It just got easier for Huntington customers to see how much money they have.
Huntington Bancshares today announced a new feature called Quick Balance to its mobile app that allows users to check account balances with a swipe, without inputting a username or password.
Maureen Brown, public relations director with Huntington, told Bank Innovation that the “number one question customers ask us, whether it’s online, on mobile, or in our branch, is ‘What’s my balance?’”
Other banks, including Citigroup, GoBank and Bank of the West, previously added a similar feature to their mobile apps as well. (Citi’s feature was in beta testing.)
Mark Sheehan, Huntington Bank’s director of payments and channels, said that the decision to add a Quick Balance feature was made independently of other banks. “It’s an opportunity for Huntington to lead about something that’s really important for our customers,” he said. Adding the Quick Balance feature “is about taking away barriers and making it simple. Think about it this way: Millions of customers get alerts, through texts or notifications. Now, Quick Balance can be used as a compliment or as a replacement so customers can find out this information quickly.”
Sheehan said that the Quick Balance feature is secure, as well. “Security is always a paramount concern,” he said. “We utilize multi-factor authentication system for added security, so, is your data at risk at all? Absolutely not. It’s a very, very, safe application.” Multi-factor authentication means that the bank uses additional security measures, such as geolocation, to authenticate customer transactions. In addition, Quick Balance is an opt-in feature, so it won’t be implemented for accounts unless the customer wants it.
One novel aspect of this feature lets Huntington customers select which accounts are available via Quick Balance. Checking, credit and retirement accounts are available. Users can choose to view one, two or all three of these accounts using Quick Balance. Sheehan said that one of the questions users need to ask themselves is, “Is this feature right for me and which account is it right for? Most people want to see the balance for their checking account, but not everyone is interested in having the balance for their retirement account available all the time.” This feature allows an increased level of personalization and privacy to customers that is not available with other banks offering this feature.
A speedy way to check your balance is just one way banks have been trying to streamline the mobile experience for their customers. Capital One Financial Corp. has been working on a way for users to log into their mobile banking apps by recognizing swipe patterns and US Bank has been testing out voice recognition software that serves as a password.
Huntington’s app is available for iPhone and Android devices. Huntington has about $57 billion in assets.