TD Follows the Tablet

What do consumers want? It depends on the day and who is asking.

That’s why TD Bank, like banks nationwide, is invested in better understanding and monitoring how consumers are using new technology.

And with a major merger a few years under its belt, and several senior execs recently injected into its online and mobile strategy team, TD Bank is geared up to better focus on more innovative channel offerings. Of late, that ability has translated into TD debuting a number of mobile banking apps, including a Blackberry app in January to compliment the iPhone and Android apps it already launched in 2010.

Beyond waiting to better see how users engage with the financial institution through their smartphones, TD tells Bank Innovation that it is equally invested in discovering how consumers are using other devices for which it has not yet deployed an app – particularly, the tablet.

“We see this as one of the two key evolving marketplaces,” John Weinkowitz, head of online strategy and planning, tells Bank Innovation. “We need to watch and offer something. What’s interesting in the tablet market is that it is relatively new in the United States and what we are finding, and what we need to understand more, is how does a customer use a tablet differently from a PC and smartphone, and how do we grow and deliver services in the tablet. As an industry, we are [monitoring] what is the customer expectation on the tablet and how is it different. …This sounds generic, but it’s very different from a PC and smartphone. I think it will force the industry to think about those differences and how to create the right experience in that [medium].”

TD Bank isn’t the only one wondering how tablets will impact banking. Bank Innovation member Chad Davis blogged just this week on how tablets will serve as the muse for innovation in the coming months, citing this Mobile Commerce Daily article as his source. Furthermore, USAA Bank announced an app for the iPad earlier this year, and an Huntington Bank exec told Bank Innovation this week that tablets are exciting stuff for the industry.

The tablet interest, naturally, lies with banks overall devotion to following communication changes in where customers are at.

“For me, what our customers are doing outside of channels we own is important,” Weinkowitz says. “What’s the digital commerce experience? What are they buying online? Those are the triggers. … Customer needs are evolving and we need to develop that into the mobile and commerce strategy.”