Canadians Prefer Personal Financial Management Tools for Credit Card and Banking Apps

Card issuers and banks in Canada that offer apps featuring personal financial management tools are scoring higher in customer satisfaction and engagement than issuers and banks that don’t, according to research by J.D. Power.

In a series of studies conducted earlier this year, J.D. Power found that many Canadian banks and card issuers excel at including basic transactional tools such as account transfer, bill pay, mobile check deposit, and person-to-person payments, in their apps, but struggle when it comes to providing more advanced personal financial management tools such as spending-analysis and budgeting tools.

J.D. Power conducted its research in February and March and surveyed more than 8,200 retail banks and credit card holders.

The research also revealed that when banking-app customers engage with three or more personal financial management tools, such as credit-score monitoring, spending analysis, or budgeting tools, overall satisfaction scores rise on average 114 points compared to apps that don’t offer such tools. In addition, consumers that use a virtual assistant on their banking app are four times more likely to use personal financial management tools. Account alerts drive a 33-point increase in customer satisfaction with banking mobile apps among financially unhealthy consumers and a 29-point increase in satisfaction for financially healthy consumers.

“The trendline is clear, banks and credit card providers that position themselves as the hub of their customers’ financial lives—and give them the tools they need to manage everything from a single, easy-to-use interface—are gaining a huge lead in customer satisfaction and customer engagement vs. institutions that have not invested in these tools,” Jennifer White, senior director of banking and payments intelligence for J.D. Power, says in a statement. “Across J.D. Power studies, the gap is widening between the top- and bottom-performing apps and Web sites as organizations work to find digital solutions that make their customers’ lives easier.”

When it comes to credit card mobile app satisfaction, American Express Co. ranks highest, with a score of 687 based on a 1,000-point scale. American Express and National Bank of Canada tied for first in online credit card satisfaction, each with a score of 667, while Desjardins bank ranked third with a score of 652.

CIBC and TD Canada Trust tied for the highest satisfaction score for banking mobile apps with a score of 641, while BMO Bank of Montreal ranked third with a score of 638. When it comes to online-banking satisfaction, BMO Bank of Montreal took top honors with a satisfaction score of 628. Scotiabank placed second with a score of 614, followed closely by RBC Royal Bank with a score of 613.