One of the biggest impediments for banks in acing customer service and user experience is being unable to seamlessly manage cross-product, cross-channel interactions.
Bank of America is hoping to bridge that gap, albeit in a small way, by allowing its clients to move seamlessly between Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Merrill Edge, and U.S. Trust mobile apps without having to re-authenticate.
The feature, built in-house, also will provide consumers with a personalized cashflow analysis along with income and spending insights across their banking and brokerage accounts.
“The new feature is part of a broader approach designed to make it easier for clients to manage their banking and investing activities in one place,” according to yesterday’s release.
Of course, the need to seamlessly and efficiently link different banking products is an ongoing issue that all banks in the country face. This is largely because customer data is siloed and compartmentalized according to different products.
Bob Neuhaus, financial services consultant at research firm J.D. Power, put it this way:
“When you call one department of your bank, and the customer service person is not aware that you have a different product with the same bank, or if that employee cannot seamlessly make the connection, it makes the customer feel like their bank doesn’t know them.”
The same is true for mobile banking, he said. “This,” Neuhaus said, “results in negative customer satisfaction.”
Neuhaus told Bank innovation that Bank of America had the largest mobile conversion – more than 50% of its users are on the bank’s mobile app. Yet, in a recent report he authored, BofA ranked fourth out of the six largest banks by deposits, on customer service satisfaction.
And in a separate J.D. Power report focused solely on mobile app satisfaction, BofA scored a few points below the industry average and ranked six out of 11 banks.
Linking these various accounts on BofA’s mobile app could improve the customer UX and satisfaction.
Michelle Moore, head of digital banking at Bank of America, said in a statement emailed to Bank Innovation.
We’re pleased to offer our nearly 26 million mobile users a new suite of innovative features. As we expand our mobile banking app to give clients the digital solutions they need, we remain committed to investing in cutting-edge technology that will help them better pursue their financial goals on their terms.
Andy Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, said in a press statement yesterday:
This latest update will allow our wealth management clients who use mobile apps instant, one-touch access to both banking and investment services. It provides a state-of-the-art mobile platform that allows clients to view their banking and financial assets and activities in one place and to manage the full range of day-to-day transactions with ease.
The bank will also begin rolling out an updated version of its billpay tool later this month. This new version will include the ability to add and maintain automatic payments, search history, and pay multiple bills at once through the mobile banking app.
Currently, Bank of America has over 25 million active mobile users, 35.7 million digital users and over 2 million customers using its virtual assistant Erica.






