The top ways mobile banks can acquire new customers

The top ways mobile banks can acquire new customers

Mobile banking offerings must cater for the masses, finds new report from Efma and Wavestone

Chris |


Mobile banking offerings must cater for the masses, not just their existing customer base, if they are to realise their full potential, states a new report published by Efma and consulting firm Wavestone.

'Building the future of mobile banking: Part I' looks at some of the main ways in which mobile banks can shape their strategies to better meet customers’ needs. It covers three main areas: customer targets, acquisition strategy and customer experience.

Drawing insight from Wavestone’s online banking services benchmark, its digital banks and fintechs observatory, bank case studies and several bank interviews, the report explains some of the ways in which mobile banks can grow their customer base and enrich the customer experience.

For example, it recommends that banks target different customer segments with their mobile banking offering, especially if they are to compete effectively with online banks.

“Historically, online banks have been targeting a rather small but lucrative segment: the mass affluent market,” says the report. “We believe that in order to stand out from these online banks, native mobile banks have to adopt a different approach and target other segments enabling them to acquire a larger customer base.”

In particular, millennials are a natural target for banks based on their population size and appetite for mobile services. But the report highlights other customer segments that should be targeted too, including entrepreneurs and SMEs, migrants and frequent travellers, and the elderly.

The report goes on to recommend some of the ways in which mobile banks can acquire new customers and improve the overall customer experience, such as by offering more services to non-customers to build brand awareness and increase usage.

The study highlights banks such as mBank in Poland, Imagin Bank in Spain, Deniz Bank in Turkey, N26 or Fidor in Germany, and Monzo in UK, as leaders in this space and points to their strategies as a marker for future mobile banking trends.

This is the first report in a four-part study about mobile banking, which will also include chapters on human resources, profitability, and security and regulation.

Download a copy of 'Building the future of mobile banking: Part I' here.

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