

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Corporate Insight, the leading provider of competitive intelligence and customer experience research to the financial services industry, recently surveyed over 1,500 online investors and found that their use of mobile investing platforms has increased significantly over the last three years. Forty-three percent (43%) of regular brokerage website users1 reported that they accessed their brokerage account via a mobile device at least once in the past 12 months, up from 28% in 2011, the last time the firm surveyed retail investors. The survey data highlight the rising popularity of mobile investing, which is driven in part by the growing number of Millennial brokerage customers, defined as those investors born after 1981. The full results of the survey were just published in Corporate Insight’s new study, the 2014 Investor Survey Report.
The report examines the relationship between retail investors and their brokerage firms, identifying the Web and mobile features that matter most to different types of investors and have the greatest impact on their overall satisfaction. Though mobile brokerage apps are primarily used to check account holdings and balance information across age groups, the data show that younger investors are more likely to place trades via a mobile device than their older counterparts. They also expect more in the way of functionality.
“Younger investors are much more interested in managing their accounts using a mobile platform than older investors are,” said Anneli Lefranc, Senior Research Associate at Corporate Insight and primary author of the study. “For many Millennials, the mobile investing experience is the customer experience.”
Corporate Insight found that Millennial investors value nearly all mobile features – like quotes, account information and trading – more than older investors do. For example, 72% of Millennials consider the availability of account performance figures for the life of their account to be “very” or “extremely important,” versus 41% for Baby Boomers. These younger investors also place a higher value on having access to an app that is specifically designed for their device, as opposed to accessing their account through a mobile-friendly website.
As part of the investor survey, Corporate Insight questioned respondents regarding their level of satisfaction with their primary brokerage firm, as well as their satisfaction with their firms’ website and mobile offerings. The data suggest that the industry is not fully meeting customer expectations when it comes to the mobile experience. Only 37% of mobile users said they are “very satisfied” with their firm’s mobile platform, compared to 53% who said they were “very satisfied” with their firm overall.
“Mobile investing is still a relatively new concept for the brokerage industry, so it’s natural that there will be some growing pains here,” said Silviya Simeonova, Analyst and study co-author. “That said, investment firms must recognize that young customers expect a lot from their brokerage apps. Mobile development must be a top priority if firms are serious about serving tomorrow’s investor.”
For the survey, Corporate Insight conducted over 1,500 online interviews with individual investors who have logged into their brokerage firm’s website at least once in the past six months. Data were tabulated across various demographic segments including assets, income, age and gender, as well as investor type and trading activity. The results, which summarize and assess the impact of key demographic factors on participants’ responses, factor into Corporate Insight’s research methodology for its Brokerage Website Audit benchmarking service. The Brokerage Website Audit analyzes the effectiveness of a brokerage firm’s website and mobile platforms versus competitors’ offerings across nine categories (e.g., Account Information), over 60 sub-categories (e.g., Account Balances) and over 300 attributes (e.g., Balance Data Freshness). The Audit also includes actionable recommendations to help firms improve their Web and mobile investing experience.
“In a brokerage technology landscape that’s constantly changing, it’s critical to understand which Web and mobile features matter most to actual users,” said James McGovern, Vice President of Consulting Services at Corporate Insight. “Our investor survey provides this understanding and shapes the guidance we give to brokerage industry executives through our Audit service.”
To download a preview of Corporate Insight’s 2014 Investor Survey Report, please click here.
About Corporate Insight
Corporate Insight provides competitive intelligence and user experience research to the nation’s leading financial institutions. For over 20 years, the firm has tracked technological developments in the financial services industry, identifying best practices in online banking and investing, online retirement resources, mobile finance, active trading platforms, social media and other emerging areas. Corporate Insight uses live accounts at all of the firms it researches, providing clients with unparalleled, unbiased intelligence on the competition. For additional information on Corporate Insight, please visit www.corporateinsight.com/about-us.
1 Defined as investors who indicated they logged into their primary brokerage firm’s website at least once in the past month.
< Prev | Next > |
---|