Customers judge banks and other financial providers on more than interest rates, branch access, or basic account functions. They also look for help managing everyday expenses, understanding account activity, and making financial decisions.

A survey by financial technology company MX looked at which features customers valued and where their providers fell short. One distinction matters for providers: customers can be satisfied with their banking app and still be willing to switch for features it lacks.

Money Worries

In MX’s November 2022 survey of U.S. adults, 22% of respondents said paying for everyday necessities was their biggest financial worry. Roughly a third were most worried about unexpected expenses or emergencies.

One in four respondents felt their providers did not do enough to support their financial needs. Dissatisfaction was especially common among younger adults. For households worried about meeting everyday costs or covering an emergency, checking a balance is useful, but it doesn’t show what bills are coming due.

App Satisfaction and Loyalty

Most respondents were satisfied with how they could view and manage activity in the account they used most often. A majority were also satisfied with their mobile app experience. Those answers tell providers that the basics are working, not that customers will stay.

More than half said they would likely look for another provider if their current one didn’t offer the features they wanted most. Younger respondents were more likely to say so. The survey measured willingness to look elsewhere, not whether customers actually moved their accounts.

Clearer Transactions

Nearly one in four respondents said they at least sometimes saw a transaction they didn’t recognize at first glance. The survey also found that younger adults were more likely to report unfamiliar charges as fraud.

An unfamiliar merchant name can make even a legitimate purchase hard to identify. Providers can display a merchant name customers are likely to recognize. Customers who don’t recognize a charge can compare the date and amount with their receipts and contact their provider promptly if they still can’t identify it.

Budgeting Tools and Alerts

In the MX survey, 39% of respondents said providers had a responsibility to teach them how to manage their finances better. Yet fewer than half were satisfied with the money management recommendations they received, and fewer than half were satisfied with their budgeting and savings tools.

According to Jane Barratt, then chief commercial officer for financial institutions at MX, tools that help customers act, such as making it easier to move money from checking to savings, belong alongside financial education. She made the point in a webinar on the survey findings.

Alerts are another way providers can help customers act in time. In the survey, 75% expected providers to notify them about financial issues without waiting to be asked. A reminder about an upcoming payment gives a customer time to check whether the balance will cover it.

Linked Accounts and Data Control

The feature respondents most often ranked first among money management aids was seeing accounts from different providers in one place. Nearly 40% had three to five accounts across providers. A combined view can save customers from having to check each account separately.

In the same survey, 89% said they owned their financial data and should decide who could access it. Yet more than half weren’t sure which companies already had access. Relatively few said they had linked an outside account or recently shared their data with a third party.

Before adding account linking, ask customers to test the permission screen. Check whether they can tell which company will receive their data, what it can see, and where to go later to revoke access.