Digital banking is at the forefront of the financial services conversation, driven by mobile platforms. Bank of America has introduced a mobile-first strategy to meet its customers’ desires to bank when and where they want by smartphone, Michelle Moore, BoA’s head of digital banking, tells Robin Arnfield
Michelle Moore holds one of the key digital banking posts in global consumer finance. She tells RBI just what is driving digital banking strategy at the US’ largest retail bank.
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By GlobalData“Our strategy is to cater for mobile first customers and let customers bank how, where and when they want with us. We recognise that smartphones are now a key part of daily life for our clients
“Our priority is to create and build the features in our mobile channel, as this is where our clients are going.
“We now have nearly 19 million mobile banking users and over 30 million digital users including desktop and mobile.
“The premise with our mobile platform is that every banking task you want to do, you can carry out on your smartphone – open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards and make mobile cheque deposits.
“We’re at an all-time high for the number of customers depositing cheques via mobile – around 248,000 per day in the fourth quarter of 2015.
“We have an omnichannel branch strategy, and the seamless integration of our channels is very important for us. Our customers can choose to interact with us any way they want, and they will have the same, connected experience.
“I’d hate customers to have a different mobile or online banking experience from their experience in our branches. We are one bank, and our customers expect all their interactions with us to feel like they are dealing with one bank.”
RBI: What enhancements have you made to your digital offerings in terms of customer experience?
Michelle Moore: Customers can schedule appointments with product specialists or personal bankers in the branch from the mobile app. The conversation is better, as both parties are fully prepared and we know in advance what the customer wants to talk about.
We’ve seen the number of in-branch appointments made via mobile or online grow from 2,000 appointments per week in late 2014 to 18,000 appointments per week in January 2016.
We were one of the first major US banks to offer same-day appointments via digital. We found customers were clicking on the appointment link in the app but weren’t finishing and setting up an appointment, as we weren’t offering same-day appointments. So in August 2015 we realised we needed to offer same-day appointments via the app, and, once we let people come in the same day to our branches, we saw the digital appointment figures increase by 25%.
Other new capabilities include the ability to register for mobile banking via the mobile app or website, and to open accounts from inside the app.
Because all our channels are connected, you can call directly into the call centre fully authenticated from the app so we know who you are and why you are calling. In addition, you can transfer money to a friend direct from the app just by knowing their email address or phone number, and you can pay for purchases via Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.
In 2015, we launched a new Security Centre in our mobile app and online site. Consumers are very concerned about security due to the increase in fraud in 2015. The Security Centre tells you the last time you logged in and from which device, and lets you sign up for alerts, which is an important way for us to help customers fight fraud.
We also offer customers the choice of setting up one-time passcodes for logging into mobile devices, along with fingerprint authentication for Android and iOS apps.
How do you benchmark your offerings against competitors?
My first benchmark is client satisfaction. I spend a lot of time thinking about what our customers want, and visit the app store daily to read customer feedback such as our ratings and what people say they don’t like or what they want. We also send out weekly surveys to our customers. Everything we build is based on this feedback.
I would be naïve not to pay attention to our rivals, and we have a matrix showing our app’s capabilities versus our rivals’ apps, but the first criterion is what our customers are saying.
I do pay attention to what I call our partners – companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, whom many people call disruptors. I see them as partners, as they have a different way of viewing things and we can learn from what they are doing in payments and financial services, and partner with them instead of being afraid of them. That’s why we signed up for services like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
We have a very strong digital design team. Everything we do is designed around looking at partners, the competition and customers.
Are there specific needs relating to millennials being addressed by digital?
Millennials are heavy users of smartphones and use them more than older consumers. The millennial population is quite financially astute and is very conscientious about their savings. They may not have money now, but they will have one day.
Millennials are more focused on savings and retirement planning than any other previous generation was at their age. They still do come into branches when they need advice so we need to be prepared to have conversations with them as to where they are in their life journey and what their needs and priorities are – for example, to start a family or save for a house.
While millennials do all their simple banking needs on mobile, we need to make sure the connectivity to the financial centre is there, as millennials have told us they still want to have face-to-face interaction.
We haven’t seen much use of our Apple Watch app. But I think that wearables are taking off and that customers are learning how to use them and are seeing what their benefits are.
How are customer service expectations evolving?
Customers’ expectations were the catalyst for focusing on scheduling appointments via mobile, as customers want to be able to visit a financial centre at a time convenient to them. Their attitude is ‘self-serve, self-serve, but you must be there for me when I need your advice and support.’ So we are there for clients in those moments as a valued advisor.
What are the measures of success for Bank of America regarding digital?
