Latest Checking Account Consumer Trends For 2014
According to the latest researches, features related to checking accounts are all set to make banking accessible and convenient in a higher degree in 2014. Mobile banking is surely going to be a consistently increasing feature throughout. This year, the banking industry in US is going to spend approximately $2 billion related to promotions, marketing, and advertisements attracting roughly 11,000,000+ households. This is in a bid to establish primary and new relationships throughout the year. Naturally, features that make banking more accessible and convenient will continually court prominence and gain an increased traction during 2014.
Similarly, mobile banking demands will also keep growing in tandem. More than 90% of the institutions studied during the research offer apps for mobile banking. Consumer adoptions of this feature shows rapid growth, which far outpaces online banking trends in the recent years. Nowadays, 25% of all bank shoppers consider this must-have feature when selecting their financial institute. It shows an almost 34% increase in Quarter 4 compared to Quarter 1 of 2013. In 2013 Q4, 13% shoppers showed an interest in check mobile deposits. This is a 52% increase in Q4 compared to Q1 in 2013.
According to the latest research, e-mail alerts are gaining an increased interest throughout and this trend is going to remain as such in 2014. This sleeper feature is not a prominent consideration among the marketers and for financial institutes it may signify loss of customers. It is important to remember that an increased number of people these days are using smart phones and as such, e-mail alerts have today are fast replacing SMS alerts among the set priority. Resultantly, the banking sector cannot ignore this phenomenon when considering their consumer features.
Rebates on ATM fee are another feature that is gaining prominence and the banking industry will ignore this feature at their own risk in 2014. ATM surcharge free network access will help financial institutes to rank higher than mere fee rebates at the ATM. Approximately 23% shoppers wanted access to ATM fee rebates in 2013, while demand for surcharge free ATM access has had shown almost 18% growth in 2013. An interesting trend in all this is the decreasing demand for online bill payment features.
During 2011, a whopping 37% of shoppers wanted access to online payment of bills, which has declined to loan than 25% shoppers in 2013, demanding such options from their banks. One of the reasons for this maybe, most shoppers considers this feature a ‘table stake’ doing away with the need for specific demands.
