App users log in 4x more than web users - why financial advisers need a client app
We’ve continued to monitor this stat throughout 2022 and 2023 and of the 1.875m logins during 2023, 1.28m were from app users. Nearly 70% of logins were from app users.
As an example, in December last year, 142,187 logins were via the app out of 193,319 logins that month. Seems that quite a few clients were checking out their wealth over the Christmas period via their adviser app. Our login ratio was 4.4x for app users against 1.1x for web users. Clients using the app logged in 4x as often as web users.
It’s not surprising. WhatsApp continues to be one of the most downloaded and used apps on the planet. Advice firms need to take advantage of this by providing the same capability in their own client apps. The very familiarity of this experience means that clients adapt to the new way of working much more quickly and easily.
Businesses that provide a client app enhance the perception of their brand. As we all spend so much time using our mobiles every day, having an adviser’s app in our view is a great way to grow brand visibility and loyalty. This is borne out by our stats which show advice firms are achieving an average of two client logins per week on their branded apps. Each time a client unlocks their phone, the adviser’s brand is right there on their screen.
Jon Dear, head of advisory operations at Hargreaves Lansdown: "Quite often what intermediaries do is put someone else's brand in front of the client. What a portal enables you to do as an adviser is to put your own brand front and centre, and to remind the client of the importance of what you do.
FT Adviser A portal is not a client tool - it is an "enabler" for advice firms
Ian McKenna Founder of F&TRC reminds us to, "Stop calling it a client portal; it is a digital representation of your business.
Advice firms are 'more valuable' with a client portal.
That was the view of those taking part in a panel discussion on the subject at the Empowering Advice Through Technology (EATT) conference. Chaired by Ian, the panel emphasised that a client portal is not merely a client tool but a "strategic enabler" for advice firms.
Jon Dear, head of advisory operations at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:
“If you haven’t got a client portal I would say, go and get it sorted. There are so many reasons, not least the value of your business. In this age of consolidation, companies that have a digital engagement with their customers will be worth more than those who don’t.”
Chief executive of TFAS Wealth Ltd, Jeff Lange, added:
“I would argue anyone who does not have a financial portal needs to get on board and sort it out. It doesn’t have any negative sides, only positive.”
Read the full article here.
Apps are now part of our daily lives, from shopping and socialising to travelling and finance and it’s their very intuitiveness and ease of use that drives engagement. They are simply more convenient than a website login. It’s clear that advice firms need to invest in apps if they want to build client loyalty and benefit from the increased profitability that digital engagement can bring.
To learn how moneyinfo helps you achieve enhanced client loyalty, improved profitability and complete compliance confidence click below to book a demo.