If you want to open a new bank account and are wondering which bank offers the best mobile banking experience, we will be able to help you! We take a closer look at all 11 mobile banking apps in this article assessing their layout, features, security and user experience and will tell you which ones are the best!
Which Mobile Banking App Is The Best?
Just a decade ago, we were still running to bank branches and ATMs to complete our daily finance activities such as cheque deposit and fund transfer. Today, 73.1% of Malaysians are using internet banking and this prompted the banks to go one step further by introducing mobile banking apps. Today, we can hardly live without them.
To date, 11 banks in Malaysia have their own mobile banking apps for their customers and they continue to bring new features and improvements in order to impress users like you and me. But just how happy are you with the mobile banking app you are using now? Features, layout, safety concerns and accessibility are important for a mobile banking app to serve a customer.
CompareHero.my has conducted its first Mobile Banking Apps Awards in Malaysia. Known as the CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking Apps Awards, today we are happy to announce the winners.
With this award, CompareHero.my aims to celebrate the journey many of the banks in Malaysia have undertaken towards a more digital friendly service, while also recognising the best-in-class mobile banking apps provided by these banks.
On top of that, we want to take this opportunity to highlight the issues that represent the room for improvements for some of the mobile banking apps we have compared in this award.
7.82 Million Mobile Banking Subscribers In Malaysia
In fact, mobile banking subscribers in Malaysia has grown by more than 60 fold since 2005, to 7.82 million in the first quarter of 2016 from a small base of pioneers totaling just 127,600 in 2005. More than 83% of Malaysian consumers surveyed in the recent Nielsen Mobile Shopping, Banking and Payment Report, are comfortable using mobile banking apps to check their bank account balance or recent transaction in the next six months.
Some of the common mobile banking activities in Malaysia include:
- Transferring money between bank accounts (75%),
- Paying bills online (77%),
- Receiving (74%) or transferring (71%) money from/to another person.
CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking Apps Awards Categories
Each app was ranked based on its layout, functionality, security and user-experience and received a score between 1-5 (with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest). These apps were scored based on:
- Objective list of what constitutes a 1,2,3,4 and 5 rating (for layout, functionality and security)
- Writer’s and CompareHero.my's team evaluation (for layout, functionality and security)
- Apple and Android reviews (for user experience)
Categories of this award are:
- 2017 Best Mobile Banking App – Gold, Silver and Bronze
- 2017 Best Mobile Banking App Layout Award
- 2017 Best Mobile Banking App Functionality Award
- 2017 Best Mobile Banking App Security Award
- 2017 Best Mobile Banking App User Experience Award
2017 Best Mobile Banking App – Gold
Congratulations to Citibank as the Best Mobile Banking App in Malaysia 2017, based on the app’s outstanding features and user experience! Citibank MY has the most features to offer and went one step further than other mobile banking apps in Malaysia with the inclusion of live foreign exchange rates updates and a wider range of credit card management features. This app also scored higher than its peers in terms of user experience based on reviews from iOS and Android platforms.
2017 Best Mobile Banking App – Silver
Congratulations Maybank as the 1st Runner Up of CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking App Award! The Maybank mobile banking app came so close to beating its competitor Citibank MY, given the recent version of updates and successfully delivered huge improvements in layout. This granted them a higher score from the iOS and Android platforms.
2017 Best Mobile Banking App – Bronze
Congratulations to CIMB as the 2nd Runner Up of CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking App Award. CIMB Clicks released its update at the same time with Maybank, which also saw improvement in its layout and transition, earning a higher score in both layout and functionality.
2017 Best Mobile Banking App Layout
Congratulations to Maybank again for winning the title of Best Mobile Banking App Layout 2017 with their improved and captivating layout of the new app! Given the latest version update, Maybank mobile banking app certainly deserves an applaud for transforming the app from a cliché and outdated design to a fresh user interface with better font and color for view.
2017 Best Mobile Banking App Functionality
The winner of Mobile Banking App with Best Functionality is Citibank, which has the highest score of 4.2 out of 5! Citibank MY is the mobile banking app that offers most features among its peers in the country and this has set a high benchmark for others to follow. What we love the most is the wide range of credit card management features such as temporary credit limit expansion and flexi payment plan.
2017 Best Mobile Banking App Security
Once again, Citibank has outshined others in the category of Best Mobile Banking App Security 2017 with its sophisticated security layers and efforts to keep users informed as well as educated. Congratulations! Most of the banks are on par to comply with the rules and regulations to ensure its customers conduct daily finance activities in a safe virtual environment. However, Citibank MY’s efforts in educating its customers about its security features and additional step-by-step guide to encounter fraud or theft case definitely sets a good model.