Instead of looking at high digital user numbers as a measure of success, what I look at is customer satisfaction. After all, high numbers of people using digital channels could just be a necessary evil.
After customers have used our mobile banking service or our call centre, we send them a survey of how they rate their customer experience on a scale of one to ten.
If I see that customers are giving us the top two scores in the satisfaction survey, then I know they like our digital platform.
Links to social media?
We monitor social media such as Twitter feeds and Facebook very closely to see what clients are saying. But in reality social media isn’t a heavily used channel in terms of customer feedback, compared to the volume of calls to our call centre.
I can listen to these calls and hear what clients are saying. Also, customers can give us feedback in the mobile app by clicking the question “Do you want to give us feedback from the app?”
What about branch transformation?
We’re constantly thinking about our branch footprint and how our branches are organised, in terms of when the customer walks in, do we send them to a financial services centre representative or direct to a product specialist?
We recently introduced digital ambassadors in our branches – similar to the Apple Genius Bar or the Best Buy Geek Squad. These digital ambassadors wear a lanyard and are certified in digital banking.
Their role is to help customers who come into one of our branches with their mobile or online banking. The digital ambassadors show that we are serious about digital.
Analyst comment: David Albertazzi, Aite Group
“BofA, like Chase and Wells Fargo, has a high focus on mobile banking growth and on improving usability and customer experience across all digital channels (online and mobile),” says Aite Group senior analyst David Albertazzi.
“These three banks are each implementing a responsive design which adapts well to different screen sizes and device types. Their goal is to offer a consistent experience across their digital platform for the different devices people use.”
“BofA, Chase and Wells Fargo no longer compete on transactional functionality, as they offer the same transactions on their digital platforms, and instead compete on self-service features such as money management tools.
“This is partly a reaction to the fintech disruptors such as Moven. But I think BofA, Chase and Wells Fargo need to improve the quality of the money management services they offer via digital.”
Albertazzi says BofA has done a lot of work to improve navigation within its mobile app. “It has also been focusing on extending the amount of customer service functions that the app provides,” he says.
“In early 2015, BofA developed a mobile enrolment facility enabling customers to sign up for mobile banking from their phone.
“Previously, banks required customers to enrol for mobile banking from within online banking using their online banking credentials.
“Clearly, BofA is thinking about mobile first customers who may never register for online banking, by letting customers enrol direct from within its app. BofA saw an increase in mobile banking user numbers because of its mobile enrolment feature.”
Albertazzi adds that BofA has found that its mobile appointment-booking feature has helped to improve efficiency and staffing in its branches.
Digital growth
As of 31 December 2015, BofA had 18.7 million active mobile banking users, up 13% from 16.5 million a year earlier.
BofA says it added 5,500 new active mobile banking users a day in 2015. Customers can enrol via BofA’s mobile banking app, the mobile website or online banking.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, mobile banking customers logged into their accounts almost 800 million times, or 43 times per user over that period. Transactions and actions performed by customers during those sessions included:
- Depositing nearly 23m cheques – around 248,000 per day – worth over $18.5bn via mobile cheque deposits. Mobile accounted for 15% of total deposits in the fourth quarter of 2015;
- 23 million mobile bill payments, up 30% year-on-year;
- Over 70 million transfers, including 6 million transfers to email and phone numbers. Year-on-year, transfers to email and phone numbers has grown by 53%, and
- Receiving over 160 million push alerts.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, online banking customers logged into their accounts nearly 525 million times, or 20 times per user. Transactions and actions performed by customers during those sessions included:
- Over 115 million bill payments worth over $60bn;
- Over 60 million transfers worth over $120bn, and
- Receiving over 590 million text or email alerts, ranging from low balances to payment due dates.
In total, Bank of America reduced the number of its financial centres from 5,478 in the fourth quarter of 2012, to 5,151 in the fourth quarter of 2013.
This figure was further reduced to 4,855 in the fourth quarter of 2014, and again to 4,726 in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Improvements
Mobile features added during 2015 include:
- The ability to sign-in using fingerprint authentication on iOS and Android devices;
- The ability to set same-day financial centre appointments with specialists;
- The ability to view balances and recent transaction and receive real-time alerts on Apple Watch, and
- The ability to connect directly with a phone specialist at the click of a button.
In 2015, BofA launched a Security Center to its online and mobile banking services, which enables customers to manage their security all in one place. The new centralised system allows customers to:
- Adjust their security preferences;
- Set up new optional security alerts;
- Review their online and mobile banking sign-in history, and
- Add extra security to help verify their identity through a one-time authorisation code.
