Lessons from tech giants: Google, Apple, and Uber's impact on customer banking

What financial institutions can learn from tech giants to improve customer banking experiences

Nowadays, everything is going fast. So fast that it is hard to keep up, especially for more traditional financial institutions, which do not always have the means to compete with bigger players. 

A key priority for smaller banks and credit unions is to distinguish themselves by delivering a seamless and captivating customer experience. Account holders are more likely to remember a bank for its intuitive and fluid user interface rather than for cutting-edge technology that is cumbersome and frustrating to use.

Industry leaders such as Google, Apple, and Uber have set the bar high with their exemplary UI/UX design, offering numerous insights that can be effectively adapted to the banking industry.

Financial institutions can draw valuable lessons from these industry giants to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by prioritizing convenience, personalization, and seamless interactions in the design of their banking apps.

Prioritize simplicity and elegance

Apple has for philosophy: simplicity and elegance.

By adopting these principles when designing a banking app, financial institutions can significantly enhance the customer experience, stripping away unnecessary features, and creating a user journey that is both intuitive and seamless.

Consider Apple Wallet as an example: its design is both clean and minimalistic, highlighting crucial elements such as cards, passes, and payment options. This simplicity is a hallmark of Apple's design ethos, reducing cognitive load on users and making it easier to focus on key functionalities.

The interface is gesture-based, allowing users to swipe between cards and other items with ease. This aligns with the minimalist approach by keeping controls out of sight until needed, thus maintaining a clutter-free interface.

Customers are going to continue to embrace the wallets that match their preferences— whether it’s the type of phone they own or how they bank or even their location. Merchants should therefore prepare to offer a suite of wallet offerings based on their customers and their demographics.

- Brian Dammeir, President of North America Adyen, in Navigating the payments matrix Charting a course amid evolution and revolution by PWC.

Banking apps should adopt a similar minimalist design, ensuring users are not overwhelmed by an excess of information on a single screen. A clean dashboard is the key to an optimized user experience. 

Banks can show only the most important information upfront (e.g., available balance), while providing additional details (e.g., transaction categories, bank statements) as users navigate deeper into the app. This avoids overwhelming users but still offers powerful functionality when needed.

Another prime example of minimalism can be found in Google's design approach. Renowned for its clean and straightforward aesthetic, Google’s products, such as Google Search and Gmail, exemplify uncluttered interfaces that allow users to concentrate on their primary tasks without unnecessary distractions.

Just like Google uses a clear and intuitive menu, financial institutions should offer easy navigation with prominent and clear buttons for key functions like "Check Balance," “View Transactions,” "Transfer Money," "Pay Bills," or “Card Settings.”

They should also ensure that those buttons and forms give immediate visual feedback when tapped or clicked, showing users their actions are registered (e.g., a loading spinner when a payment is processing or a green checkmark once it's completed).

By adopting the design principles and user guidelines of widely used apps, financial institutions can create a more immersive and intuitive experience for their users. This will reduce frustration and make it easier for them to navigate and utilize their banking apps from the start.

Effortless banking account setup minimizes customer attrition

Uber makes it incredibly easy to book a ride with just a couple of taps, simplifying what could otherwise be a complex process. Financial institutions can reproduce the same effect with account opening.

In simple steps, one should be able to open a new bank account. Using Google’s approach of "single sign-on" and the ability to "autofill" information, financial institutions can optimize onboarding processes by filling in the basic data without too many manual steps while keeping it secure. 

Financial institutions can leverage technology such as Robotic Process Automation to accelerate the process by auto-completing data already in the device.

Banks may also offer a guided onboarding process for first-time users, explaining essential features like how to transfer money, set up direct debits, or manage their budget. 

Utilizing "feature tours" to provide contextual explanations as users navigate the app for the first time can alleviate confusion, fostering a smoother and more engaging initial interaction. This approach not only reduces user frustration but also encourages frequent use by making the learning curve less steep.

Keep it safe and easy

Apple design emphasizes security without making it obtrusive. Features like Face ID or Touch ID are integrated seamlessly, reassuring users of their data's safety while keeping the interaction smooth and quick. This builds trust, which is critical in financial services.

Google, on the other hand, excels in two-factor authentication by implementing methods like push notifications and biometrics instead of traditional OTPs. Not to mention that its adaptive authentication system only prompts 2FA when a login appears suspicious, thereby maintaining robust security without sacrificing user convenience.

Financial institutions can collaborate with fintechs such as ebankIT to leverage solutions supported by third parties that are leading experts in several technological fields, such as KYC, biometrics, and document recognition, to offer the same smoothless security instantly. 

Explore new ways of interacting

Industry disruptors like Uber and Apple have transformed traditional markets by embracing bold innovation.

Their eagerness to adopt cutting-edge technologies and pioneering business models has inspired many fintechs, such as ebankIT, to develop new interaction pathways. Spatial computing, for instance, is one of them, which grants the opportunities to create the next generation of banking experiences through the metaverse.

Apple is one of the few tech giants leading humanity to a new experiential frontier with the Vision Pro headset. This marks an initial move towards a mixed reality that financial institutions should monitor closely if they aim to provide a up-to-date user experience to their clients.

The Vision Pro headset is a form of navigation done through the eyes, with gestures like tapping to select, flicking to scroll, and voice dictation. In the near future, banking users may use this headset to perform daily banking operations.

Collaborating with fintech companies enables financial institutions to tap into state-of-the-art technologies, diversify their product portfolios, and elevate customer experiences.

This synergy allows banks to merge their deep-seated expertise and extensive customer networks with the innovative prowess and technological advancements of fintechs.

How ebankIT can help Financial institutions

Paula Oliveira
Head of Digital Experience at ebankIT

Paula Oliveira is the Head of Digital Experience at ebankIT, a role she has held since 2018 after serving as the company's UI/UX Director. With extensive experience in user interface design, she specializes in creating user-centered designs that balance technical and business needs. She has worked across various international markets designing web and mobile applications for major financial and banking institutions. Her expertise spans crafting intuitive solutions for internet banking, intranet systems, branch front-ends, and mobile apps across platforms like iOS, Android, and Windows.