Study reveals areas for finance apps to focus on to satisfy consumer demands

The study carried out by app developer Applause in conjunction with finance industry publication Payments Cards and Mobile did, though, find wide-ranging consumer ratings of finance apps already available in the US market. The research looked at how consumers rated nearly 6,500 finance apps available through Google Play and the Apple App Store.

US consumers said "elegance, stability, security and satisfaction" are "the four primary areas of concern" when it comes to finance apps, according to the Payments Cards and Mobile report.

"The top ten apps do not share much in terms of category, coming from banks, personal finance and taxes," the report said. "What the apps do share are passionate customers who sing the praises of their experiences because they make it easier to check account balances, manage expenses, do your taxes and more."

"Most of the apps with declining user sentiment scores were vulnerable to buggy releases, an inability to achieve feature parity with faster competition and rising consumer expectations," it said.

Recent YouGov research, which was commissioned by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, found that more UK consumers need to be educated about the benefits of innovations in the banking and payments market.

At the time, financial services and technology law expert John Salmon of Pinsent Masons said the YouGov survey did highlight a growing willingness from consumers to accept innovative services in making transactions if provided with better security. According to the study, 39% of UK adults would feel most comfortable conducting financial activity online, such as online banking or shopping, if multi-factor authentication was used.

The forthcoming PSD2 reforms and innovation in the payments market will be discussed at a global payments conference being hosted by Pinsent Masons on Tuesday 17 November in London.