In the six years since Apple
launched its first iPhone, smartphones have imbued consumers with always-on,
always-with-me, real-time expectations. This creates an urgent need for the
financial services industry to break free of 1980s thinking about personal
finance management and redefine it for the mobile mass market in the 21st
century, according to Javelin Strategy & Research.
Selected Features Consumers Want in
21st Century PFM Tool
Javelin estimates only 21% of U.S.
consumers-or more than 49 million adults-mix and match current PFM features
from software like Quicken, online banking, and various websites. But PFM is
primed to evolve from niche products for do-it-yourself budgeting and investing
to virtually ubiquitous, specialized online and mobile tools that will help
Americans make smarter everyday financial decisions on the go.
Once again, consumers reinforced
that they crave a way to view all their account balances in one place, with
nearly half of the U.S. consumers (49%) prioritizing this feature over all the
other PFM services. This is a foundational PFM building block that not only can
strongly influence where customers turn first to oversee their finances, but it
also can give financial institutions and other PFM players an intimate portrait
of their customers' ability to buy, borrow, repay, save, and invest.
"The industry cannot capitalize on
the power of personal finance management until it breaks free of 1980s thinking
about who uses PFM and why," says Mark Schwanhausser, director of Multichannel
Financial Services at Javelin Strategy & Research. "Americans of all
varieties have a healthy appetite for PFM tools that will stretch their dollars
further-not just in banking but also when they are shopping and rely on mobile
devices."
For both privacy and security
reasons, many consumers are apprehensive about adopting PFM services. Financial
institutions and PFM players must counter these legitimate concerns by acting
like a fiduciary, providing valuable PFM services, building trust, and
safeguarding personal information. PFM players can build trust by providing
daily acts of helpfulness, by deepening engagement and proving reliability, and
by demonstrating a commitment to transparency about how PFM data will be used
to benefit the customer.
https://www.javelinstrategy.com/news/1394/92/Nearly-Half-of-U-S-Consumers-Want-to-View-All-Financial-Accounts-in-One-Place/d,pressRoomDetail
[This article was posted on March 12, 2013, on the website of ABA Banking Journal, www.ababj.com.]
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