• by Tanya Gazdik , October 12, 2010

Tedious setup and unclear next steps are common on banking mobile sites, according to Web researchers Change Sciences Group.

Consumers are wary of new technologies, expecting set-up hassles that outweigh the benefits of the service, says Steve Ellis, one of the report's authors.

The most remarkable thing about the study is how bad a job some banks are doing introducing new users to their mobile services, Ellis says.

"Sign-up hurdles and unclear instructions are the norm," Ellis tells Marketing Daily. "On one big bank site (HSBC) we were unable to find any information about mobile services at all. On the other hand, top performers like Bank of America and Citi have clearly thought it through. Making it radically easy to get started with mobile banking is essential if they are going to continue to grow subscribers."

The takeaway for marketers is that having a mobile app is no longer enough. "The tech-savvy early adopters have adopted," Ellis says. "It's now time to focus on making it drop-dead simple to get started with the mobile app."

The top three sites overall are Bank of America, followed by Citibank and Wells Fargo. Other banks evaluated were Chase, BB&T, US Bank, TD Bank, PNC and SunTrust.

Banks have invested heavily in mobile banking, which holds the promise of offering differentiation in a crowded marketplace and many consumers have come to expect robust mobile support from their bank. Yet others are wary of cumbersome setup and slow data transfer.

To drive mobile adoption, banks need to focus on the user experience of mobile marketing and enrollment, according to the 55-page report from the New York-based company.

The research looks at what people recently experienced as they attempted to learn about mobile banking and get started on 10 leading bank sites. Six of the 10 sites fail to answer at least one question that users have, and 90% of sites lack some content that some users consider persuasive. And 30% of sites have instances of navigation design that pose challenges to some users.

The report provides detailed benchmarks and best practices for supporting users who want to learn how mobile banking works for their device and for getting those users started quickly and easily. This includes best practices for navigation to the mobile offer, how best to present the mobile offer for iPhone, smartphone, mobile Web and text users, and how best to provide details on each type of mobile device supported.

The study identifies best practices for demonstrating how mobile banking works, and addressing user concerns about speed and device compatibility, as well as best practices for getting prospective mobile users started using mobile banking for the first time. Currently, banks vary greatly in support of these critical tasks, and many of the banks reviewed fall short in a number of critical areas, according to the study.