Younger Users of Bank Apps Want Push Notifications to Avoid Fees, Study Finds

Alert, alert, alert.

That’s what younger financial services customers want: alerts from their mobile apps when they are in danger of overdrawing their accounts. So determined a customer interaction study released today by Varolii, a provider of customer interaction management software.

The study concluded that mobile banking software must be made “easier, faster, safer” in order to attract and keep Gen Y or millennial customers.

Not being in danger of overdrawing one’s account and incur fees is one of the attractions of prepaid cards and alternative checking products, such as Bluebird and Green Dot’s GoBank.

Some key points of the report:

• 46% of 18 to 34-year-old mobile banking users have considered deleting their bank’s app from their phones
• The most wanted mobile features across all users are notifications of irregular activity (54%), billpay (51%), low-balance alerts (46%), transfers (44%), and remote deposit capture (43%).
• 73% of Gen Y bank customers (ages 18 to 24) agree that it is their bank’s responsibility to alert them to low balances or insufficient funds
• 68% of Americans believe a banking app could have helped them avoid a negative financial experience in the past
• Most users would prefer to be contacted, when necessary, by email (47%) followed by text messages (22%)
• 55% of mobile banking users utilize their apps more now than when they first downloaded them

Speaking of Gen Y app users, Brian Moore, executive director of consulting at Varolii, said, “If they’re not using it, you’re going to lose them. And once you lose them, it’s hard to get them back.” He suggested banks keep users engaged with frequent updates adding new features — perhaps easier said than done.

It should be mentioned that the finding of the study are convenient to Varolii, since the company provides alerts, along with other means of interacting with customers across channels.

The “Can you Bank on your Banking App?” study of mobile banking applications was conducted by Wakefield Research, an independent market research firm, on behalf of Varolii, in December 2012. The 627 respondents included American smartphone and tablet users over the age of 18.

When it comes to banking, are Gen Y customers entitled, or just savvy? If banks want their business — and they do — they’ll need to manage younger customers’s expectations accordingly. Consider yourself alerted.