| By Jim Bruene on January 27, 2010 3:08 PM | Comments (4) |
Apple today introduced its latest invention, a gigantic $499 iPod Touch called the iPad (inset shows iPad, Kindle, vs. iPhone; note 1).
It's a gorgeous piece of technology that will soon be the movie-watching, ebook-reading device of choice for the rich and famous. But what does it mean for the average financial institution?
Tactically, it should have almost zero impact. Your iPhone/iTouch app should work pretty much the same on the iPad. There may be some design tweaks your programmers will need to understand, but the basic functionality is the same.
It would make a wonderful giveaway item, either as part of a high-end business/private banking package (note 2), or as a sweepstakes prize.
So those of you who already have an iPhone app launched, or in the pipeline, can stop reading now. But read on if you haven't yet hopped on the app bandwagon.
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The movement to apps, and away from old-school "browsing," is unstoppable. The iPad joins a growing list of new devices (Android, Kindle, etc.) that are app-primary, browser-secondary (note 3).
It's a massive shift that's happened in less than two years, beginning in July 2008 when Apple opened the iPhone platform.
The popularity of apps is changing how users tap online info. Even power laptop/desktop users are making dramatic changes in their information consumption. For example, within a few months of the Apple app store launch, I had already moved 12 of my routine info-gathering tasks to the iPhone. The speed/convenience of pressing a single button vs. navigating to a website via the browser is a significant improvement in user experience. More than a year later, my habits have changed little.
The change from serving customers who were "online browsers" and are now "mobile app users" has profound implications for banking. Instead of talking to your customers in batch- mode with built-in time delays, you are now real-time, feeding data to customer on the go, where they need up-to-the-minute status on their cash situation.
In many ways, the ROI for real-time banking (and here) is more dramatic than online-batch banking. The ability to stamp out POS fraud, to nip budding customer service nightmares, and just plain get closer to the customer, all bring nice returns on the mobile investment (note 3).
Notes:
1. Photo credit: TechCrunch post today.
2. For more info on using a dedicated device for small business customers, see our October Online Banking Report.
3. Groundswell author and Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff calls this the "splinternet."
4. For more info on financial services opportunities on the iPhone, see our March Online Banking Report.
5. Initial response online was mixed, 2,700 readers of CrunchGear, voted "thumbs sideways" today (link, results at 4PM Pacific below)
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Jim, very excited about the iPad as a delivery channel for FIs. Imagine using the mutitouch screen to move money between accounts, move scheduled bills on a calendar with your finger, live video chat with customer service from your couch. It's going to create a very exciting user experience for online banking, no doubt.
re: "The movement to apps, and away from old-school "browsing," is unstoppable."
I think that is true but to a point. Once you have 300 apps usability is an issue, and is reminiscent of the Windows 3.1 days when we all downloaded tons of apps and shareware.
I wonder what happens with the advent of html5 and greater browser centricity? Incidentally this will not harm iphone/ipad. The speed of the machine and the capability of safari should deal with either eventuality. I just think the future of apps is unclear, and thats important for bank software developers.
@colin
Thanks for the reality check...yes apps being "unstoppable" is too strong....drinking the apple koolaid. You are right, it's unclear where this evolution is heading...too early to call. But I'd say Apple has some serious momentum on its app approach.
I think as the technology for Augmented Reality matures, you will see not only Financial Institutions using the iPad for content delivery and ad placements, but other industries tapping into the power of mobile communications via tablets. I see a whole spectrum of possibilities for it via streaming video and as Peter suggests - a whole new user experience. In my opinion, FI's with iPhone apps should at least consider re-sizing their apps to accodomate for the larger screen space and think about how they can cross promote their products with the extra space. :)