What is User Experience (UX) in Banking?

Now that financial institutions are turning to digital banking and mobile banking, you need to be familiar with user experience (UX) and its growing importance in the banking industry to remain competitive. The banking user experience (UX) refers to a customer's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors towards their experience with your bank at every touchpoint. Banking UX design refers to developing your customers' experience with your digital product/service to make it easier and more pleasant to navigate than traditional methods.

A great digital banking UX design will be user-friendly, accessible, inclusive, time-saving, educational, and problem-solving. By creating a UX that allows customers to take advantage of digital opportunities without the hassle of jumping through hoops, you will be in a better position to attract and retain customers. 

Although it will grow and get significantly more in-depth, a few notable factors in a UX design strategy for banking include: 

1. What's your goal? Before you create a user experience at every touchpoint, you need a clearly defined goal or goals for how you want these experiences to be for your customers. Not only does setting goals — SMART goals, in particular — make you 376% more likely to report success, but it also provides a reliable resource to your team(s) on how the customer experience should be delivered in every interaction. 
2. Consistency is key. UX must stay consistent from channel to channel. If customers receive quick customer service responses on your mobile banking platform but not on your website, it can damage their trust in your ability to meet their expectations. On the other hand, quick responses on both could signal that your bank puts their needs first and can rely on you to be there whenever/wherever they need you. 
3. You are NOT the user. You are not your customers; therefore, you should not determine what digital features or services should play a role in the customer experience. Know your target audience, leverage every consumer data collection capability available to you to understand them better, and use that consumer insight to implement a digital UX design that adds value to your customer's experience. 

The Importance of Listening to Customers

The importance of listening to customers — primarily through customer insight and feedback — should never be underestimated. Not only does it improve customer satisfaction and lay the foundation for building trust, but it allows you to approach banking with user-centricity (making your user's needs the main focus).  

As Sam Walton, an American businessman and entrepreneur, once stated, "If you don't listen to your customers, someone else will."

Arguably the most important reason to listen to customers is that they won't hesitate to leave your bank for one that will. One study reported that 46% of bankers 55 and younger said they would switch banks if presented with an option that offered digital features that suited them better. However, this scenario can be avoided by listening to customers through user research and understanding the features that best improve their experience. 

What Does it Mean to be Customer-Centric?

A customer-centric approach does what it sounds like: it puts the customer first. This means that, although implementing one digital initiative versus another may be cheaper or easier for you, it only matters if the customer perceives the feature as a valuable asset to their experience. Otherwise, you'll most likely lose the customer anyways, so it doesn't matter that the feature or intuition was more affordable to deliver. 

What Are the Five Elements of User Experience?

Your digital banking experience can be the make-it-or-break-it of your bank and its future in the industry. Most banks are unable to succeed due to their inability to keep up with modern technology and adapt to today's customer-centric market. According to Educative, however, these five elements of user experience can help you successfully deliver a good user experience since they create the most common framework followed by UX designers.

1. Strategy

Before you can move forward with your user experience design, you must develop the right strategy. To lay this foundation for the design, you will need a thorough understanding of:

• Your business objectives 
• Who the users and end-users are, their problems, needs, etc. 

This will require in-depth UX research of online banking users. Some research can be obtained via customer reviews and feedback on digital platforms — i.e., what 'pains' are customers currently struggling with their online banking experience with other financial institutions? How can you do better?

Then, research your current customers via surveys, questionnaires, and similar methods. What would they like to see in their digital banking experience with you? 

2. Scope

The Scope element of your user experience design phase incorporates your design's functional and content requirements. The functional components refer to the features your customers want in their digital experience. Some good examples include:

• Account-to-account transfers
• Mobile banking deposits
• Online bill pay
• Real-time account activity
• Easy account creations, etc. 

Content components in this phase, however, focus more on bringing the experience to life for the user. This includes a common theme between your images and audio that appeals to your users and creates value. For instance, a simple but informative onboarding video could make all the difference in how well your users navigate the platform and make the most of their digital banking experience. 

3. Structure

The structure element of the digital banking UX is next. This is where your designers will organize the behavior of your system, ensuring that the layout makes sense for the user.

For instance, an onboarding video that explains all the ins and outs of your digital banking platform should be front and center when a user creates an account. A video/text that goes more in-depth about each banking feature should not be ahead of onboarding or introductory information. Instead, it should be organized into its own category so users can quickly click on features that matter most and access the best ways to leverage those features in their experience. 

Two essential components of this element are:

• Interaction Design — defines the function of your product and user interaction
• Information Architecture — defines how your content will be organized throughout the platform 

4. Skeleton

The bones of the operation are in the skeleton phase, where designers are putting together all the moving parts of your user experience. This is when they'll determine your digital platform's flow of information and ease of movement from page to page or feature to feature. The key to this element of user experience is to:

• Optimize user understanding by ensuring the flow of information is easy to follow, relevant, and adds value to the user as they navigate the new digital environment (and continues to add value as they become more experienced with the platform).
• Make navigation as smooth as possible by implementing strategies that optimize load times and readability. This is extremely important since research shows that more than half (60%) of online users will leave a page if it takes more than three seconds to load, with most users never returning to that site. A digital banking app or site with these complications will almost certainly lose its customers to a bank or fintech company doing a much better job in this element of user experience. 

5. Surface 

In the final element — the 'surface' element — the banking UX designer brings all the features to the surface to present a holistic view of the operation. Each step required separate attention to each component to ensure every aspect of the design was optimized to its full potential for the user. Now it's time to put it all together and ensure that the user experience with your digital banking product/service is seamless and cohesive. This includes the final surface of your design that the user will interact with, such as typography, colors, styling, images, navigation, etc. 

What Makes a Good Digital Banking User Experience?

