Bank of America Ranks No. 1 for Online Banking; Advances in Financial Fitness Apps, Savings Tools and Predictive Banking Help Personalize Consumer Digital Banking Experience
Wilmington, Del., May 19, 2021 – Keynova Group, the leading competitive intelligence firm providing trusted benchmarking insights and analysis for digital financial services since 1999, today announced the results of the Q2 2021 edition of its semi-annual Banker Scorecard. Bank of America retains its leadership position among the 22 leading U.S. retail banks evaluated, ranking No. 1 based on Overall Score. This edition also revealed key industry trends, including upgraded personal financial management and reporting offerings, advanced consumer savings tools and emerging predictive and proactive banking capabilities.
“We’ve seen a surge of online banking upgrades in the past 12 months as banks navigate the evolving pandemic-driven societal changes and all-time high consumer digital banking usage,” said Susan Foulds, managing director, Keynova Group. “This dynamic has spurred a renewed interest in advancing the online banking experience to address more varied needs and optimize the customer experience for desktop banking, particularly helping retail customers take a more informed and engaged digital banking approach to improve their financial outcomes.”
Key Findings:
Financial Fitness Apps and Reporting Tools Reduce Need for Third-Party Apps
Shifting reliance away from third-party fintech apps, banks have stepped up their personal financial management tools by rolling out next generation platforms that require less effort by users to obtain meaningful information about their finances. More than half of banks evaluated now offer categorized spending reports with transactions depicted graphically, in some cases, contrasted against monthly budgets. Automated savings tools with personalized goals have also improved with half of banks enabling customers to designate and proactively track savings for specific purposes, such as a vacation or down payment on a home.
Account Aggregation Provides More Complete Financial Picture
More than one-third of banks in the Scorecard import and aggregate balances or transaction data from other financial institutions into online banking or spending reports, enabling a more thorough financial analysis and providing greater visibility into a consumer’s larger financial picture. Other banks plan to implement aggregated data that ties into both spending and budgeting tools as well.
Predictive Banking and Proactive Notifications
Three banks are in the early stages of supporting predictive banking and proactive services. This includes offering projected balances or sending advance notifications, identifying extra money to save or skipping automatic savings transfers when account balances are estimated to be insufficient to cover scheduled transactions. This nascent trend indicates a strategy by some banks to add value to their everyday banking relationships by proactively helping consumers to avoid fees—instead empowering them to easily monitor finances and increase savings.
Foulds noted, “With advancements in AI, predictive analytics and back-end processes, banks will be able to engage on a deeper level with customers to deliver a personalized experience and help them optimally manage their finances – whether notifying customers of inconsistent cash flow patterns or offering tailored guidance on ways to increase savings or reduce debt and interest costs.”
Syndicated for more than two decades, Keynova Group’s semi-annual, fact-based Banker Scorecard objectively evaluates the largest 22 U.S. retail banking institutions’ digital capabilities, customer experience elements and best practices for desktop users, and identifies evolving trends and insights that drive digital strategy in banking.
For more information about the Keynova Group Q2 2021 Banker Scorecard, please visit https://www.keynovagroup.com/scorecards/#banking.
About Keynova Group
Keynova Group is the leading competitive intelligence firm providing trusted benchmarking insights and analysis of consumer and small business digital financial services, including banking, credit card, home lending, and insurance. Formerly known as Keynote, Keynova Group’s Scorecards have served as the go-to source for leading financial services firms to obtain reliable competitive intelligence and actionable insights since 1999. The firm’s proven methodology and highly detailed results help its clients maximize the value of their digital channels to deliver a premier experience to customers and prospects.
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