Bank of America’s New Mobile Slate Goes For Broke on Personalization

September 8, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

With so many different mobile payment and mobile banking platforms out there, it becomes vital for each of these to find a way to differentiate themselves from the competition. Bank of America exemplified this point recently as it brought out a new line of mobile tools that focus on personalization, and providing customers with the experience that best fits their needs.

The new mobile tools start with a new dashboard system, accessible immediately from the user’s home screen. This dashboard can be customized with tiles most reflective of what the customer uses most often, from account balances to budget tools to the users FICO score. A new goal-setting tool is also in place; produced in conjunction with Better Money Habits, this tool helps provide a boost for users trying to save more money, which is a point that most of us can get behind.

There’s also a new ATM interface that helps users get cash more rapidly—I know, we just went from saving money to making it easier to spend money, but that just shows the customization level here—and a new, more rapid way to access the Zelle mobile payments system. There’s even an improved bill pay system that puts the most common tasks on one page, so you can pay those simpler, recurring bills more rapidly. Even the home page got a fresh coat of metaphorical paint that makes it more accessible.

Mobile payments systems, and mobile banking systems, have to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Failure to do so is a setup for further failure down the line; if users don’t see a point to using a particular system, many simply won’t. Given the sheer amount of competition in the field, businesses must prove to users conclusively why their system is so much more worthwhile than all the others out there. This is especially important for trying to get market share away from other firms and into new markets.

Bank of America is putting a lot of weight behind customization and customer experience here, which isn’t a bad plan as plans go. Only time will tell if it does its job, but there’s no immediate reason to suspect that this notion will flop.