USAA was one of the first to offer mobile check deposit and was an early user of app-based intelligent assistants. The San Antonio bank and insurance company for
The $117.4 billion-asset company modernized its app using native mobile user interface languages. It significantly ramped up the number of personalized insights it generates and is more intentional about where and when they are displayed. A new search tool uses natural language processing so customers can type or speak their search terms using casual phrasing and be understood.
USAA is a rarity among financial institutions in that it serves a niche audience, the military, and rolls banking and insurance services into one app. But the upgrades it made align with what many banks have on their road maps.
“Personalization is where banks are trying to go,” said Susan Foulds, managing director of competitive intelligence firm Keynova Group.
One upgrade is the personalization platform. This feeds insights that show up as on-screen alerts as well as conversational interactions with the enterprise virtual assistant, or EVA for short.
“Personalization is key in terms of continuing to tailor to an audience of one,” said Ameesh Vakharia, chief strategy and brand officer at USAA. “The faster we can get to predicting what they need ahead of time is a big area of focus.”
Users will see the most important nudges when they log in, such as reminders to set a travel notice so card transactions go through, or an unfinished loan application if the user has stepped away. When a member calls with a simple transaction that can be accomplished in the app, such as raising a debit card limit, USAA offers to ping their device with instructions. The appropriate link to complete this action will appear prominently at the top of the app’s home page upon login.
The personalized insights cover more traditional banking matters, such as warnings that a bill is about to come due, as well as ones that are more tailored to an audience that is spread across the world. These include evacuation alerts in the case of a catastrophe, advice about what to bring in such a calamity, and tips on how to prepare for and file an insurance claim. If a member is getting married, USAA may shoot over advice about how to combine finances.
The order in which features appear on the home screen is also intentional.
“Having [banking and insurance] in one place is core to us,” said Vakharia. But because banking tends to be a high-frequency, low-intensity kind of need, the company elevated this section to the top of the homepage so people can easily move money, check their balances or deposit a check.
The insurance component is further down because members log in less frequently for those matters. However, when members are filing a claim, that activity will rise to the top.
Overall, the number of personalized insights came in at 50 use cases (for instance, a warning that a bill is past due) before the app update, and now sits at 120. The next step is to reach 200 use cases.
In the 2022 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power that surveyed more than 100,000 retail banking customers of the largest banks in the U.S., respondents favored advice and alerts when asked how they would like their bank to personalize the banking experience. For example, 46% of respondents named “help you avoid fees” and 37% chose “send you account alerts.” Only 12% wanted a periodic call to review accounts and needs.
Another feature is USAA’s new embedded search function. This lets customers type or talk using natural language and prefills possible search phrases as they key in words. The ATM locator will now specify if the machine is in a building, on the corner of a street or on the side of a building, and flag ones that are out of service.
The bank says that between the new design and the search feature, 98% of transactions can be performed in one to two taps. Modernizing the app infrastructure took 6.5 seconds off load time.
Foulds finds that only a few of the larger banks that Keynova surveys have truly digital or virtual assistants with skills for a variety of tasks. But she sees that banks are trying to move in the direction of having intelligent digital assistants that do more than serve as chatbots (for instance, that will assist with transactions), as well as offer better embedded search with navigation that uses NLP and machine learning and require fewer taps or screens to complete common actions.
USAA started piloting the new app in the fourth quarter of 2021. The gradual rollout began in 2021 and USAA plans to make this version available to all members by June.
