Media Release

St.George Bank has launched its Third Generational Tablet Banking App equipped with innovative new features such as the ability to make payments with just one touch. The redesigned app is supported by new research that reveals Australians are looking for quicker and easy ways to do their mobile banking.

The St.George Mobile Banking Study 2014 conducted by RFi released today, showed that 75 per cent of Australians rated ease of use as the most important feature of an app, followed with 63 per cent ranking the range of tasks available, and 33 per cent on the ability to personalise the experience.

The study of 1132 Australians shows the most common uses for banking apps are to check account balances (99%), followed closely by making payments or transferring money (96%), and managing credit cards (57%).

Dhiren Kulkarni, CIO at St.George says the Third Generation Tablet Banking App has been designed with customers at heart, to deliver a brilliant mobile banking experience when and where it suits them.

The findings of the new study signals Australians are looking for more convenience as their uptake of mobile banking increases along with the fast growth of tablet banking, with tablet ownership doubling over the past two years for St.George customers.

“The app is built for people on the go with richness and functionality to suit a wide range of users of all ages, including the 50+ age group where we’ve seen a big increase with 38 per cent now doing their banking on mobile devices,” Dhiren said.

Travis Tyler, Head of Mobile at St.George says the Third Generation Tablet Banking App delivers a contextual banking experience to meet each customers’ individual needs such as a personalised home screen and prompts to activate their card or renew their term deposit.

“The study shows 72 per cent of St.George customers’ value ease of use as the most important feature for mobile banking apps. We’ve listened to our customers and developed a gesture-based function with intuitive swipe-touch navigation to provide a seamless and easy user experience.

“In addition, the study showed that 66 per cent of our customers say one touch payments is the second most important mobile app feature and we’re excited to bring this function to life in the app so our customers can save time in their busy lives and make payments with just one touch,” he said.

Third Generation Tablet Banking App key features include;

• Multiple ways to make payments including the ability to make payments with just one touch
• Intuitive gesture-based swipe-touch navigation with hold, drag and drop options
• A new temporary hold feature to protect misplaced, lost or stolen credit and debit cards
• Fully integrated address book with all device contacts, billers and payees
• A wide range of customer service options such as the ability to dispute a credit card transaction, alert the bank if you’re going overseas or set up SMS or email alerts

“The Third Generation Tablet Banking App makes our customers’ mobile banking experience faster and easier than before and St.George will continue to be at the forefront of technology and innovation by rolling-out the app for mobile devices early next year,” Dhiren said.

St.George Mobile Banking Study 2014 key findings

• 75% of respondents ranked ease of use as their most important feature for mobile & tablet banking
• The most common uses for banking apps are to check account balances (99%), making payments or transferring money (96%), and managing credit cards (57%)
• 72% of St.George customers say ease of use is most important features, followed by one click payments (66%)
• 78% of St.George customers say if the app was simpler and easier to use, they would use it for a broader range of tasks
• Over 50s are more interested in the look and feel of the app than those younger (39%)
• Ease of use is consistently the most important feature across all age groups with 77% of those under 49 stating it as their no 1 feature

Media contact:
Dianne Edwards
St.George Bank
P: 02 9236 3521
M: 0405 623 014
E: edwardsdi@stgeorge.com.au