Bank of America Retooling its Mobile Presence
Give Bank of America due credit; it’s been actively studying its customers and retooling its own offerings accordingly. The result is that the company has recently launched a set of updates to its app, and with these updates, a whole slew of new mobile capabilities for Bank of America customers.
One major new update was some changes to Bank by Appointment. While the system allowed customers to schedule appointments with a variety of personnel related to banking and banking functions—including notaries and various specialists—the new changes allow said customers to pre-select topics of interest, giving the specialists in question room to prepare for the meeting exactly to the customer’s taste.
Also, there’s a streamlined checking account application; Bank of America notes that a quarter of all new checking accounts are opened digitally, and Bank of America has smoothed out the process accordingly. The homepage has been retooled to provide better engagement and personalization as well.
The real winner here is for mobile commerce; not only is there an expanded BankAmeriDeals section—where customers can earn cash for shopping with certain companies offering such deals—but there’s also a brand new Gift Card Mall. Now, the leading Christmas gift is available on an electronic basis; buyers can not only pick up a gift card here, but send it on directly via email, even going so far as to choose delivery times and including personalized messages, so “Do Not Open Before Christmas” becomes a requirement rather than a suggestion.
Any one of these things would be a welcome addition to Bank of America’s lineup, the kind of thing that customers would gratefully welcome. Seriously, what part of this isn’t a good idea? Gift cards sent by email, ultra-customized personal service, ways to make money shopping? All great. Throwing them all together into one handy, readily-accessible package from a mobile device is even better. It’s hard to think of anything that’s actually missing from this update.
Bank of America has pulled off a masterstroke here, and its customers should be pretty happy about the whole thing. While such advances are necessary to hold a customer base in an increasingly competitive market, that’s no less credit for Bank of America for doing the job.