This publication can exclusively report on new research on the state of the world of mobile banking apps, and who are the leaders and who are the laggards.

Efforts by global banks and wealth managers to provide mobile apps specifically for high net worth clients has stalled since 2014, according to new research that also points to an alarming lack of security focus among many organisations when it comes to these offerings.

Just two-thirds of the mobile banking apps analysed by MyPrivateBanking Research include security disclosures, which the Swiss firm says is “somewhat shocking” given escalating threats from hackers and fraudsters that clients of all levels of wealth – but particularly the high net worth – face today.

Echoing this, just 15 per cent of the wealth managers assessed use more innovative technology such as secure fingerprint authentication, voice control or contextualisation, according to the report, entitled Mobile Apps for Wealth Management 2015 – Innovation Leaders and Innovation Laggards.

Overall, the report said there are indeed innovation leaders, but also innovation laggards, among the global leaders in wealth management. The study looked at around 70 mobile apps from 30 wealth managers globally and found that 63 per cent provide at least one app that caters specifically to high net worth clients – an unchanged amount from last year.

“Overall, we’ve found that European providers have on average slightly better mobile apps for HNWIs than US-based providers,” Steffen Binder, research director at the firm, told this publication. “Out of the top 10 banks in our ranking, six banks are based in Europe. Banks from Asia and Africa show a mixed picture. The most important trend seems to be that universal banks, who also have strong retail divisions, are stronger than pure-play private banks. This is mainly due to the fact that they can leverage their strong retail apps for wealthy clients, too.”

He added: “Despite the fact that mobile devices are more popular among high net worth individuals than PCs and notebooks, banks are still focusing their mobile strategies mainly on their retail clients. Banks have not yet fully grasped that their wealthy clients are eager, ready and sophisticated users of mobile devices, especially when it comes to financial matters.”

The winners: leaders and laggards

Although ten banks out of 30 were awarded over two-thirds of the possible points in MyPrivateBanking's ranking of mobile apps, nine earned only half or less of the possible points.

Claiming first and joint-second place respectively are BNP Paribas (with 65 out of a maximum of 80 points), and Royal Bank of Canada and Credit Suisse (with 61). MyPrivateBanking noted that RBC has improved by 19 ranks compared to the 2014 survey.

Deutsche Bank, FNB and Société Générale share fourth place with a total score of 59 points each. The UK's Coutts was the only pure play wealth manager to make it into the top ten.

Among other findings, it emerged that portfolio analysis and security trading remain “the pariahs” of global mobile banking app services services. Banks achieved on average 61 per cent of the maximum points for offering portfolio analysis and an even lower share of 53 per cent provide clients with security trading features. Again, these numbers remain almost unchanged from 2014.

In light of its 2015 research, MyPrivateBanking recommends that banks and wealth managers consider making key changes to their mobile apps including providing one offering specifically for HNW clients. While some retail mobile banking apps may indeed be helpful for wealthy clients, too, the firm believes that every private bank/wealth manager should offer at least one exclusive app for this client base. It also highly advises placing a "laser-beam" focus on security requirements by providing biometrical access mechanisms, for example.

“Unfortunately, most banks are offering the same apps to retail, affluent and HNWI clients,” Binder told WealthBriefing. “Some banks provide HNWI apps with a different 'skin' in order to differentiate it. Some banks offer specific apps for their wealthy clients. These apps are typically strong on features like portfolio analysis, research content and personalized means of communication (like a chat function to get in touch with the personal advisor).”

MyPrivateBanking also recommends introducing tools that go beyond transactions and information features, such as voice control, client loyalty programmes, risk assessment, portfolio rebalancing and portfolio optimisation.

The wealth managers analysed for the research were: ABN Amro, Barclays, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Charles Schwab, Citi Private Bank, Coutts, Credit Suisse, Danske Bank, DBS, Deutsche Bank, FNB, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Hypovereinsbank, ING, Investec, JP  Morgan, Julius Baer, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, RBC, Société Générale, Standard Chartered, TD Bank, UBP, UBS, Unicredit, Vontobel and Wells Fargo.

They were evaluated against 53 criteria, grouped into eight categories: availability of mobile apps; core functions for clients; security and privacy; support features; content and features for client retention and marketing; technical features and support; strategy and navigation; and best practices.