Mobile banking in India isn’t world-class: Forrester report

Indian banks fare poorly in comparison to their global counterparts in leveraging mobility and cloud, says research firm Forrester in its 2016 Global Mobile Banking report released last week. Not a single Indian bank among those reviewed- Axis Bank, Citibank India, DBS Digibank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI)-scored above the global average of 65 out of 100.

ICICI was the highest rated Indian bank with an overall score of 63 out of 100 and SBI scored the lowest with 35 points among 46 large retail banks. DBS Bank scored 57 points,Axis Bank 52 points, and HDFC Bank 48 points, while Citibank in India stood second last with 38 points.

The survey between February 15 and April 15, 2016, evaluated banks in 14 countries including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and the US. The evaluation was based on criteria segregated into seven categories: range of touchpoints, enrollment and login, account information, transactional functionality, service features, cross-channel guidance, and marketing and sales.

Australia’s Westpac topped the annual benchmark, scoring 86 points. A cluster of nine other banks, CaixaBank in Spain, CIBC and Scotiabank in Canada, Garanti in Turkey, Bank of America in the US, Bank Zachodni WBK in Poland, Lloyds Bank in the UK, Wells Fargo in the US, and Commonwealth Bank in Australia, emerged at the forefront of mobile banking.

“Mobile banking adoption has reached a critical mass. Rapid progress in mobile technologies and consumers’ ever-increasing expectations and changing behavior have left many banks around the world playing catch-up,” said AurélieL’Hostis, lead author of Forrester’s report.

“In the meantime, a cluster of banks is racing forward; these banks are putting customers at the centre of their strategy, striving to anticipate customers’ emerging needs, and embracing an agile and iterative approach to speed development of new mobile banking capabilities that differentiate them from their peers in four continents,” she added.

According to Forrester, a successful bank provides mobile features to move money easily, pay bills quickly, send money to other people without requiring sensitive personal details, deposit checks remotely, and buying options through digital wallets. However, while banks that scored lower made it easy to see account information they still lacked money management tools, the report said.

Another interesting find of the report was that banks that support a wide range of mobile touch points such as wearable devices that enable digital banking teams to connect with customers scored higher on the list.

Smartphone apps are increasingly gaining ground among the world leading banks. Canada’s CIBC lets customers make a quick transfer via the Apple Watch app, while Poland’s Bank Millennium lets them find ATMs and make payments in stores. Spain’s CaixaBank, on the other hand, has been experimenting with other emerging touchpoints, such as Google Glass and smart TVs.

“Over the past few years, digital banking teams at most banks have upped their game by making mobile apps and sites easier to use, broadening the range of transactional features, and building better marketing and sales functionality. However, digital banking teams need to continue to raise the bar as they are no longer competing just with each other. New digital banks and digital wallets are competing for customers by promising better digital customer experiences,” report said.