As customers embrace wealth management apps, client satisfaction lags behind

The J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Wealth Management Mobile App Satisfaction Study reports that while customers use wealth management apps more the pandemic, client satisfaction lags behind other consumer financial institutions such as credit card companies, retail banks and insurance companies.

Why should we care?
J.D. Power reports that despite increased use, overall satisfaction score for wealth apps is 849 on a 1,000-point scale, compared to credit cards (865), insurance (864) and banking (852). It claims companies in the space are missing an opportunity to use wealth management apps as “front door” mechanisms to encourage clients to interact with advisers. Interaction, J.D. Power argues, can foster greater loyalty and retention. The study also found that adviser contact through apps is low industry-wide, as only 35% of profiled wealth apps offered chat functionality and 41% support secure messaging. “[Companies] need to spend the time making sure that this channel is addressing customer needs, easy to navigate and seamlessly integrated into all facets of their business,” said Amit Aggarwal, senior director of digital solutions at J.D. Power.