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J.D. Power announced early Monday the launch of a mobile-banking app certification program. The program is intended to recognize app providers that deliver an exceptional user experience, the company says.
The J.D. Power Mobile App Platform Certification-Banking program rates mobile apps using a set of 146 best-practices benchmarks, including app development, design, and operational functionality. The first qualification criterion is that an app must rank among top performers in the most recent J.D. Power North America Mobile App Satisfaction Index. Benchmark rankings are based on overall customer satisfaction with the mobile-app experience for 259 brands across 11 industries, J.D. Power says.
Mobile apps achieving the certification are permitted to promote the certification in their marketing campaigns for 12 months. Certified brands also will be listed on jdpower.com for consumers to search while shopping.
Alkami, a provider of cloud-based digital-banking software, is the first app provider to achieve the certification. The certification reflects the growing importance of small financial institutions in attracting new customers by offering mobile-banking experiences that are on par with, if not better than, those of apps offered by larger financial institutions, neobanks and fintechs, Alkami says.
The company adds research conducted by The Center for Generational Kinetics on behalf of Alkami indicates the digital-banking experience ranks as the most important attribute for consumers in determining their ideal financial provider.
A recent study by Alkami indicates 58% of Millennials are more likely than older generations to change financial providers for a better digital-banking experience. Alkami surveyed 1,500 consumers in the United States who have bank accounts and actively use digital banking to perform such tasks as transferring funds and paying bills.
“Since our inception, Alkami has been steadfast in delivering an exemplary mobile banking user experience to empower regional and community financial institutions to compete against megabanks’ digital capabilities and win,” Allison Cerra, chief marketing officer for Alkami, says by email. “Earning this certification from J.D. Power is evidence of this ongoing commitment.”
