Profitable the Swiss Cell Banking App Arms Race

Within the arms race to develop cell banking apps, Switzerland’s cantonal banks are faring nicely in line with a research on satisfaction. How do Switzerland’s two largest banks rank?

In 2013, banking apps have been nonetheless rising in Switzerland, and even by 2016, seven of the most important 50 retail banks nonetheless didn’t provide cell banking. In 2022, a cell banking app might be a part of each financial institution’s normal providing, in line with a research (in German) by the Luzern College of Utilized Sciences (HSLU).

Cell banking is accelerating as a result of entry of «smartphone banks,» which function with out a bodily department. The primary such financial institution in Switzerland, «Zak,» was launched by Financial institution Cler in 2018 and was adopted by entries from suppliers corresponding to Neon, Yapeal, and Yuh, amongst others. International banks have had choices in Switzerland for a while, together with Smart (previously TransferWise), Revolut, and N26.

To gauge the recognition of cell banking apps, HSLU analyzed buyer rankings in Apple’s App Retailer and the Google Play Retailer. The rankings have been queried at first of September 2022 and weighted in line with the variety of rankings within the corresponding app shops.

And the Winner Is…

Luzerner Cantonal Financial institution (LUKB) got here out on prime of the rankings, underscoring a usually robust efficiency by the Cantonal banks, 5 of which have been within the prime 11 of the rankings. Total, 36 cell banking apps have been included within the survey wherein the LUKB managed to pip neobanks Revolut and Neon. It additionally seems {that a} large funding in digital transformation is paying off for Raiffeisen financial institution.

Raiffeisen, a cooperative financial institution, is spending a good portion of its 500 million Swiss franc technique price range on digitization by 2025. Over the previous a number of years, Raiffeisen Switzerland was changing outdated banking programs which had taken up quite a few assets. With that venture now accomplished, the financial institution can proceed with its digitalization plans, as finews.com reported earlier this 12 months.

UBS and Credit score Suisse

Credit score Suisse and UBS are additionally paving their digital roadmap, with UBS providing its Key4 suite, and Credit score Suisse having its CSX product on provide. That is one space that Credit score Suisse is at the very least forward of its cross-street rival, rating quantity 9 within the HSLU survey, whereas UBS got here at quantity 16.

Rank        Financial institution                                     Worth         No. Rankings

Apple vs Google Retailer

The research famous some «hanging variations» between the app rankings of Apple and Google shops, with rankings within the Apple Retailer typically higher than in Google’s Retailer. That is the case for 27 banks. Solely six banks have a worse ranking within the Apple Retailer than within the Google Retailer. The 2 banks with the most important deviation are Zuger Kantonalbank (1.4 factors) and PostFinance (0.5 factors).

UBS, Zuercher Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale de Fribourg, Basler Kantonalbank, and Financial institution Cler stand out among the many banking apps that rating considerably higher within the Apple Retailer. Right here, the variations are between 1.7 and a pair of.5 ranking factors. UBS’s cell banking app will get an excellent rating of 4.60 within the Apple Retailer, it is just rated 2.90 within the Google Play Retailer – apparently as a consequence of technical issues with particular person customers.

Nowadays, banks don’t desire their purchasers to be singing «(I Cannot Get No) Satisfaction» relating to their banking apps.

 

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