BoA, Citi and USAA Rated Top Banks on iPad

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While the demographics are widening on tablets every day, they remain for the most part a luxury item that has a special place in the laps of more affluent thirty- and forty-somethings. And so the banking industry has been quick to service their prime clientele on tablet platforms with apps aimed at managing accounts. According to a survey and evaluation of banks on tablets. Javelin Strategy & Research has cited Bank of America, Citi and USAA for outstanding uses of the tablet format, but in different ways.

Javelin found that the majority of top banks do have iPad apps, but less than 20% are present with native apps across iPad, Android and Kindle Fire platforms. BoA stands out for its presence across all platforms with native app versions. In addition to its iPad presence, Citibank has a Kindle Fire app that is well-tuned for that smaller platform, Javelin finds. And USAA’s tablet banking apps are widely praised by customers with high rankings in the Apple App Store.  

In its survey of both tablet and non-tablet owners and their mobile banking habits, Javelin found that 24% of tablet owners had conducted some banking on a mobile device in the last 7 days, compared to only 11% of non-tablet owners. Another 14% of tablet owners had done banking by mobile in the past month. Only half of tablet owners had never used mobile banking services. Apple’s iOS still has the overwhelming 55% share of the tablet market among those surveyed, but the range of Android-powered devices -- including Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook -- comprise 42%.

Javelin recommends that banks start with a tablet-optimized Web site, as the tablet browser is the first point of contact for many mobile banking customers. The app then can be developed to deepen the relationship and broaden functionality.

Tablets remain a lucrative and important target for banks. Javelin finds that the typical tablet owner is between the ages of 25 and 44 with an income over $100,000 with many investment assets and bank products.    

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