Messaging App - The New Face of
Retail Banking
Similar to what we saw in the 90s, with
telecom companies getting into the credit card business, today we’re seeing
messaging apps get into the retail banking business. In the past few months,
SnapChat and Facebook Messenger have announced payments, the primary service of
retail banks. Tencent’s WeChat extended its
payment services into merchants and Xiaomi introduced an
interest-bearing payments account. Slowly but surely, these apps are becoming
the new face of retail banking, catering mainly to millennial, a segment highly
receptive to changes to how they bank. In fact, a recent study by Goldman Sachs
revealed that
33% of millennial don’t think they will need a traditional bank in 5 years.
Retention rates of messaging apps
out-performed the average of all apps. Messaging app retention is 1.9 times
better than the average for one-month retention and 5.6 times better than the
average for 12-month retention. Here we define retention as users who launched
the app “n” months after install. It’s worth noting that the absolute retention
rates were slightly lower last year compared to previous years, mainly because
of the Apple iPhone base upgrading (in droves) to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
But, since we are comparing apples to apples, the point is still valid.
Messaging apps rule on retention.
Messaging Apps Rule in Frequency of Use
Ask any parent of a teenager and they’ll tell
you that their kid is addicted to messaging apps. Messaging apps’ daily use is
4.7 times higher than the average app. The average daily use of an app across
all categories is 1.9 times. Messaging apps are used, on average, almost 9
times every day. By definition, communications apps are chatty. Add to that the
convenience of the smartphone device and the fact that it is glued to your
body, and you get the multiplying effect making messaging apps rule on session
frequency as well.
Messaging As the Platform
Messaging apps have made the leap to become
the platform for many services, starting with payments and most likely ending
with commerce. Messaging is already the platform of mobile and customer loyalty
is its most valuable currency.
About Author: The author of this blog has done research in the field of business solutions, customer service, outsourcing, bpo
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