Money Is Going Mobile: Reshaping The Future Of Financial Services

These days, it seems like everyone is glued to their smartphones, with the average person spending around 6 to 8 hours a day staring at their screens. What was once a simple convenience has now become a way of life. Due to this shift, creating a mobile app has become a crucial strategy for any business seeking to succeed in the digital world. With so many people relying on mobile apps for everything from chatting and entertainment to shopping, having a well-crafted and user-friendly app becomes of paramount importance for every company to solidify competitiveness. Businesses that recognize this trend and invest in mobile app development are in a much better position to connect with their customers and stay ahead of the competition in today’s fast-paced market.

Preface

In the context of business development based on the availability of relevant mobile apps, any brokerage platform that does not offer a fully functional mobile app looks outdated and disconnected from reality. This is especially true in the financial segment, where the saying' time is money' is particularly applicable, and decisions often must be made in seconds. For example, news about Trump's tariffs had an immediate impact on the markets, and looming trading losses made the difference.

What’s also important is that we are in the market where every single second counts. Imagine you need to cover your short positions, rush to the office, and open a desktop app. That would be a crazy perspective. Now, recall the last time you opened your bank account from a web browser; I bet you won't remember, nor do I. 

Speed is Money

In the mobile environment, those who offer not just features but instant responses win. Transferring, depositing, opening a position - everything should happen in 3-4 touches. Apps like Robinhood have made this the norm: trading has become not just accessible, but almost “intuitive”. The same is expected of CRM systems. The user won't wait for a heavy web page to load over an unstable connection - they'll leave. Native mobile apps allow you to maintain performance in weak signal conditions.

People really appreciate phones for their ease of use: for example, with just a few taps, you can transfer a lump sum to your counterpart in no time. We’re taking that same approach with our mobile-focused CRM. If users can access such a feature from anywhere in the world, we’re definitely tapping into a significant market. Plus, some web pages can be quite heavy to load on WiFi — particularly airplane Wi-Fi. That’s where native apps come in, allowing us to maximize the potential of simple, adaptable screens.

For example, according to FT, the renowned Vanguard fund happened to delay launching an app to UK investors for far too long. Its investors were clamouring for it: nearly a third of Vanguard’s UK client base downloaded the app in under two months, amounting to around 200,000 people.

In contrast, in its run-up to launch, Robinhood has amassed a waitlist of half a million prospective users. The U.S. brokerage company aimed to process the entire holdup within two months, adopting a similar approach to its Mailbox's last year.

Engagement Metrics

The mobile version of CRM is not just an interface, but a powerful driver of your audience engagement. After the very moment of its launch, there must be a steady increase in DAUs (daily active users), the number of completed actions. This is no accident: on the mobile platform, users have more entry points. Regular updates, adaptation to the UX of native platforms (iOS/Android), easy access via push notifications — all this increases the frequency of use and general customers’ engagement. 

In Q1 2025, we've noticed an impressive increase in daily active users on our proprietary mobile app. This boost in engagement apparently highlights the steady growth we're seeing on both iOS and Android platforms. Our commitment to improving the user experience through regular updates has been key in attracting and retaining a wider audience. The encouraging rise in user engagement suggests that our in-house developed app is resonating with our target audience, leading to increased usage and loyalty.

This perfectly aligns with a broader trend in major mobile app engagement. For example, since its debut in 2018, over 42 million customers have turned to Bank of America's virtual financial assistant, Erica, for help more than 2 billion times. According to reports, their handy assistant makes it easy for users to handle money transfers, pay bills, and manage other mobile banking tasks.

UX as a Critical Factor

Mobile CRM should not be about flooding users with features, but about a single, fast, and seamless solution — from registration to the first transactions and involvement in partner or sales activities. If your app is designed to drag a user through multiple windows, they will fall off. Onboarding should take no more than a couple of taps. Followed by fast replenishment and interaction triggers. Applications that divide all this into menus and screens are frustrating and quickly lose their audience. 

The key here is onboarding time. We're in an era where Instagram Reels are often more educational than traditional books or even websites. Our brains are adapting to this quick-fire style of information, which means that if you require users to navigate through too many screens, they are likely to lose interest and give up. Once that’s sorted, the next step is to make a deposit. You could have an incredible app packed with features, but if your monetization strategy isn’t solid, you’ll find yourself out of business.

Final Word

So once again, mobile CRM is no longer just an add-on to a web platform. It is the main channel of interaction, especially for the new generation of traders and investors. It turns out that nearly a third of Generation Z has begun investing by the time they reach early adulthood, which is more than any other generation at that age, according to a recent survey from the World Economic Forum.

A CRM that is not mobile-first will struggle to compete for tomorrow's customers. Experts believe that the rise of mobile apps has made investing more appealing to young people than ever before.