A report frowns on lack of responsiveness to client needs in the apps crafted by many of the world's private banks, and fires a warning about security at a time of heightened concerns over hacking attacks.

A survey of almost 60 mobile apps of 34 prominent wealth management firms finds that three-quarters (75 per cent) of them provide apps for wealthy clients but many don’t keep up with customer needs. Worryingly, almost a third of firms lag in providing top-notch security features, which is particularly concerning amid almost daily reports of hacking attacks.

The report, Mobile Apps For Wealth Management 2017 – How Innovation Beats Complacency, is by MyPrivateBanking Research, the Switzerland-based organisation tracking such issues in the wealth space.

Many wealth managers consistently fall short in providing advanced portfolio features, interactive portfolio tools, robust security and contact features, the report said.

However, despite the often critical tone of the report, MyPrivateBanking Research picked out five banks it said score highly for their apps: Credit Suisse (68 points out of a possible maximum of 80); UBS (68); BNP Paribas (65); Investec (65) and Societe Generale (59).

The report said UBS retains its top-spot ranking for the second year in a row; it “proves yet again that it leads the way when it comes to innovation such as apps, offer tailored investment advice based on clients’ portfolios and generated via robo-advising elements”. The study also had high praise for the other top-five banks for their app offerings.

“As this ranking shows, wealth managers who have retained their top ranking are those who innovate and constantly push forward with releasing new features and transforming their mobile app offerings,” Onawa Lacewell, analyst for MyPrivateBanking Research, said. “However, on average, wealth managers have chosen complacency over innovation; this is especially problematic given that the digital wealth management industry as a whole is in transition,” she continued.

Not good enough
Banks haven’t progressed sufficiently in core areas of security and privacy, concerns that are all the more urgent at a time of cyber-security breaches, as seen recently in the massive attack on Equifax, the credit-status monitoring business. For example, over recent years, MyPrivateBanking said there has been a “decline in the provision of core features”. In 2017, only 54 per cent of wealth managers offered features such as trading or advanced portfolio tools, compared to 76 per cent who did so a year earlier.

More than 30 per cent of the wealth managers questioned failed to include state-of-the-art security features, described by the authors of the study as a “worrying trend that, from a client’s view, calls into question the trustworthiness of the industry as a whole”.

One of the few rays of light, the report said, is the provision of content for marketing and client retention as well as more advanced contact features. Platform integration has also increased, it said.

MyPrivateBanking Research said firms must advance in the following areas: Personalization, the trend towards advisors as financial “coaches” and a rising stress on added-value features.

The other banks in the poll were ABN Amro, ANZ, Barclays, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Charles Schwab, China Merchant’s Bank, Citi Private Bank, Coutts, Credit Suisse, Danske Bank, DBS Private Bank, Deutsche Bank, First National Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING, Investec,  JP Morgan Private Bank, Julius Baer, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Nedbank, Bank of Singapore (OCBC), Pictet, RBC, Société Générale Private Banking, Standard Chartered Private Bank, TD Bank, UBS, Unicredit/Hypovereinsbank, US Trust, Vontobel, and Wells Fargo.

The report evaluated apps against 53 criteria and grouped nine main categories to evaluate the apps: availability of mobile apps; core functions for clients; security; content and features for client retention and marketing; contact features; technical features and support; innovative app features, platform integration and best practices.