A colleague recently shared with me a,  fantastic write up  by Jim Marous on “Building a Winning Mobile Banking Strategy” that helps assess some of the findings from Forrester’s 2012 Mobile Playbook.

One of the key findings was that, while there are definitely examples of successful mobile banking implementations, far too many banks are not doing much more than meeting the basic needs of the consumer, rolling out apps and features without a clear assessment of where customer expectations and business objectives align

The article goes on to quote Peter Wannemacher, an analyst for Forrester:

“The most obvious missed opportunity … is making effective use of context to make information more relevant to customers. Sales is another big missed opportunity, with many banks not even trying to cross-sell products and services through the mobile channel.

Before rolling out more standalone mobile apps, digital banking leaders need to lay out a vision for how mobile will change the way their bank sells and serves its customers. With this in mind, digital banking in the future must be simple, ubiquitous, personal, empowering and most importantly, reassuring.”

The article goes on to provide great summary of some of the top missed opportunities and next generation capabilities for mobile banking, and correctly concludes that “as the penetration of smartphones increases, customer expectations are increasing as well. As more innovative applications are developed within and outside the financial services sector, the ability for banks to keep pace becomes both more difficult and more important. . . New devices and new tools provide an increased level of engagement and contextual interaction to those banks that seize the opportunity.”

This article, and the Forrester report as a whole highlight the importance of not simply implementing a mobile solution, but stepping back and planning how you can holistically support your customers across multiple touch points while provide the best possible experience on each of those channels.

Source: Bank Marketing Strategies