In today’s rapidly changing digital environment, mobile apps have become essential for managing both personal lifestyles and financial activities.
By Eshmael Mpabanga, client account lead within the financial services practice at Accenture, Africa
However, despite their critical role, many banks find themselves caught in what we call the “vicious app trap.” This trap arises from the tension between the seamless, relevant experiences banks aim to offer their customers, the technological constraints they face, and the organisational rigidities that prevent effective execution.
Accenture works with banks across the globe, and the challenges it encounters are remarkably consistent. However, simply acknowledging these issues is not enough. To achieve real transformation, banks must take immediate and decisive action to break free from this trap and improve their sales and service operations.
The vicious app trap is a multifaceted challenge involving:
- Customer expectations: Today’s customers expect a mobile banking experience that is intuitive, seamless, and deeply personalised. With the rise of digital-native services and on-demand solutions across industries, customers have grown accustomed to having information and services at their fingertips – whenever and wherever they need them. The mobile app is no longer seen as just a tool to access accounts or check balances; it has become the primary interface through which customers manage their finances, investments, and even broader lifestyle needs such as budgeting, saving, and shopping. This shift has elevated expectations to new heights. Customers want their mobile banking experience to reflect their individual needs and preferences, offering tailored services that anticipate their financial decisions. They demand frictionless interactions, easy navigation, and immediate access to relevant insights, from personalised financial advice to automated notifications about spending habits. The challenge for banks is how to meet these heightened expectations and deliver an experience that feels intuitive and engaging, while also ensuring that the underlying banking services remain secure and efficient.
- Technological constraints: Despite the growing need for innovative mobile experiences, many banks are still burdened by legacy systems and fragmented technology stacks that impede their ability to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. These outdated systems were often designed for a different era of banking – before mobile technology and digital transformation became central to customer engagement. As a result, many banks struggle to integrate modern mobile solutions with legacy back-end infrastructure, which can cause delays, system incompatibility, and a lack of flexibility. This technological lag creates a significant disparity between what customers expect and what banks can realistically deliver. While new technologies – such as cloud computing, AI, and machine learning – offer the promise of advanced capabilities, integrating these innovations with older systems can be a slow and complex process. Additionally, many banks face challenges in scaling their mobile apps to accommodate the growing number of services and functionalities that customers now expect. Without a unified, adaptable tech stack, banks can find themselves perpetually playing catch-up, unable to provide the seamless, innovative mobile experiences their customers demand.
- Organisational hurdles: Even with the right technology, many banks find it difficult to execute a unified mobile strategy due to internal organisational hurdles. Many financial institutions still operate with siloed structures where different departments – such as IT, marketing, and customer service – function separately rather than collaborating toward common goals. This lack of coordination makes it difficult to align resources and priorities across the organisation, resulting in fragmented efforts that fail to deliver the desired mobile experience. Moreover, resistance to change is often deeply ingrained within organisational cultures. Banks, particularly large, established ones, tend to have long-standing processes, hierarchies, and legacy ways of working. Change – especially rapid, technology-driven change – can be seen as a threat to existing power structures, creating reluctance to adopt new practices. This resistance can hinder the implementation of mobile initiatives, delay decision-making, and lead to inefficiencies. Even if the necessary tools and platforms are in place, without the organisational will and agility to embrace innovation, banks can find themselves stuck in a cycle of missed opportunities and slow progress.
Moving beyond admiration: A call to action
Banks must go beyond merely acknowledging challenges and take actionable steps to drive transformation. The first step is adopting a customer-centric design approach, focusing on mobile app features that enhance the customer’s financial wellbeing. Key elements such as personalisation, ease of use, and real-time support are essential for creating a meaningful customer experience.
Next, banks need to modernise their technology by investing in flexible, scalable platforms. Leveraging cloud computing, AI, and machine learning can help deliver more intelligent and responsive mobile experiences that meet evolving customer needs.
An agile transformation is also crucial. By embracing agile methodologies, banks can break down silos and foster cross-functional collaboration. This enables rapid iteration and continuous improvement, ensuring mobile apps stay aligned with customer expectations and technological advancements.
Lastly, strategic partnerships with technology providers can accelerate innovation. Collaborating with external experts can help banks access cutting-edge solutions and expertise that may not be available in-house.