A Guide to In-App Feedback for Financial Institutions

More and more financial institutions are investing in their own mobile apps. With 30% more apps compared to other industries, one might even go as far as to say they’ve become a digital priority among these institutions.

So what’s the reason for their popularity? Not only do mobile apps provide convenience for customers (e.g. self-service and easy access to important information) but they also ensure added brand value. They’ve essentially simplified all offline and online processes in one single app that users can access anywhere they want on the go. So what’s missing?

With the influx of mobile apps across the industry, competition is high. This means organisations must continuously optimise their mobile app(s), stay innovative and listen to what they’re customers are saying. And this is where in-app feedback plays an important role.

In this guide, we will run through:

• 4 reasons financial institutions should collect in-app feedback
• 3 methods of collecting in-app feedback
• Some tips on how to collect this feedback in practice

But first a bit of background on mobile in the finance industry…

The ‘app-etite’ for mobile is growing

In the last five years, mobile technology has had a profound impact on the finance industry. In fact, according to a whitepaper published by Liftoff, “over the past five years, user activity on finance apps has rocketed by 354%, cementing apps as the “channel of choice” for consumers to manage their finances and plan their future.” From mobile banking and mobile pay to automated wealth managers and blockchain technologies, this means that the expectations of customers in the finance industry are at an all-time high.

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Mobile Trend Watch: Neobanking

Neobanking, which became prominent in 2017, is a direct result of the digital transformation. This revolutionary form of banking is 100% digital, reaching customers on mobile apps and desktops only. There is no physical branch, so everything that customers need from their bank are handled via the mobile app or website.



The customer is fully in control of his/her own assets and is capable of determining what the next step will be. Actions such as changing valuta, opening a new bank account, and of course paying bills have become easier and take much less effort. Bottom line: the customer decides when and where a transaction takes place. This new form of banking means that mobile apps need to be more powerful than ever.

Example: N26 is a neobank that operates internationally with over 3.5 million customers worldwide. N26 offers an extensive range of services compared to the average mobile banking app. Here customers can select a monthly plan that matches their needs for online banking, receive insights on spending habits, set up savings goals, and much more.

Curious about the other trends taking hold of the finance market? Be sure to check out this article.

Now that we’ve outlined the need for fully optimised mobile apps in finance, let’s take a look at the 4 reasons financial institutions should be collecting in-app feedback to achieve this…

4 Reasons Financial Institutions should collect in-app user feedback

‘With a great app comes great responsibility’

It all starts with understanding what your users want. In such a highly competitive mobile market, providing a good user experience has become the key to survival. Especially now in 2020, where developers are up against additional technological challenges such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality. Collecting in-app feedback will not only give you the insights you need to boost user experience and the usability of your app, but also to keep your users loyal to your brand. But wait! There’s more…

Here are the top reasons financial institutions should be collecting in-app user feedback.

1. Helps prioritise your (mobile) product roadmap

Product roadmapping is all about prioritising and creating a plan for new and existing features. Whether that’s analysing the newest feature ideas, deciding which features should be released and ultimately removing or optimising the existing features.

The best roadmaps even go beyond – giving more insight into the big picture, clarifying any missed opportunity and eliminating difficulties along the way.
Data Driven Investor

But how do you know which features within your mobile app should be seen to first? This is where in-app feedback comes in handy. Insights obtained from collecting in-app feedback provide app developers with an indication of which features are highly valued by your users and which features could use a little TLC.

For example, say you have a mobile banking app with a feature that helps users keep track of their ‘Spending Habits’. Thanks to feedback collected from your users, it has come to your attention that the feature seems to be having problems with the categorisation function and is therefore rendered useless until this problem is fixed.


Source: N26’s Spending Habits feature

Seeing as how this is likely a bigger issue than- for example, the color of a menu sidebar in your app, you can adjust your mobile roadmap and prioritise this item. In this way, you are better equipped to meet or even exceed the expectations of your users.

