Where is the HSBC Mobile Offer?

The results of the election in the UK have not yet been called, which means I still can't talk about some of the things I've got backed up. In the meantime, Aden Davies (@aden_76) provokes me that I should "write a constructive post with a dedicated URL to get us off the ventilator". So let me use the election hiatus as an opportunity to comment on mobile banking, and more particularly, the lack of it at HSBC.

A week or so ago, I downloaded the NatWest iPhone banking app, apparently the only banking app in the UK on iPhone at present. Why this is so I have no idea - in other countries like Australia, you're almost not a bank unless you have an iPhone app. Anyway, I downloaded the app because I'd heard rumours that you could use it to access your HSBC accounts if you had a NatWest account. This is true, actually.

I am a long-standing HSBC customer, and I don't mind admitting I'm a bit of a fan of Premiere. I love that I can move money around the world free of charge with instant settlement, and I like it that you get all these special spaces in branches. I even like the internet banking service, which, whilst its nothing that special, is perfectly functional and does everything, almost, that I need.

I am, however, at a loss to understand the complete lack of a retail mobile banking application. Not just for iPhone, but at all. What is going on HSBC?

I have a feeling i know the answer though. I'll bet that someone, somewhere, has decided that mobile is strategic, and therefore a global, multi-market solution is needed. I'd guess the whole mobile thing is so strategic to everyone that a big-bang approach seems the only way to make a splash. Never mind that you can build iPhone apps for practically nothing these days, and never mind the fact that everyone else has a mobile offering, even if its not on iPhone. I mean, even the DWP has an app these days, and we're the government.

The NatWest app, by the way, is pretty lacking in functionality, and it is based on the generic service that banks in the UK get from Monetise. They're the same people that run the Link ATM network, and apparently the app uses that transaction network to get its data. In other words, there's no integration or effort required to get the Monetise app to work for a particular bank, and is the reason that I can use my HSBC accounts in the NatWest version.

Anyway, whilst a mobile app from HSBC would be nice, what is striking to me is that the bank hasn't recognised that there is a need to get early experience in this space if you want to take the lead later. Shoving a poor application out the door - like NatWest have done - is teaching them valuable lessons about how customers like to use Mobile.

Moreover, they're building a committed and loyal base of customers from the ground up. These are early adopters who have no choice but to open an account if they want to bank on iPhone. There are only so many early adopters available in a given market, and NatWest are getting all of them. Typically, somewhere between 15% and 18% of any audience will bother trying something new - but they're the ones that will tell everyone else about their experiences. Recruitment of these people is the key to building a base.

And lets not forget that, as the only bank with an iPhone app in the UK, Apple have been shoving the app in front of everyone through their TV commercials featuring "there's an App for that".

Of course, all this is pretty incidental to the real business of retail banking if all you're doing is offering transaction histories and balance checks, which is almost all the NatWest app does.

But consider this: if all the early adopters are somewhere else, and then you decide to drop a major game-changing new feature in, who will be around to talk about it? Who's going to tell their friend and friends of friends how their experience has changed?

The point of mobile banking, really, is what the next generation of apps is going to be able to do. Contactless payments, point-of-sale loans, banking related geo-games and so on and so forth. The potential for integrating banking services into the day to day of life is the game changing play that mobile enables.

Too bad if you haven't got any customers willing to try those features though. Hurry up HSBC, if you want a shot at it.

Update: Finextra have picked this up, and and Brett King add his thoughts here as well.

Update 2: I was wrong about HSBC and their lack of mobile. They do have an offering for supported handsets (not iPhone, though), powered by Monetise. The link is here. However, I have to say, at this point, that I couldn't find out how to navigate to that link from any of the products I have, and furthermore, mobile doesn't come up in their search when you ask for it. Despite all that, I think I stand by most of the comments in my post.

