Ethan Geiling, lead for strategic financial institution partnerships at fintech Plaid, said consumers prefer their banks to offer access to fintech apps during a panel this week at Bank Automation Summit 2025 in Nashville, Tenn.
“I think sometimes from financial institutions, there is this worry that if they made it easy to connect the bank account to all of these fintech apps, the users would stop using the bank and go use all the apps, and that’s actually not the case. It’s just the opposite of that,” Geiling said.
“The more kind of baubles there are on the Christmas tree of the app, the more usage we see and the more engagement we see.”
This is especially true for SMB bank clients, Matthew McCown, executive director of the data and analytics team at J.P. Morgan Payments, said during a separate panel.
“One of the opportunities for banks is to offer a consolidated, one-stop business management portfolio for their clients,” McCown said. “If you help small business owners manage different aspects of their businesses by building more baubles on your digital experience, you can ultimately help them run their businesses more efficiently and effectively.”
Super apps
Demand for more app capabilities within one bank account is also increasing in the retail banking segment, Ronak Doshi, partner at consulting firm Everest Group, told Bank Automation News, adding that “banking-as-a-lifestyle” is the future of financial services.
Banks are now building “super apps” that embed banking products and lifestyle services to accommodate growing consumer demand for an end-to-end experience, Doshi said.
For example, JPMorgan Chase in April 2024 launched the Chase Media Solutions platform, which integrates the bank’s existing mobile banking capabilities with consumer transaction insights. The platform enables JPMorgan Chase to help business clients advertise while consumers can access personalized offers, the bank previously stated.
While banking apps are becoming more complex, their ability to deliver personalized, consolidated banking experiences ultimately reduces friction for consumers, he said.
“Banking customers in a few regions can switch their utility platform or buy movie tickets or manage their investments and financial wellness all out of their banking app,” Doshi said.
Follow coverage of the Bank Automation Summit at finainews.com.
