Mobility Apps for Financial Services: Opportunities and Trends

More and more users are joining the mobility parade by getting smartphones and tablets. Leading tech companies continue to develop new mobility hardware and software for these “smart mobile devices”. Some are buying their first smart phones, while others are updating to the latest model. Still others are buying their first tablets. We are working on a report for Capital Markets and Wealth Management participants on apps for these new smart devices. Many financial institutions have released apps for these devices so customers can see their account balances and get account and market information. Other institutions have taken a wait and see approach. But now the challenge for many institutions is how to monetize their development efforts. Should users pay a fee for the apps? Should users pay a fee when they use the apps or should app services be free for customers? What apps can be developed to increase trading volumes? What’s happening on the different platforms and where should the priorities be? These are some of the questions we are looking to address in our research. It's time for financial services firms in both Capital Markets and Wealth management to leverage their investment apps to develop value added services to monetize these services and develop services that improve and increase customer retention. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and questions.