2. Helps provide a smooth and seamless onboarding process

When it comes to your mobile app, looks aren’t always everything. You can develop the best looking app out there, but if your users can’t figure out how to use it, odds are they’ll leave and never come back. In fact, studies reveal that 90% of all downloaded apps are used only once and then eventually deleted by users. This is obviously not something on your bucket list as a designer.

To prevent users from abandoning your app, most designers create some sort of onboarding process. Not familiar? User onboarding is exactly how it sounds. It is a way of getting your users ‘onboard’ — or better acquainted — with your app. This includes all the steps to getting them set up with your app as well as showing them how to complete tasks and engage with the app in the easiest and most efficient manner. This article illustrates some of the most important onboarding flows quite nicely.


Source: PayPal

Unfortunately this process doesn’t always run smoothly on all apps. In fact, one of the biggest onboarding fails in the finance industry is manual data entry. We’ve all been there. You spend 5 minutes filling in all of your personal details only to realise that you missed a field that was mandatory and the whole form gets erased. Five minutes of your life wasted…

Meanwhile there are apps like Turbo Tax that have it all figured out. Perhaps one of the most annoying data entry processes of all, filling in your tax info, is made easy by this tax preparation software, thanks to their automated data entry process (aka uploading a PDF or picture taken with your phone).


Source: Appcues

Read more about how TurboTax achieved onboarding success here.

But how do you know if your onboarding processes are frustrating your app users? You guessed it…. in-app feedback to the rescue (again!).

There are a number of different ways to collect feedback during the onboarding process, whether that’s asking questions about their experience during the setup process, adding a feedback survey to the FAQ page to identify any gaps in content, or maybe even after they’ve gotten themselves setup by sending a follow up email.

Questions you might ask include:
Is everything clear regarding how the app works? Was it hard to create the personal space and add relevant products, like multiple bank accounts of insurances? Do you know where to find answers to possible questions?

Learn more about collecting feedback during user onboarding here.

3. Aids in consistently monitoring in-app performance

And it doesn’t stop there, in-app feedback can be used to monitor in-app performance from here on out, keeping you up-to-date with how users experience the app on a daily basis. Note: this is especially important when you are launching new features or plan to launch new features.

Are you familiar with the Lean Start-Up methodology? According to this method, applying short feedback cycles before building a product (e.g. a mobile app) is the key to creating a successful product. By collecting feedback in cycles, you can continuously test how your app is performing and later make the necessary changes to enhance the performance.

4. Helps you engage more with your users & personalise the mobile experience

On top of providing you with deep insights into the customer journey and user experience, in-app feedback can also give you more detailed information about your user base.

For example, you can collect metadata from users such as demographics, preferences and more. This data can then help you form personas.

Why is this important?
Personalisation is how you ‘keep up with the pack’. According to Econsultancy, “more than 40% of financial services companies consider delivering personalised experiences in real time their most exciting prospect for the next couple of years.” Not to mention, customer expectations for personalised experiences are expected to triple this year (according to BCG). In other words, customer-facing brands will be forced to start personalising the customer journey for their users if they wish to compete.


Source: Chase

Take Chase for example. Back in 2017, Chase was already busy personalising the in-app experience for its users. They did this by – for example – adding location-based home screens and implementing automated push alert notifications that prompted time-sensitive transactions.

Our goal was to humanize the mobile banking experience and emulate the one-to-one relationship a customer has with their banker who understands you, knows what you need, when you need it and how you prefer receiving it.
Lauren Francis, vice president of media relations at Chase, New York

Here are a few examples of financial institutions that have found their personalisation sweet spot.

User case: Emirates Islamic Bank

These days mobile payments in the UAE are still rapidly growing and transaction numbers are being doubled. That’s why the mobile wallet, a mobile app, became more and more popular. In a mobile wallet you can store your credit and debit card to make purchases.

The popularity of mobile payments is not about functioning better than other payment methods, but it’s about letting the customer decide how to pay in a convenient way. Mobile payments are all about a seamless customer experience.

In an interview on MarketScreener, Wasim Saifi, Deputy CEO – Consumer Wealth Management, Emirates Islamic Bank stated: “With more of our customers banking digitally, we continue to expand the range of services on our online banking, mobile app and other digital channels. We are the first and only Islamic bank in UAE to have launched all three major digital mobile wallets, namely Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, providing secure and convenient payment solutions to our customers.”


