SMEs Skeptical Of Mobile Banking

A new survey from banking data firm RateWatch is bad news for banks looking to entice SME customers with new mobile offerings.

Small businesses aren’t impressed by mobile banking, the report, released Thursday (Mar. 2), concluded. The Monetizing Digital Banking Products for Small Business Customers survey found that more than a third of SMEs have never used mobile banking, even though their banking provider offers it. More than two-thirds said they don’t have a positive perception of mobile banking services currently offered.

Researchers also found discrepancies among small businesses that are and are not willing to pay for mobile banking services. Customer satisfaction, the report said, is directly correlated with the rate new digital services are introduced by the banks.

“The small business customer is a huge untapped market for financial institutions,” said RateWatch Business Development Associate Jamie Zussman in a statement announcing the findings. “This report provides data and a framework for how financial institutions can deepen their understanding of this segment and create compelling packages and services for them.”

In another statement, Simon-Kucher & Partners Director David Chung said the report reveals a gap in banks’ understanding of how to meet SME customer needs.

“We need a systemic and structured approach to designing, pricing and selling mobile banking solutions,” he said. “When these steps are managed separately, we find suboptimal products that fail to meet revenue and profit goals and fall short of addressing customer needs.”

The report echoes similar findings released last year by Bill.com and Aite Group, whose research concluded that less than half of small businesses use their banks’ mobile banking apps — though that figure increases when narrowed to millennial small business owners.

That research also noted that most mobile banking services available are “limited to basic capabilities, such as checking balances.”