Do you know how many apps your bank offers? And what are their features? Have you been able to try each app to pick the right one? The answer will mostly be ‘no’. According to a Boston Consulting Group report, Inclusive growth with disruptive innovations, the top two reasons for consumers in India not using mobile banking are: one, most don’t know how to use it, and two, they were not aware of the bank’s app. The other reasons included fear of hacking, complex usage and fear of making a wrong transaction.
With so many apps and wallets, what should you do—choose one from your bank or another bank? If you are tech savvy and are looking to try out new apps, you will have to wait as not all apps have got all their features right. And it all depends on your transaction behaviour. Do you prefer to pay bills via an app, do you eat out often with a group and split the restaurant bills, or make payments using social media platforms? The apps you choose will vary based on what you need.
The top five public sector and private sector banks in India offer multiple apps, each with various features. Here’s a look at some of them, which will help you choose the an apt app.
What’s on offer?
Private sector banks: They have been aggressive in launching apps. To begin with, every bank has an official banking app for basic transactions, and is focused on existing customers. This can be useful if your primary account is with that bank, and you use multiple products of the bank.
ICICI Bank Ltd has four apps—iMobile, Pockets, etfCheque and iBizz. “We have noticed that Indian customers are digitally savvy and adopt easily. We believe with more use of smartphones, more people will use mobile (phones) for transactions,” said Rajiv Sabharwal, executive director, ICICI Bank.
iMobile is the official banking app, and offers services such as funds transfer, account statement among others. Pockets is a digital wallet aimed at young customers; it can be used by both the bank’s customers and others (even those who don’t have a bank account). You can also get a physical card to transact. The eftCheque app is only for cheque-based transactions—tracking, uploading scanned images of the physical cheques, and seeing past debit transactions. iBizz app is targeted at corporate customers. The bank had also launched a separate app, iLoans, which has now been integrated with its main app, iMobile.
HDFC Bank Ltd has three apps—MobileBanking, Chillr and PayZapp. The official banking app MobileBanking is also available in Hindi. The Chillr is a third-party app, which allows you to send money from your bank account to a contact number. If the recipient has the app, the money automatically goes into her account. If she doesn’t have the app, she will get an SMS to download it and receive the money. This service can be used by customers of any bank that offers Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) platform. There are 134 banks on this platform.
PayZapp lets you manage credit or debit card details, pay bills, use virtual card, send money through a wallet, and shop. It is available only for the bank’s customers as of now. The wallet in the app is linked to your credit and debit card, and also offers a virtual card. Additional payments modes such as quick response code, MasterPass and near-field communication are getting integrated.
Axis Bank Ltd has so far launched three apps—Axis Mobile, PingPay and Lime. “A key challenge in the banking industry is rapidly evolving technology. We have seen the adoption curves moving from bell shaped to a shark fin. It is imperative that we do not directly place our bets on any particular technology and explore various available options. For example, we have built our app on Android, iOS and Windows platforms,” said Rajiv Anand, group executive and head (retail banking), Axis Bank.
Of the three apps, Lime is the most ambitious. It is a digital wallet that allows you to store money and add money from any bank account, debit card and credit card. You can use it to recharge your mobile phone, make bill payments and send money. It allows you to compare prices of different e-commerce sites and also get a consolidated view of all finances linked to any of your bank accounts. To use Lime, you don’t have to be an Axis Bank customer. PingPay allows you to send, ask for and receive money via Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, email and SMS. But you need to be the bank’s customer to be able to send money. To receive and to ask, you don’t need to be the bank’s customer.
IndusInd Bank Ltd also has three apps—IndusMobile, Video Branch and IndusCube. IndusMobile is for its customers. It allows you to withdraw money at ATMs without a card and request doorstep banking. Video Branch app is for the bank’s as well as other customers. It allows interaction with bank representatives. IndusCube app was launched in partnership with CitrusPay, a payments solution company. It allows you to make bill payments and set reminders.
Yes Bank Ltd offers two apps—Yes Mobile and Yes Secure. The first one is a basic banking app through which you can perform transactions such as fund transfer and view balance. It also has other services such as bill payment, fixed deposit enquiry and making donations. The Yes Secure app generates a one-time password (OTP) on your device. Instead of getting an OTP as an SMS, you can generate OTP on this app and use it to authenticate transactions. This comes in handy if you don’t have network connection and hence can’t receive the OTP as an SMS.
Public sector banks: They have been slower in rolling out apps. However, State Bank of India (SBI) has launched at least five products—apps and wallets for financial as well as non-financial services (State Bank Samadhaan, State Bank Buddy, State Bank Anywhere, State Bank Freedom and SBI Quick). State Bank Buddy is a mobile wallet, which can be used by the bank’s as well as other customers. SBI Quick app is a missed call banking app. Freedom app allows balance enquiries and money transfer. State Bank Secure OTP is an OTP generation app for verifying transactions.
Bank of Baroda has two apps—Baroda M-Connect and Baroda mPassBook. To register, you have to visit the bank’s ATM or branch. In line with its existing customers’ needs who want a passbook, the bank also has an app for this—it provides details of all types of transactions.
Bank of India offers two apps—StarToken NG and BOI Mobile banking—both of which allow basic banking services. Punjab National Bank‘s PNB mBanking and PNB MobiEase give basic banking services. Canara Bank has three apps CanMobile, Canara mWallet, and Canara e-infobook. CanMobile is a basic banking app whereas e-infobook gives updates such as passbook information. Canara mWallet allows you to load money and pay bills real time.
Problem of plenty
With so many apps and wallets, is it a case of too much supply? Banks and analysts say that multiple apps are launched to address different sets of customers. “This is done to basically focus on targeted customers. It all depends on use case,” said Saurabh Tripathi, partner and director at Boston Consulting Group. For instance, ICICI Bank’s PayZapp focuses on card related transactions and shopping, while HDFC Bank’s Chillr focuses on sending money to a contact. However, often, there are overlapping features as well. “This is usually the case with public sector banks as the idea is outsourced. Some level of internal check needs to be done to maintain a difference,” said Tripathi, who believes that banks should offer multiple apps and launch them one after the other as each customer is different, and it is difficult to predict which will work.
Some apps are for all customers, such as Lime and Pocket. But to use some apps, such as MobileBanking and Yes Mobile, you need to have an account with the parent bank. However, this is likely to change soon.
According to a report by JM Financial Institutional Securities, once unified payments interface by National Payments Corp. of India Ltd becomes operational, multiple bank accounts will be linked to a single banking app provided by the payments service provider, and there will be no need to have multiple apps.
But till that happens, the most efficient way to choose from the crowded space is to first define your banking needs and then find app(s) to meet those needs.