Now that you know the elements of designing the ultimate digital banking user experience, we must discuss what customers want in a digital platform for all their banking needs.

Quick Access to Help

First and foremost, digital banking users expect quick access to help when banking online. This is because it's a new environment for most bankers, and any bump in the road — particularly one that is due to not receiving 24/7 customer support —could deter them from exploring this new avenue with your bank. 

Recent research found that businesses have reported wait times for consumer help as the reason they lost 75% of their customers. They've also revealed that it only takes 14 minutes before customers stop waiting and move on. 

Easy Navigation

Another critical component of a good user experience is easy navigation. Every user should be able to go from page to page or bank account to bank account without any hassles. Since digital banking has become such a big hit because of its convenience and fast nature, easy navigation is essential because it allows users to reach their destination faster. It also encourages them to explore all of the features your online banking product/service offers, boosting their confidence in user experience and building loyalty in the process. 

Ways to improve your navigation may include:

• Clearly defining each category
• Provide clickable links to different destinations throughout your platform
• Create a search feature if you don't have one, and make sure it works regularly
• Have separate website navigation menus for different audiences (i.e., checking, savings, loan borrowers, etc.)

Personalization

Creating personalized experiences is mandatory in banking or any industry if you want to succeed. Customers are no longer staying with brands that don't customize user experiences to their needs and preferences. In fact, a McKinsey & Company study revealed that as many as 71% expect personalized interactions from companies today, and another 76% are frustrated when those companies don't meet their expectations for customized user experiences. 

Most financial institutions are implementing more personalized experiences for their customers by collecting consumer data from their digital platforms and responding appropriately. One study that can be useful in determining what consumers are looking for in their digital experiences found that bank customers are interested in the following:

• Assistance dealing with cyber security threats(76%)
• Offers and perks based on where they shop most often (68%)
• Alerts about upcoming direct deposits (67%)
• Savings tips based on spending patterns (65%)
• A warning when I'm close to my overdraft sent by text/via mobile app (63%)
• Updated budget information based on spending this month (61%)

Relevant Features and Functions

Customers consider having relevant features and functions essential to a good user experience. Your bank needs to know your target audience well enough to modify your features to their unique needs so users don't encounter any issues where their needs aren't being met. 

For inspiration, Forbes found that the following features and functions are the most valuable to bankers:

• Mobile check deposit
• Viewing statements and account balances
• Transferring funds between accounts
• Paying bills online 

On the other hand, the report found that the following were only somewhat enticing:

• Budgeting and tracking tools
• Finding nearby ATMs
• Peer-to-peer payments

These views differ from customer to customer, so your banks must consider your target audience when determining the best features to deliver on your platform. 

Security

The biggest fear of digital banking is security. The safer your customer's experience is with your bank online, the better their user experience will be. Since most breaches and fraudulent activities result from poor user behaviors, educating your users on how they can do their part to keep their banking information and accounts safe can be beneficial. This can include providing informative topics on stronger passwords, not accessing banking information on public networks, and keeping banking notifications on in case of any suspicious activity. 

Transparency

Being open and honest about every aspect of your digital banking will help attract and retain customers. People want more transparency from brands, especially those they trust with their funds. According to one study, as many as 94% are more likely to be loyal to your brand if you're transparent, while 39% will be quick to switch to another if you're not. 

Evoke Emotions

Investing in your customers' emotions will produce the biggest payoffs for your financial institution. This is because people still want the personal touch of humans in the digital realm. Customers still want that same relationship and connection with your bank that they had with traditional banking. According to an academic study conducted by the International Journal of Bank Marketing, customers more emotionally involved with their bank are more loyal to their bank. The report also found that they're more likely to maintain a longer-lasting relationship with their bank, telling others about their great user experiences and encouraging them to join. 

Cut Off Complexity

The more complex your digital banking is, the fewer customers you will have interested in using it. User-friendliness is essential to creating a platform that includes all types of customers and their financial understanding. This doesn't mean you can't have content or features that get more complex for those who are ready for it. Still, it does mean that you should have steps to get newer customers more familiar with the financial sector and how they can take full advantage of your financial products and services. 

What are Examples of a Good User Experience?

There are several ways you can create a good user experience for banking:

• Mobile banking app — having a mobile app available for online banking with your institution can help reach users who are often on the go and need quick ways to access their funds and manage them. 
• Digital channels — shows users how to leverage digital banking tools across channels by keeping consistent and authentic to your brand at every touchpoint.
• Online banking — transactions conducted via the internet add a lot of value to the user experience because it allows customers to make purchases and manage funds without leaving the comfort of their homes. The more seamless this experience is, the better your bank will do now that most people are leveraging digital tools and services in their everyday life. 
• Banking interface — banking interface allows customers to connect to their bank accounts and conduct transactions online, making it easier to shop online without entering account information every time. The purchase is easier and faster, so the user experience is better.  
• Banking website —  a banking website allows users to access everything online that they would normally have to go into a branch to manage or see. This includes accessing, printing, and downloading bank statements and other important documents, managing funds, viewing records, checking balances, etc. 

Optimize Your UX for Banking With Cotribute's Digital Account Opening Software

User experience is becoming essential in all business areas, particularly in the banking industry. Traditional, in-person transactions have always been an excellent opportunity for banks to build meaningful relationships with their customers, but times are changing.

Most (more than 75%) American consumers prefer to do their banking digitally. This means banks must find a way to adapt to this new preference for banking while maintaining a strong connection with customers. The solution is to create great user experience services for banking. 

Create an extraordinary user experience for your bank with Cotribute's digital account opening software. Not only does our platform cut down the time it takes to open a new account from 24 hours to five minutes, but it also costs 45% less in operations and increases your conversion rate by 60%. Schedule a 30-minute demo today to learn more about it!