Photo credits: SyndiGate Media Inc., Middle East & North African Newspapers

Emirates Islamic bank was the first Islamic bank in the UAE to launch a mobile banking app, which now has a 4.5/5 App store rating with more than 17,000 reviews. Recently Emirates Islamic launched new features like cardless withdrawal and smart pass authentication for additional security.

By asking customers for their feedback and reviews while using the mobile app Emirates Islamic learned about customer expectations and satisfaction.

Methods for collecting in-app feedback

Now it’s time to get down to the specifics. How are you going to collect feedback in your finance app?

While many of you may be familiar with collecting online feedback, it’s important to point out that collecting in-app user feedback requires a slightly different approach. For example, the way feedback forms run in a mobile app is different. You can’t measure mouse movement to initiate an exit form, and you can’t tell when someone is about to leave your page. That being said, you’ll have to apply different methods to collect your in-app feedback.

From a technical perspective there are three main methods for collecting in-app user feedback: Webviews, SDKs and APIs.

• A webview is a browser that has been packed into a mobile application, this means you add a web based feedback form or survey by using this browser in the mobile app, so the user can see the form, as if it was originally part of the app.
• An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of definitions, protocols and tools that are used for building application software. Collecting feedback using an API, means you build a feedback form in the native app and the collected data is being sent to the data collection API of a feedback platform, like Mopinion.
• Or an SDK, which stands for Software Development Kit. An SDK is a downloadable software package that includes the tools needed to build on a platform. You build in the SDK of the feedback software provider in your own native app to collect feedback data.

You can read more about the differences and advantages of these methods in this article.

Tips for collecting feedback across the mobile journey in finance

No single mobile journey is the same. Especially in the finance industry. This is because the finance industry comprises a wide variety of organisations and providers that offer differing mobile products and services. However, coincidentally many financial organisations also share a lot of the same processes (i.e. mobile forms, FAQs, MyAccounts, etc.). So what are the best ways to collect feedback?

Typically finance organisations will collect mobile feedback in the following ways:

• Using a (passive) feedback button (on every page of the app),
• Using a feedback button in the app navigation (see example of ING below),
• Or at the end of a funnel. For example, at the end of the ordering funnel, service funnel, or in the case of insurance companies, after making a claim. These are often feedback forms asking how your visitors experienced the mobile app as a whole or how much effort it took them to achieve their goal within the app.

Source: ING

Not sure which types of feedback forms/buttons might work best for your mobile app? Weight the pros and cons of each here.

More specifically, financial organisations can collect feedback that caters to different goals. For example, Customer Effort Score is a great metric for measuring the amount of effort it took for a visitor or customer to achieve his/her online goal. If your customer has to expend more effort in achieving their goal than expected, due to something like poor design or usability, they’re much more likely to leave your app. See the importance here?

Then you have forms created for measuring the performance of in-app content. These kinds of form templates provide a quick and easy way of collecting insights into the quality of the content in your mobile app. Additionally, it affects how successful your visitors are in finding what they’re looking for.

Need some more inspiration for your mobile forms? Here are 5 easy-to-use mobile app feedback form templates.

Mobile isn’t going anywhere. It’s time to get started.

Growing customer expectations entail that financial service providers should be able to digitally manage a growing list of increasingly complex processes, such as loan approvals, compliance requirements, customer authentication, and secure access.

This entails that the current and growing dominance of transitioning to mobile-based digital self-service becomes key to success.
CallVU

It will certainly take time and effort to get your mobile app up to par with other online channels. There’s no doubt about that. But either way, mobile is the future and for the financial services industry, it’s a do-or-die scenario. And a mobile strategy that involves gathering customer insights via digital feedback must be factored in, especially if you want to offer a frictionless mobile experience.

Do you want to learn more about in-app user feedback?

Read our whitepaper on Optimising the Mobile Experience with In-App Feedback or check out how international asset manager Robeco leverages user feedback.