USAA, Banking On A Digital Future?

As active members of the military and military families, USAA Bank members are especially dependent on digital and mobile services.

But these digital and mobile solutions are not popular just among those deployed overseas. According to recently released research from the American Bankers Association, mobile banking is becoming increasingly popular among consumers of young ages. And its popularity with young consumers (77 percent of millennials used mobile banking within the past month) means that more consumers are likely to embrace these new practices each year.

With so many consumers turning to digital and mobile banking solutions, it’s more important than ever that financial institutions offer their customers an up-to-date set of mobile and digital offerings.

For this month’s Digital Banking Tracker™ cover story, PYMNTS spoke to Prianka Advani, assistant vice president of USAA Bank, about how the company designs its solutions for its members, mostly active military members and their families, who are particularly reliant on these services.

Here’s a preview:

USAA seeks to update its mobile and web apps fairly regularly to keep the app up-to-date for customers and stay in line with rules from app marketplaces, like Apple and Android, Advani told PYMNTS. Advani said that she and her team are “obsessed with member feedback” and often collect comments from users via digital and mobile channels.

Often, those customer suggestions are inspired by features from other companies, whether they are a service offered by a competitor or feature found on an entirely unrelated product or platform. After companies like Apple had popularized voice-activated virtual assistants, consumers grew accustomed to using their voice to perform simple commands on their phones or computers.

“Members told us they had been using other voice technologies, like the Alexas or Siris of the world, and they wanted to use the voice command to do their banking,” Advani explained. “Today, Alexa and Siri, because of authentication issues, largely aren’t there yet, but our virtual assistant, Eva, is.”

Around The Digital Banking World

USAA was not the only digital banking platform to debut new services and innovations recently. Several companies around the space recently rolled out new chatbot-enabled features in an effort to offer consumers cutting-edge technologies and solutions.

Japanese financial institution Mizuho Bank, for example, recently tested chat interfaces and voice recognition–based authentication with Amazon and Facebook. Meanwhile, Kazakhstani digital bank B1NK also unveiled a new chatbot that will reportedly allow customers to send money to friends and relatives, manage their card info and access promotional officers via popular messenger services.

Singapore’s DBS and POSB national banks, both part of the DBS group, also rolled out new chatbot banking functions that will allow customers to conduct transactions via messenger apps.

The September edition of the Digital Banking Tracker™, powered by Urban FT, features the latest news and analysis across the FinTech and consumer banking space, along with the rankings of 88 players in the industry — including 10 new profiles — for their readiness to seize this new banking reality.

To download the September edition of the Digital Banking Tracker™, click the button below.

About The Tracker

The PYMNTS Digital Banking Tracker™ brings you the latest news, research and expert commentary from the FinTech and consumer banking space, along with the rankings of more than 80 companies serving or powering the digital banking sector.