Customer satisfaction with banking and credit card apps has increased in the past year as more customers adopt digital as their primary interaction channel with their providers.

According to a pair of new studies by J.D. Power — the 2018 U.S. Banking App Satisfaction Study and the U.S. Credit Card App Satisfaction Study — U.S. banks and credit card companies are achieving the highest customer app satisfaction scores of any industry measured by the company.

Among the findings from the study:

• With 43 percent of bank customers using their mobile app within the past three months, mobile has become a critical interaction channel for the industry.
• Less than 80 percent of customers had a complete understanding of all features offered by their banking and credit card apps, even though this has the greatest effect on satisfaction.
• Customer satisfaction is higher among customers who utilize their apps 12 or more times per month, compared with those who use their apps three or fewer times per month.
• The highest-performing apps in the study combine high functionality and high performance, with features such as multiple security login options, built-in chat functionality and account management functions.

"As mobile apps rapidly become the primary interaction channel for retail bank and credit card customers, getting the formula right in terms of usability, feature sets and customer engagement has become the key to stronger advocacy and loyalty," said Bob Neuhaus, senior director of financial services at J.D. Power. "While overall satisfaction is improving, one area where both banks and credit card companies continue to struggle is in making sure customers completely understand all features."

The 2018 U.S. Banking App Satisfaction and U.S. Credit Card App Satisfaction studies were fielded in April and May, with a total of 6,272 retail bank and credit card customers polled nationwide.