
Our research highlights several critical areas for optimizing bank web applications. If you like our insights and are considering further improvements, why not contact us for more comprehensive solutions?
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