Many banking institutions around the world want to tap into the rapid growth of mobility communications. The problem is, one solution does not meet all their needs. Mercati was approached by three banks to develop mobile eCommerce (mCommerce) solutions for them. Each bank had different objectives, IT infrastructures, resources to apply, and cultural business frameworks. We approached each client's challenges differently — focusing on their specific business drivers, adoption and market reach requirements, user requirements, and differences in legacy infrastructures.
A major bank in Malaysia realized that they wanted to move to the next step in mobile banking. About six years ago they had instituted some SMS-based mobile tools. Recently, they realized that they were ready to "upgrade" their mobility programs as they had IT infrastructures that could support it. The bank's goal was to develop a program that used the latest mobile technology while being customer-centric. Any solution we developed had to add value to the customer experience as well as the bank's bottom line.
A large Asian bank in Hong Kong, known for its technology early adopter processes, set as its goal to be recognized as the mobile banking pacesetter. They had been using mobile banking tools for investments since 2002. They had added new technology to their systems over the years and were ready to move to the next step.
One of the top ten banks in Germany set as its goal to be known for incredible customer service through the excellence of their mobile banking programs. They had been using SMS-based mobile banking since 2002, but with the arrival of the IPhone, Android, and other smart phones, they wanted to seize the opportunity of becoming a "remote" bank for busy urban, self-directed customers looking for value and convenience.
For the bank in Malaysia, the Mercati Mobility Team helped them phase out their SMS system in favor of a USSD menu-driven channel. GUI was also introduced as this was preferred by many customers who spoke a variety of dialects. As e-Channel volumes increased, transaction cost went down. Once the mobility infrastructure was in place, we helped design e-marketing and e-business programs to better service their customers.
The bank in Hong Kong had almost no mobility banking tools in place. As part of our solution, we quickly developed SMS, mobile Internet, apps, P2P interactivity, and SIM cards for them. Our rationale was to build customer value with the SIM cards, and to build the perception of quality for the bank relative to their competitors.
Our solution for the German bank was different. They had begun using SMS mobile banking in 2001, but never developed it. As with other banks, they recently realized that technology was being placed in the hands of the end-users via such devices as the IPhone and Blackberry. Our focus was to help them master remote banking through all remote channels. We created fully native applications for smartphones and software for balance inquiries, bill payments, balance transfers, as well as transaction alerts.
The Malaysian bank saw that more than 25% of their customers were now using mobile banking, reducing their average transaction costs by 17%. There was an 8% increase in customer retention due in large part to consumer satisfaction with the fraud alert feature. Customer service, convenience and cost have positively impacted the bank's profitability (up by 19%) through customer retention and channel cost drivers.
The Hong Kong bank wanted to be known as the mobile banking pacesetter. With over 75% of their customers now using mobile banking, they saw benefits in three areas. There was a gain in profitability of 7.5% due to cross-selling and up-selling of bank products. Credit card fraud text alerts reduced call center costs by 93%. And the bank's mobile program scored an average of 11 points higher than the rest of the bank on customer satisfaction. The bank was featured in a national magazine as an "innovator."
The German bank achieved its goal of being the premier customer service mobile banking provider. They saw at least 4 additional household debit card transactions per month. There was a 37% decrease in the customer attrition rate. After enrolling in mobile banking, profit from a customer went up by 52%. Banking industry publications in this country now rank this bank as #1 in customer service.
