Statistics – we are addicted to them. They are as pervasive as salt in our food, integrated in our news and information sources everywhere. Our love of statistics has even inspired a new graphic design specialty geared toward creating a better user experience – infographics.

Our love of statistics, just like salt, can add to our experience or detract from it. Many a business has lost a pile of cash because they believed in true and accurate stats but failed to fully understand their impact or react to the market as a whole. One such company is Atkins Nutritionals. Diets come, diets go and so did Dr. Robert Atkins’ low-carb craze.

There is a definite downside to NOT planning based on the statistics (aka trends). For example, Polaroid ignored the digital signposts.

With all the excitement about mobile, how is the financial service industry supposed to prepare for the future of banking? We put together a list of 18 statistics that we feel you can bank on with your user experience plans.

First, mobile-friendly is a must.

  1. Millennials touch their smartphones 43 times per day, and 30 percent admit they touch more than four devices over the course of 24 hours. July 2014 CMO Council
  2. Mobile growth is larger than tablet growth. Mobile sales annual growth is 186% on average compared to 131% growth for tablets. October 2014, Andrew McClelland and Matt Norbury
  3. Mobile has surpassed traditional media (TV & online) in terms of time spent viewing the screen, February 2014, inmobi

Most financial institutions know the importance of mobile-friendly designs. Yet…

  1. In a survey that included 44 of the top 100 lenders, only 40% feel a mobile strategy is an extremely important IT priority. 2014, Stratmor LOS Technology Insight Survey

If the above insight does not trigger high-alert bells, the stats on banking from the Millennial Disruption Index absolutely should!

  1. Each of of the four leading banks are among the ten least loved brands by Millennials.
  2. 71% of Millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to a bank.
  3. 68% of Millennials believe we will soon access money and pay for things in a completely new way and 33 percent say that they will not need a bank at all.

User experience is more than implementing a responsive web design.

It is not just about having a mobile-friendly user experience it is about having a GOOD experience. It is also about having a consistent user experience and good customer service.

  1. Mobile users are 5 times more likely to abandon a task if a website is not fully mobile optimized. 79% of mobile users will search for another site to complete the task. October 2014, Vikram Verma, Senior Program Manager at Microsoft.
  2. 61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience. December 2012 Latitude
  3. 90% of people switch devices (smartphones, PCs, tablets or TV) to finish a task. August 2012, Google
  4. Nonbank challengers serve customers faster; Square and PayPal allow merchants to accept payments within one day, almost a week faster than most banks. August 2014, McKinsey & Company
  5. As Millennials age into the largest car-buying cohort and Boomers age out, the percentage of shoppers using multiple devices to shop for cars will increase to 80 percent by the year 2020. 2014 Automotive Buyer Influence Study, com

What are the tasks people are accomplishing with their mobile devices?

  1. A third of U.S. smartphone users use their devices at least once a week to research purchases. May 2015, Forrester Research
  2. Companies with self-service programs enjoy an 85% greater year-over-year increase in customer retention rates, compared to those without self-service. February 2014, Aberdeen Group
  3. Smartphone users prefer to use mobile apps over mobile websites for map information, social media updates, e‐mail, and banking information. 2014, Keynote Systems, Inc
  4. By 2016, use of mobile apps will surpass that of Internet domain names, making mobile apps the dominant means of engaging with brands. February 2014, Gartner

You can bank on these facts –

  1. You have 8 seconds to grab your customer’s attention. 2014, SmartFocus and 1to1 Media
  2. From 1965 to 2012, the “topple rate,” at which companies lose their leadership positions, increased by almost 40 percent as digital technology ramped up competition, disrupted industries, and forced businesses to clarify their strategies, develop new capabilities, and transform their cultures. 2013, Deloitte Center for the Edge, 2013 Shift Index metrics: The burdens of the past

In our 30-years of digital experience, we have learned there are 2 important company traits that predict a company’s success – the management mind-set and a customer-centric view. If you map the customer’s journey and listen closely, you will get it right.

What do you think?