2017 Best Mobile Banking App User Experience
Based on the feedback and reviews from users, we congratulate both Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and RHB Bank as the co-winners of the Best User Experience category. As of July 2017, results of this category is based on the reviews score gathered from iOS and Android platforms. Though both banks may not be the most outstanding when it comes to layout, functionality or security, they certainly showed improvements and commitments to cater for their respective clients’ demands.
| Score | |||||
| Bank Apps | Layout | Functionality | Security | User-Friendliness | FINAL RANKING SCORE |
| Citibank MY | 3.6 | 4.2 | 5 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Maybank | 4 | 3.8 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| CIMB Clicks | 3.7 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.95 | 3.5 |
| Standard Chartered Mobile Banking (Malaysia) | 2.9 | 3 | 4 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Hong Leong Connect | 3.3 | 3.4 | 4 | 2.75 | 3.4 |
| RHBNow | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3 | 3.7 | 3 |
| Am Online | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3 | 2.7 | 3 |
| HSBC Mobile Banking | 2.8 | 2.6 | 3 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| OCBC Malaysia Mobile Banking | 2.3 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| PB Engage | 2 | 2.6 | 3 | 3.3 | 2.7 |
| Bank Islam i-Info | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1 | 3 | 1.9 |
Scoring Methodology
Note: Each category is ranked between the score of 1 to 5:
1 – Bad
2 – Need Improvement
3 – Good
4 – Excellent
5 – Outstanding
Each app was ranked based on its layout, functionality, security and user-experience and received a score between 1-5 (with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest).
These apps were scored based on:
- CompareHero.my aesthetical experts (for layout, functionality and security)
- Objective list of what constitutes a 1,2,3,4 and 5 rating (for layout, functionality and security)
- Writer’s evaluation (for layout, functionality and security)
- Apple and Android reviews (for user experience)
1. Layout and Design
A higher score of 4-5 meant the app had a simple yet effective design that added to its user’s experience. The app’s layout should also captivates user’s attention while not being too confusing at the same time.
A score of 3 is given to the apps that have adequate layout design. However, there are still some rooms for improvement such as updates for the latest user interface (UI) and perhaps more exciting colors or graphics.
Apps that received a score of 1-2 meant that the layout was not updated, or it was not on par with the other apps you see in store. Most of them required some updating in terms of color choice, fonts, menu layout and also visibility.
2. Functionality
A higher score of 4-5 was given to mobile banking apps that have more than 8 features and were one step ahead of the rest, such as exclusive promotions, in store payment, manage global accounts and card-less withdrawal at ATM machines.
A moderate score of 3 was given to mobile banking apps that have more than 5 features including balance check, fund transfer, bill payment, prepaid reload and credit card management.
A lower score of 1-2 was given to mobile banking apps that provided (or failed to provide) basic or average financing functions as mentioned above.
3. Security
We tested the security features based on a consumer’s perspective to determine the level of safety for a user while using the app.
We graded the apps based on:
- Security layers
- Biometric login availability
- Easiness to reset password and username
- Escalation of fraud or theft via the app
A high score of 4-5 was given to the apps that have incorporated biometric login system, provide adequate security action plans, and also fast responsiveness to resolve customers’ issue in fraud or identity theft.
A score of 3 was given to the apps that get adequate security systems in hand, however, can be improved in terms of integrating the latest biometric login system and extra efforts to educate consumers about safety measures in the event of fraud and theft.
A low score of 1-2 was given to those that do not have login system or insufficient security steps to ensure the safe usage of the apps by the users.
4. User-Friendliness
A high score of 3-5 was given to those that had earned high favourability from the users based on the apps’ transition, responsiveness, practicality and also banks’ efforts to resolve users’ issues.
A low score of 1-2 was given to the apps that did not meet the average users’ demand and was filled with technological bugs like malfunctions, errors, and bad transitions.
So far, we noticed that almost half of the banks have at least updated or replaced their mobile banking apps to a newer one in the past six months, with better features and functions for the consumers.
Overall, all banks in Malaysia provide decent security for its mobile banking apps’ users given the tight guidelines provided by Bank Negara. On top of that, it is believed that the developers behind these mobile banking apps continue to monitor the security factors and conduct frequent testing, updates, and fixes in order to consolidate the apps’ defense system. However, the lack of education and information about the security components of the apps is an area for improvement across all banks in order to improve the level of confidence of the users.
Conclusion
We congratulate all banks for the efforts and improvements undertaken throughout the digital journey which have enhanced many users in Malaysia over the past few years. However, we hope that more can be done to further elevate Malaysian consumers in terms of banking experience.
To fully integrate digital and banking, it requires a lot of background work and research to produce a first-class mobile banking app. For starter, a mobile banking app needs to allow a user to conduct basic banking routines such as account checking, fund transfer, payment and prepaid reload. To bring this to the next level, special features such as mobile wallet, currency exchange, exclusive promotions and even advanced credit card management functions.
Not forgetting layout, security and user experience, banks need to optimise the transition, security layers, educational efforts, easy access and also stability in their mobile banking apps to cater for customers’ demand.
Congratulations to Citibank for receiving the Gold award from the CompareHero.my 2017 Best Mobile Banking App Award in Malaysia with its best ratings in security and user-experience that kept it in a league of its own. We also applaud Maybank, CIMB, Standard Chartered and also RHB Bank Malaysia for providing great layout, features, feasibility and also accessibility to its users.
Read our review on each bank’s app here:
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