Image: 401 (K) 2013
One survey says that ‘by 2017, an estimated one billion people will use mobile banking, and it has already become a way of life for many of us‘.
A driving question for banks and application developers is ‘where can we take mobile banking’ but a more significant question for mobile users is ‘where can mobile banking take us’?
Web 2.0 guru, Tim O’Reilly, proposed back in 2005 that successful Web 2.0 applications needed to be ‘above the level of a single device‘ and be device independent. The device independence of many applications is now an accepted part of everyday life.
But O’Reilly went further in 2012 to suggest that really successful Web 2.0 applications of the future needed to be seamless or ubiquitous and be virtually transparent in their ability to satisfy the users needs.
The idea of ubiquitous software still needs more work but advances are being made to develop softare which can be applied seamlessly across multiple devices.
Banks are well aware of the need to satisfy the users needs as studies in the UK and USA prove the strong demand from bank users, especially the young mobile users who ‘hate their bank but love their phone‘.
“banks needed to make the banking experience seamless for customers”
The benefits for the banks if they can go above the level of a single device is the ability to offer their customers access to applications everywhere, but also to capture information that is location or context aware and give the mobile banking user an experience they can’t live without.
The major Australian banks have gone mobile with a passion but with varying degrees of success in the eyes of their customers. To help understand the O’Reilly pattern, I will look inside the banking suite for any signs of the O’Reilly ‘best practices’.
Current banking features
Transactions processed:
- Enable data location independence and seamlessly synchronise data across devices – banking systems have long had this covered with branch, phone, internet, mobile, ATM and transaction processing, but a quick look at some bank websites shows they still see these as discrete bank functions rather than a seamless ‘money management’ experience. An example would be to start a loan application online and then complete in a branch . Something similar is currently possible with online Australian passport applications.
- Design from the start to share data across devices, servers & networks – banking systems have evolved into multiple interfaces for transactions, payments and viewing customers’ accounts, but again these are not sharing data in a seamless manner. There may be infrastructure or technology issues, but at least some banks are exploring innovative solutions.
- Extend web 2.0 to devices – banks moved from plastic cards to magnetic stripe to new chip technology which now allows chip-enabled cards to function seamlessly such as the “tap-and-go” payment options. Unfortunately, their level of sophistication is still rather raw since the customer can’t control who has access to this information – it is an all-or-nothing approach. This also requires devices in retail premises but customers are also wanting the ability to transfer funds between individuals by mobile phones.
- Leverage devices as data and rich media sources – banks have a wealth of information that could be used to improve the customer experience. Some small steps have been made such as the NAB Money Tracker and St George Money Meter , but there are many more opportunities that utilise the data of previous transactions and can tell you that your water bill is up, electricity bill is down and you had twice as many coffee shop visits last month!
- Use power of network to take load off device – the mobile banking applications seem to have addressed this successfully, but the field is wide open for other devices to be used as well.
- Make one-click peer production a priority – banks are obviously aware of the ‘need for speed’ and offer quick logons to mobile banking applications such as the NAB who has replaced the userid and password with a single mobile passcode.
Transactions pending:
- Think location aware – one best practice that hasn’t made a strong appearance is more location aware banking applications. One example: if they know you always buy pet food and you are there now, why not send you a text suggestion?
Future issues and opportunities
- Banks need to move quickly and offer innovative options that use Web 2.0 features like Simple who handles your banking and lets you attach photos to your purchase.
- Banks should also be thinking further than just moving and monitoring cash. There are options that don’t involve handling cash and seamless examples of non-cash transactions.
- Banks might even want to consider how they play a part in the move away from banks and even away from centralised currency systems like the bitcoin example.
When you consider Banking and Web 2.0 the question remains: ‘where can mobile banking take us?’. The answer is anywhere and we’ll get there quicker if we stopped talking about ‘banking’ and started talking about ‘seamless asset administration’.
Who said we can’t keep our home asset register, repair log, photo memories and warranty records closely related to our savings and spending? Who said banking is a reactive activity without any reminders or prompts from the bank? Who said only banks should handle our money?
Traditionally the banks have told us what is possible – but the tables are now turned in the customers favour and new customer experiences are possible.
For a high-energy view of the ‘brave new world’ start the YouTube video at 6:00 and enjoy!
And another take on the possible future of banking and retail.
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Further Reading:
Barkhuus, L., & Polichar, V. E. (2011). Empowerment through seamfulness: Smart phones in everyday life. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 15(6), 629-639. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-010-0342-4
Singh, S., Puradkar, S., & Lee, Y. (2006). Ubiquitous computing: Connecting pervasive computing through semantic web. Information Systems and eBusiness Management, 4(4), 421-439. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10257-005-0003-8
Warren, P. W. (2004). From ubiquitous computing to ubiquitous intelligence. BT Technology Journal, 22(2), 28-38. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215203661?accountid=13380
Bronwyn Shimmin-Clarke 