Work in Progress free essay sample

When the Bank of America (BOA) launched it mobile banking platform in May 2007, it enhanced service options to its customers by creating smartphone applications (apps) which allowed customers to access account information and make transactions remotely and on the move without having to visit a BOA branch, ATM or even having to have access to a computer. Douglas Brown who had been responsible for the initial development and launch of the mobile banking platform reported in 2010 that just under three years BOA has observed an adoption rate five to eight times that of their online banking initiative which had occurred several years before (Norris, 2012). This level of success was noted as being very apparent to the line-of business managers who are directly responsible for various profit driven portfolios such as mortgages etc. As noted by (Norris, 2012) the United States financial services industry is significantly fragmented with BOA being the largest individual market segment holder (total of 46. 4% in total being held by the top ten largest banks). After the financial crisis of 2009-2010 consumer confidence in some of the larger banks including BOA was shaky. BOA determined that there were opportunities for customers to be poached away by smart firms that focused on reduced fees and providing enhanced levels of customer service. The events lead to a marketplace where competitors were waiving ATM fees and offered increased access to banking representatives. Several lessons can be drawn from the BOA online banking operations. BOA implemented its online banking platform in the late 1990s with the intention of providing its customers with significantly increased level of convince and access to banking services. By moving more of the basic client activities to online banking BOA had created an opportunity to reduce cost by migrating its customers from branches and call centers to the comfort of their own homes. Initially when the online banking platform was launched BOA charged a monthly fee. Given that technology was new early potential customers were somewhat reluctant to utilize the service due to the extra cost, fears of security breaches the inconvenience of having to enter all of their individual billing information into the system. In 2002 however BOA removed the month fee associated with online banking and this helped to further consumer comfort with adapting to the new format of banking. As comfort levels continued to rise by 2009, BOA had growen to be just fewer than 30 million online banking customers. As more customers make use of the online banking services this had a considerable impact on other bank service options such as ATMs, call centers, retail branches etc. The following table taken from Norris, 2012 demonstrates clearly the impact that the adaption of online banking has had on the overall utilization of banking services. Furthermore the table demonstrates a dramatic increase in monthly transactions that occur once a customer has made an active move to online banking. These results are significant as the increase in online banking creates more transactions per customer while decreasing operating costs of various other service offering units such as call centers or branches (costs per transactions reduction from $1. 34 at the branch to as low as $0. 03-$0. 04 online). BOA also observed during 2003-2006 that the customer retention levels for online banking customers exceeded that of control groups. Those customers who were used online banking to pay bills etc. showed the greatest levels of incremental benefit to the bank. Thus one can clear state that online/mobility based methods of banking show great promise for increasing business, reducing costs and increasing client retention. Costs of customers migrating to online banking: There are clear costs associated with customers migrating towards online banking platforms. BOA stated that there would be significant capital investment and operational costs associated with creating and maintaining an online banking platform. Costs per transactions have been noted as $0. 03-$0. 04$. Benefits of having customers migrate to online banking: The benefits of having customers migrate to online banking are vast as demonstrated by BOA. Not only does it increase customer satisfaction it also significantly reduces costs. By moving transactions out of service areas that are more costly such as branches, retailers and call centers we see a reduction in the overall operating bottom line. Combine this with long the long term trend of more consumers moving towards online based services we see a dramatic reduction in service center space allocations and staffing requirements (further savings). Combined this with an overall increase in customer retention as observed on the following table pro vided by Norris, 2012 The benefits of online banking are clear; reduced costs, more bank business significantly increased client retention with all of this being a direct result of providing a more convenient/improved customer experience. 4) How should McDonald and Brown respond to the LOB managers’ request to include more functions in the bank’s mobile app? Bank of America’s line of business managers were very well aware of the success of the adaptation of mobile banking. In less than three years BOA has grown its client base of mobile banking users to four million. This represented and adoption rate of five to eight times that of the online banking service offered by BOA in May 2007 (Norris, 2012). Given this type of success it only makes sense that line of business managers would want to leverage the resource to increase profitability for their given portfolios (mortgages, credit cards etc. ). Thus Brown had been consistently receiving request to build in further app capabilities for their specific needs. Brown in response to the request to add more complex features to the mobile application should be focused on the key factors that lead to the success of online banking and subsequently the launch of the mobile banking app. Both of these services added convenience and an enhanced level of user experience for banking customers. Brown should also draw attention to the fact that their has already been some well known cases where mobile apps had become too complex and thus led to failure in the marketplace. Adding to complexity also creates a chance for slower transaction speeds which could create a negative user experience resulting in clients taking their business elsewhere. Further if BOA were to build further or even additional applications for these units it would have pull resources from other key segments such as ATMs and online banking. However with that being said Brown would have to acknowledge that competitions such as Citi and Wells Fargo have already created separate mobile applications for different target groups feeling that they could provide their clients with more customized user experiences. Brown can instruct the LOB managers to review how customers use mobile bank applications and cite results from 2009 where 99% of BoA clients used the app to view account balances and 90% viewing account transaction level information. One of the most active users of mobile banking were debit card holders who wanted to check their available balanced prior to making a purchase with their debit cards. Surveys of user experience had indicated that 76% those surveyed felt an increased level of customer satisfaction as a direct result to the introduction of the mobile application, thus the importance of the application remaining user friendly and efficient. Brown should also point out that although adding complexity to the application is not desirable it could be leveraged to market the other services of interest to the LOB managers. Thus the application can be used to direct clients who are interested in complex services such as mortgages into online banking or into branches where more customizable service offerings are available.