Mobiles have become such an important part of our lives that it is hard to imagine a life without it. For a generation like the Millennials, they have not known a life without one. With our dependency on these handy devices, no wonder that a lot communication and services have shifted to these.
One such is mobile banking. Digital services at our finger tips, nearly every conceivable service that brick-and-mortar branches provide are not in our hands. In just a few short years, mobile banking news such as nearly half of all Americans using a banking app, has shown the immense growth of this area and tech.
Physical Visits Are Out
In the early days of mobile banking technology, users were limited to a very small range of service. Mostly just logging in to see account balances.
While mobile banking previous iteration – web banking has been around for years, it is only the last few years that banks have increasingly started to offer services that otherwise you would need to drive up to you branch to access.
Today everything conceivable banking operation can be performed through their dedicated app. In fact, many banks have seen a significant reduction in footfall as they keep adding more and more services that their users can access through the mobile apps.
What Mobile Banking Offers to Customers?
The proper question here should be: what not?
Yes, different survey has shown that there is much to be desired and banks have a long way to integrate different requirements of their customers. But that being said, modern banking apps tend to cover nearly all of the traditional services
Transactions
Sending and receiving money is the whole concept of having a bank account and of course, the ability to send a transaction is the basic mobile banking service.
But modern banking apps have gone a step further with this. Users are able to control their spending habits through limiting how much they can send out (per day and even per month). While there are some absolute limits such as maximum level for a particular type of account, many banks let users define their daily and monthly limit.
Utility Bills
Many new users find the mobile banking technology news for them. Things like the ability to pay utility bills from the comfort means no more walking to the bank to pay the bills or calling up your utility service provider to enter your card details.
Many mobile banking apps even let users set up recurring payments. This way, users don’t even have to login to pay their utilities. The mobile banking app does it for them without any interference.
Control Cards
Just like setting up limits for your bank account, users can login to their mobile banking app and have complete control over their debit and credit cards. Things like withdrawal limit, e-commerce activation, changing PIN and even blocking a misplaced card or activating a new one is becoming a standard feature.
But going beyond that, mobile banking is also using the virtualization to the next level. Just like a virtual app for all banking needs, many banks are also offering virtual cards.
All the details like card number, expiration date, CVC, etc. is stored within the app. With no physical card, it is hard to misplace it.
Investment Options
If you did not know that mobile banking has financial options like investments, have we got some news for you!
Many banks have an institutional arm and therefore, are able to offer investment services like buying shares and securities, opting in for insurances, term deposits and much more).
And the best part is that this is done all through a few taps of the mobile screen. There is no need to visit the bank and talk to a financial advisor. The bank’s algorithms do the prescreening for you and offer the best options.
Loan Applications
Users can simply navigate to the loan section of their mobile banking and apply for one. Like the investment options, the bank’s algorithms will calculate the maximum allowable loan, the interest rate and the payment schedule.
This means that all it takes is one tap to get the money you need.
So Do You Need A Bank Branch?
Well, the answer is yes and no.
While an average user may not need to go to a branch for years on end, there will always be a need to have a brick-and-mortar place where account holders can go to for services that cannot be so easily shifted to an online app (like depositing cash).
The truth is more closer to a phygital existence, where virtual and physical banking operations go hand in hand.
