The Mobile Web Banking Rank 2024 continues to refine the understanding of how banks deliver digital experiences through their web platforms - here is the second wave of comparative research into the digital experience offered by web versions of banking services in Eastern Europe. The results highlight both the current performance and growth opportunities for web applications, helping banks close the gap between native mobile apps and competitors.
The research evaluates more than 1,000 criteria over two key systems: Daily banking and Digital office tasks, highlighting the areas where web apps excel and where improvements are still needed compared to native mobile apps.
The findings offer banks actionable insights to enhance the overall user experience and technical performance of their web services, bridging the gap between web and mobile platforms.
Based on our findings, banks can receive personalized recommendations through detailed audits or consulting services to drive their digital transformation forward. Please reach out to us, and we will be happy to address any questions you may have.
Contents
The research highlights how the top-performing web applications have successfully adapted their interfaces for different screen sizes, providing responsive and accessible designs. However, several applications still struggle with issues related to form layouts, text visibility, and mobile browser adaptations. These issues, though not as prominent as in previous years, continue to negatively affect user engagement, especially for users accessing web apps from mobile devices.
Navigation remains a critical challenge for web banking apps. Despite improvements in replicating native app features, many web platforms still lack comprehensive search functionality, universal menu systems, and intuitive user flows. This inconsistency in navigation impairs the overall user experience and hinders users from efficiently completing everyday banking tasks like managing accounts or making payments.
The technical stability of web applications has improved over the past year, yet performance issues such as slow loading times and periodic system outages persist. The analysis shows that web apps frequently lag in providing real-time data updates, which is crucial for users managing complex financial transactions. Improving these aspects would significantly enhance the user experience and operational efficiency.
Web apps are still playing catch-up with native applications, particularly in areas like onboarding, loan repayments, and account logins. While some tasks are handled more efficiently in web apps - such as investment management and transaction monitoring—key functions like regular login setups and QR payments need urgent improvements to match the convenience offered by mobile platforms.
The Mobile Web Banking Rank 2024 offers valuable insights into how financial institutions can enhance their web banking platforms.
The research addresses several key questions regarding the performance and development of mobile web applications compared to native apps. It explores where and how mobile web apps fall behind, identifying specific tasks where these gaps are most pronounced and analyzing the barriers that prevent closing this gap. The research examines the adaptation of web applications for mobile use, highlighting unique UX problems that arise in mobile browsers and evaluating the solutions that allow web apps to closely mirror native ones. It also considers the level of access web applications have to hardware capabilities, particularly on iOS devices, and investigates how effectively web applications utilize their available features. Additionally, the research identifies which capabilities of native applications are still difficult to replicate in web versions and provides insights into which web applications are performing better, along with the factors that contribute to their success.
As a result, the research identifies several key areas of improvement, providing actionable steps for banks in various sectors:
By implementing these best practices, banks can ensure that their web applications remain competitive and deliver a superior customer experience that rivals native mobile platforms.
We help enhance UX, streamline processes, and boost technical performance for web platforms.
Markswebb's Mobile Web Banking Rank 2024 employs an own evaluation system built on more than 1,000 criteria across two main product categories: Daily banking (750 criteria) and Digital office tasks (321 criteria).
We update our evaluation system every year to ensure it reflects the most current market trends. This year, we revised part of the criteria and adjusted the weightings based on user tasks to provide a more accurate and relevant assessment.
The methodology ensures that every critical user task is thoroughly evaluated, offering a detailed analysis of both functional and user experience aspects.
The evaluation system incorporates real-world usability tests and in-depth interviews with actual users to gain insights into how they interact with web banking platforms. This year, 72 usability tests were conducted across all web versions using the Safari browser on iPhone devices. Respondents completed six tasks in three selected banks to ensure consistency and depth of insights. In total, 25 real customers from different banks participated, allowing us to understand pain points and identify gaps in the user journey, leading to actionable recommendations for improving the user interface, navigation, and overall performance of the web app.
Our methodology also involves a comparative analysis, assessing how web banking applications perform against their mobile counterparts. This dual focus ensures a well-rounded understanding of digital banking performance, helping banks prioritize investments and development efforts based on real user needs and global best practices. By aligning the criteria with both market developments and user expectations, the research provides a clear view of where web apps excel and where further improvements are necessary.
One of the most critical insights from the Mobile Web Banking Rank 2024 is that, while web apps are improving compared to 2023, they still lag behind native mobile applications in delivering a seamless user experience. Key areas such as onboarding, regular logins, and transactional efficiency remain more developed on mobile platforms, with web apps continuing to play catch-up.
In 2024, only three out of the ten banks studied showed significant growth in digital office scenarios, while the rest either stagnated or saw their ratings decline. The most notable areas where web versions lagged behind include Notification settings (SMS, push), Updating personal information, Access connect and restore, Problem solution through chat.
These gaps highlight the need for focused improvements in the digital office experience for web banking to keep pace with both customer expectations and the advancements seen in mobile applications.
To close the gap, banks need to focus on making their web apps more user-friendly, ensuring that navigation is intuitive, and that features like universal search and push notifications are widely implemented. The road to parity between web and mobile platforms will require ongoing investment and attention to detail, but the potential gains in customer satisfaction and operational efficiency make it a worthwhile effort.
The Mobile Web Banking Rank 2024 offers a clear framework for financial institutions to enhance their web banking platforms. At Markswebb, we create our benchmark by analyzing data and identifying best practices for adapting web applications to mobile browsers effectively.
The research results provide quality rankings of the digital experience, an executive summary of the browser-based mobile banking landscape for 2024, and a detailed list of gaps between mobile web and native apps. These insights enable businesses to shorten implementation timelines and improve the quality of their digital solutions.
We offer audit and consulting services to further optimize web banking platforms. Our Mobile Web Banking Rank audit assesses how your service compares to competitors and identifies necessary steps to close gaps or maintain leadership. It also offers actionable recommendations to enrich your backlog and prioritize tasks.
In our consulting service, we work closely with your team, participating in backlog formation, overseeing solution implementation, and continuously measuring the impact of changes. This approach accelerates performance, reduces time-to-market, and ensures focus on key priorities.
Contact us to explore how we can help you elevate your web banking platform.
We’ve evolved dozens of successful financial services and are eager to prove that our expertise can be implemented in other industries and around the world. Have a look at our success stories!
From research and analysis to strategy and design, we help our clients successfully reach their customers through digital services.