Comments

[Simon Cavill]

Hi again,
I feel that the point is being missed here - The developing world is turning to mobile payments in their millions using the most basic of mobile phones imaginable. The only people with "apps" are the cash-handling agents employed by the mobile money services to act as "mobile ATM's" and they are typically SIM toolkit based apps. Consumer services are being delivered using a combination of voice (IVR or contact centre), SMS (yes I know its not secure - but the biz models take that into account), and most importantly USSD. This is a technology at the heart of the GSM service that enables people like me to put an interactive simple green-screen like menu on ANY handset in response to the consumer dialing a shortcode or normal phone number. Being session based makes it relatively secure, and its already being used by people like us and a few other minor players like Barclays Bank who have built a hugely successful service called Hello Money in India. look here: Indiahttp://group.barclays.com/Home/CaseStudy/1231782381168.html

and here for a flash based demo: http://www.barclays.in/channels/mobile/hello_money_demo.htm

and not an iPhone or Blackberry in sight.....

Simon Cavill

[stephen]

@Simon – I have to agree, an UK unemployed person, old age pensioner or someone living on benefits may not be able to afford (or even want to possess) a smart phone. The DWP having an iPhone app may make a Minister look good, but what about the Customer?

[David Hodgkinson]

Not sure I agree with the analysis here. Some UK banks are making a strategic decision to go for re-formatting their main site for mobile devices rather than an app. This can be done on an automated basis and avoids the security headaches around apps that compromise the functionality that can be offered. This is why NatWest may have moved first but only with WAP mutton dressed as App lamb.

In my experience it's definitely NOT a budget issue.

[Brett King]

James et al,

The issue is really not about the iPhone at all but about 2 core issues:

1. Commitment to customer engagement, and
2. Ability to adapt to mainstream (or niche) technology innovations

Let's take the iPad for example. The iPad and the resultant Google (and others) iterations are great examples of tools that are empowering customers to interact in new and better ways. The iPad is not new news - the Apple developer community were launching specialist Apps on the iPad from day 1. The total number of global banks that have launched specialized iPad apps = 2.

Danmux has hit the nail on the head. The in-house development costs and process associated with such mean that you need lots and lots of demonstrable ROI before you experiment with new channels and interfaces. This is where the 'system' is broken.

A better approach would be opening up innovation to third-parties as Apple and Google have done with developer communities, rather than always taking it in-house. Until such a time, we're going to see the log-jam of Bank IT killing innovation because developments costs and cycles are unwieldy.

Brett King
BANK 2.0

[David Hodgkinson]

@Trevor LaFleche: Good post, I agree entirely. Barclays and Lloyds have gone down this route in an explicit rejection of apps.
It is easy to deliver an app-like experience on mobile browsers without the security risks associated with downloadable apps. They have been really put off apps by the NatWest phishing experience.
@Dave Birch: understand your perspective but it does not address the security issue.

[bertybassett]

I've downloaded the iphone app called NATWEST and added my account but there is no sign of being able to add your HSBC bank account to the app. I can add a TSB/llyolds or RBS but no HSBC.

Does anyone know how to add this?

[LJ]

Of course no-one has talked about the security implications involved in mobile banking apps!

[James Gardner]

Such as?

[Joe]

All it will take is one bank to implement a good, feature complete system and the others will be forced to join in... A Mexican standoff is in effect now, and customers don't know what they're missing out on so aren't concerned. In Australia I bank almost exclusively with my phone... Paying bills, squaring temporary debts (dinner bills etc) with friends or family can be done on the spot rather than having to go and find cashpoints, checking your balances, or even transferring money between your own accounts in order to pay for something or withdraw cash. Banking on the go is something I'll never again be able to give up. Which is what started my AppStore search, and now web search for a similar app with a UK bank as am returning home soon. I'm astounded there's no such thing at this point in time. As the author of this piece said, all Australian banks have extensive systems in place, and if the numbers don't stack up yet in the UK, they surely soon will (fingers crossed).