Nearly half of Canadian retail bank customers frequently use mobile banking apps, yet banks haven’t ramped up their offerings enough to satisfy customers, according to the J.D. Power 2018 Canada Banking App Satisfaction Study.

In fact, overall customer satisfaction with banking apps decreased 11 points this year, just as more and more customers adopted digital as their primary interaction channel.

“The large scale push toward digital transformation by Canadian banks has had the desired effect of moving more customers onto more cost-effective digital channels but, in some cases, that transition is coming at the expense of customer satisfaction,” says Bob Neuhaus, senior director of financial services at J.D. Power, in a statement.

“As mobile apps rapidly become the primary interaction channel for retail bank customers, it’s become critical for banks to make sure their customers completely understand all the features their apps include and continue to add value through the digital channel,” he adds. “Currently, fewer than 70% of customers in North America indicate they have a complete understanding of the feature-rich apps being offered by their banks.”

The ability to understand app features had the largest impact on overall satisfaction among banking app users. A complete understanding of the apps was associated with an 84-point improvement in overall satisfaction with banking apps. However, fewer than 68% of North American customers indicated a complete understanding of all features in their banking and credit card apps.

The highest performing apps in the study possess a combination of high functionality and high performance, including features such as multiple security login options, built-in chat functionality and account management functions, all of which are user-friendly and well-designed.

Based on a 1,000 point scale, the Canadian banks performed in the following order:

  • Royal Bank of Canada, 832
  • Toronto-Dominion Bank, 826
  • Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 825
  • Bank of Nova Scotia, 817
  • Bank of Montreal, 812

The 2018 Canadian Banking App Satisfaction Study measures overall satisfaction with mobile banking applications based on ease of navigation, appearance, clarity of information, range of services, and availability of key information. The study is based on responses from 1,741 retail bank customers nationwide, conducted in April and May.