It's not enough anymore for banks to have functional, easy-to-use websites and mobile apps. Financial institutions have to design digital spaces that are intuitive, customizable and offer a distinctive tone to resonate with consumers, recent Arizent research shows.
As Covid changes the physical branch experience, AI and other technology evolves and younger generations begin needing financial services, users now care more about their banks' digital experiences,
The survey polled 5,500 bank users on which sensory elements, like visual and auditory brand cues, were most important to their experience with a financial institution. "Appealing digital spaces" was the second most popular factor, ahead of appealing physical spaces in sixth place, seeing the bank in the community in ninth and seeing advertising from the bank in eleventh.
Brian Elkins, head of the financial services practice at Monigle, said banks have been focused on creating secure and reliable ways for users to access different functions, but are now looking to create personalized interactions that engage with clients.
"What we're seeing with the financial institutions that we work with is…thinking through UX and UI in a much more human-centric way, and thinking about design as the primary communication tool," Elkins said. "Using things like type hierarchy and color hierarchy to help guide people through the experience...It's not just a logo or color. It's about a whole visual world."
Many banks now offer effective ways to complete banking tasks like depositing checks, transferring money and paying bills. But where banks have opportunities to stand out is through their aesthetic choices and voice.
Ed Moskowitz, executive vice president at digital marketing firm Multimedia Solutions, said if a bank is satisfied with a website that looks streamlined and simple, it will look just like 4,000 other competitors' websites.
Banking, versus other industries like health care, has more possible personas or types of users, which means a greater amount of personalization required, Moskowitz said, so banks should create a unique experience for customers.
"The website is an opportunity to creatively differentiate from the rest of the pack," Moskowitz said. "It's not enough just to ante up. You want to be game-changing. Too many banks are comfortable with a clean design."
Most companies have distinct brand identities, but banks can also stand out through the voice of their copy, how much they personalize products and how their digital products compare to other commonly-used apps and websites. Elkins and Moskowitz said banks sit on a trove of data that they should use to outline websites and apps that resonate with individuals.
Caleb Schmidt, head of experience design at U.S. Bank, said that the goal is for digital spaces to feel intuitive. U.S. Bank embeds designers into each digital experience product team, and collaborates with its customers to find which visual elements work, or don't work, for each interaction. Schmidt added that people shouldn't stop to think about the visual elements of a website or app while doing their tasks.
"Design is a whole lot more than just the way something looks," Schmidt said. "It's really about the way that something functions. At the same time, the aesthetic and the way that somebody interacts with that experience comes down to the visuals. We say that design is almost invisible, in the sense that it should feel like it wasn't designed at all. You only get there through painstaking effort and thoughtfulness around what people need."
This can influence decisions about iconography and images, the size of buttons, and colors. For example, it makes more sense for a notification flagging an upcoming bill to be red than green to bring more attention to it, Schmidt said. Moskowitz added that animation and imagery should enhance design, without distracting customers.
U.S. Bank recently developed and began rolling out a font called "U.S. Bank circular." Schmidt said the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based bank created the typeface over the last six months to create a cohesive brand, but still differ from other companies. The newly-created typeface is one element that Schmidt said helps represent U.S. Bank to its users.
"[Design] has a big role in keeping customers engaged, both in the moment, but also long term with the bank," Schmidt said. "One of the things that we've learned is, especially from a younger generation perspective, they want to do business with companies that share their core values. One of the ways in which we can help represent core values is through some of those visual elements and through some of the digital experiences that we put in front of them."
Many banks want to create a user experience that feels familiar to customers.
Adam Wolf, head of design at Fifth Third, said the bank redesigned its mobile app last year to be cohesive with its brand, but also customizable for users. The Cleveland, Ohio-based bank made adjustments such as resizing buttons in the app, allowing customers to change the typescale and introducing a widget capability for iOS so users can view their account balance.
Younger customers want personalized engagement, including in their music playlists, experts said at American Banker's recent Digital Banking conference.
"From an aesthetic perspective, we desire this to fit into [our customers'] world," Wolf said. "We want this to be felt as more of their app than ours, but we also want to complement our brand."
A crucial part of design is a company's voice, which comes through in its copy, said the experts and designers. For example, Moskowitz said there's a difference between a button that says, "Let's get started!" and a button that says, "Apply here." Elkins said using the right tone is especially important now that many consumer interactions with banks are on their own at home, instead of at a branch with a banker.
Because banks work with customers through tasks that could be celebratory, emotional or neutral, it's important that they tailor their tone for different users and tasks while still maintaining a consistent voice, Moskowitz said.
Schmidt said U.S. Bank also tries to add celebratory moments, like by adding a visual that pops up when customers complete tasks like depositing checks.
Wolf said that Fifth Third also tries to use imagery and visuals to mitigate emotional hot points, like an overdue bill. He said that banks need to toe the line between empathizing with the customer, and ensuring they understand their financial situation.
"We really do try and empathize with those customers," Wolf said. "And that's a tough balance… We in the design space have a responsibility to the customer to both deliver a great experience and help them as much as possible, but also hold them accountable for the bank's protection."
Both Schmidt and Wolf mentioned that the bar for digital products isn't just set by other banks and financial institutions. The leaders said that users are benchmarking their website and mobile experiences with other trusted sites, like Amazon, Netflix and Apple.
Inspiration from the big tech sites comes in forms of feelings and visuals. Wolf mentioned that Fifth Third designed a yet-to-be-released visual to track the delivery of cards that was inspired by package tracking graphics from Amazon and pizza delivery websites.
Schmidt said U.S. Bank strives to be as trusted and reliable as big tech websites, while maintaining its brand identity.
"As a bank, one of the things that we want to instill is confidence from our customers," Schmidt said. "That's something that we have to constantly balance against some of the other things that you see out there in the industry that, even from a fintech company perspective, might be more fun or engaging or light hearted….We want our brand to present that stability, that confidence, that credibility, that secureness. Money is a very significant thing."
