Up to 25% Of Top 50 Global Banks Will Launch A Banking App Store by 2016 – Gartner

Gartner, an IT research company, forecasts that by 2016, 25 per cent of the top 50 global banks will deploy banking app stores.

The stores will help to improve app discovery in addition to user experience and collaboration, it said in a report.

The rapid growth in banking apps is causing significant challenges for the sector. A major challenge is that the visibility of apps on banking websites is decreasing as the number of apps a bank deploys increases. This is due to the fact that most banking websites don’t make it easy for customers to see the apps, which also offer descriptions that are too complicated and vague, the report stated.

“Left unaddressed, these challenges and others could really have a negative impact on banking revenues and customer experience. Banks can use banking app stores to improve app discovery but only if the added cost and complexity are warranted,” said Kristen Moyer, research vice president at Gartner.

In order for banks to succeed Gartner suggests that banks evaluate the potential need for a banking app store, improve website organisation to support a friendly user experience and finally continue to make banking apps available through public stores.

Despite the global boom in banking apps, in the Middle East, the banking industry has been slow to embrace the digital age. Experts now warn that lenders have to move beyond conventional channels to survive.

Traditional bankers typically have a mindset where they pass on information that they deem important to the customers, whereas today’s customers want to interact and engage with their lenders, explained Sanjoy Sen, managing director, retail banking – Asia Pacific at ANZ.

“There has to be a transformation of the entire banking business model, accompanied by a change in the cultural mindset…banks can really boost profits if they embrace digital,” he said earlier this year.