Show my two-year-old daughter an iPhone, and she will swipe to turn it on, search for her favorite apps (currently a tie between Netflix and Disney Junior), and search for a show to watch. All in the time it takes to tie your shoes.
My daughter, like her two older brothers, and millions of other kids worldwide, are growing up in the age of smartphones. The technology they have been exposed to has grown so much and so quickly that it can be hard for others, like banks and auto lenders, to catch up.
A study recently released by Experian reveals that Americans spend nearly an hour a day on their smartphones. Like old-school cell phones, most people use their smartphones to talk and text, but there are more and more who use them to surf the internet, take pictures, play games, read, and navigate their way to dinner at that hot new restaurant.
As Americans spend more time on their smartphones, the user experience offered by companies is going to become more important. That means that companies like auto lenders will need to be on their game in terms of interacting with their customers on a mobile device.
Thankfully, it appears as though the financial services industry is on top of its game. Banks scored the highest in customer satisfaction with consumers who are interacting with their financial institutions online or via mobile devices.
“Banks have reengineered their brands by figuring out how to replace a painful process with a pleasant one,” wrote one of the authors of the report.
Interestingly enough, one of the categories that ranked lowest in customer satisfaction was automobile dealers. Consumers are using their mobile device mostly to check prices, according to the report.
A lot has been written about auto finance and the growth of mobile computing. A lot. And while my daughter is still (hopefully) a long way away from buying her first car, auto lenders need to continue to stay on top of this trend, and start working on car dealerships to follow suit.
