For over a decade, we’ve worked with long-standing banks and built new ones from the ground up. Whether it’s world-leading institutions like Standard Chartered and Raiffeisen Bank, or award-winning scaleups like Twisto, we’ve seen dozens of clients succeed. Often, we’ve found it’s the mindset and cooperation, not just the technology, that can make or break a product’s success. There’s no perfect formula, but we’ve identified seven must-haves that banks should look for to achieve long-lasting customer satisfaction and stay ahead of the future.

Here’s the things to look out for before we align with a new team:

Focus on seamless onboarding

In 2023, there’s no excuse for your onboarding to be a headache. One of the most common issues digital banks can face is abandoned applications – whether the information needed was repetitive or the time window was too restrictive.

One bank that simplified this process is Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, who launched an all-in-one financial app, Mox. The onboarding process is simple and efficient: the customer can join at any time. This has proved to be a huge success. Within the first five months of launching, Mox picked up over 80,000 new accounts (1% of the entire population). 55% of which were opened outside traditional banking hours.

And – look for teams that are aware of more than one way to improve onboarding. The significant trend is towards automation – but implementation and refinement matters. We helped leading Czech fintech Twisto improve its registration speed using this method. Customers now benefit from same-day onboarding, whereas the old process took several days. Scalable and efficient solutions like this can be a game-changer.

Mobile-first mindset

It’s become clear most of the world is moving towards mobile banking. You need a fintech provider that’s well schooled in product definition and development that considers mobile versions as part of your primary product. Not just the sideshow.

While this may feel daunting, it represents a huge opportunity as well. Banks who embrace technology can leap ahead of the competition, securing loyalty – especially with the next generation of customers. Just take a look at the latest banking and saving app in India – Galgal made a financial advisor that fits in your pocket, putting a truly unique and friendly fintech product on the market.

Take Gen Z seriously

Gen-Z demands a lot from their financial services. Overall, they are not  impressed. It’s not an easy audience to please and it presents some interesting challenges.

Get around this by finding a product development partner who knows how to lay out a solid product strategy – complete with user testing and iteration based on audience  feedback. Other green flags to look for are partners that don’t get bogged down in insisting on certain features – sometimes, the feature you think will stand out might not be what your audience really needs.

Remember that every Gen-Z alive today is younger than online retailer Amazon. For them, there was no time before the internet.

A 360 view

There is just no one-size fits all solution, but the demand for all-in-one digital banking products is high.
Customers today want to complete many different financial tasks within the same platform. Apps which don’t think ahead and offer these capabilities are likely to fall behind. 

The top five services customers look for within the app are savings, travel, insurance, electronic gadgets, and tax.  This is why financial one-stop-shops are well suited for the future, and with the right scalable technology and a well-tested design in place, you’re sure to standout on a saturated market.

Expertise in regtech

This speciality and expertise is worth singling out as an important indicator of a solid team. Compliance teams today have to struggle to keep up with regulations such as GDPR, MiFID II and PSD2. 65% of regulated firms anticipate more regulatory obligations in 2023 and 2024, but only 50% have plans to invest more in regtech solutions. Not only that, but factors like increasing digitization and fraudulent activity are leading to a massive growth in the regtech market.

Compliance as a service isn’t going out of style any time soon. Anything that makes it more affordable and flexible is going to be worth it. So look for development providers that are factoring in regulations from the start.

Writing code like there IS a tomorrow 

Even the best technology gets old. Banks should look for experienced engineers who continuously  improve the service.

Major issues like sustainability will continue to be a key focus across all industries in the coming years. Digital innovations which help customers reduce their negative impact will be valuable. For some inspiration, just take a look at Doconomy’s carbon calculator, a project Vacuumlabs was proud to be a part of. 

Technology can predict other trends too. Leading Austrian bank Raiffeisen does this well with a behavior simulator for live banking interfaces. Don’t be afraid of trying new technologies and exploring trends thoroughly – the right product experts will help you identify and implement the best new features as your business grows.

Using Service Design to engage employees, not just customers

When your staff understand what the customers need and how the product works behind the scenes, they’re more motivated. They come up with improvements of their own, while customers benefit from superb customer service. Research shows that companies that lead in customer experience have 60% more ‘engaged’ employees.

Besides, maximizing motivation with next-level digital customer service boosts satisfaction both in and out of the office.

To build successful all-in-one apps like Mox, it’s critical to build your cooperation with experts the right way. These seven angles of approach are a great start for what you should be looking for when you decide to work with an external product development company.