Gen Xers and millennials have become accustomed to smartphones and the unfettered access to information they provide. Now, as the former plan college funds and manage healthy portfolios and the latter come into their peak earning years, both generations are looking for the kinds of digital experiences they’ve come to expect. For their financial institutions, meeting those expectations is no simple feat.
While goliath wealth management players can accommodate their tech-savvy customers, smaller and regional organizations don’t have the budget to hire flocks of developers. Yet those smaller firms still have to keep up or else face increasing customer churn and a shrinking pool of assets under management.
How can they do it? As the industry becomes increasingly competitive, now is the time to get an edge with low-code development.
5 Capabilities to Look for in a Low-code Development Platform
Low-code is leveling the playing field in wealth management and FinServ as a whole, but all platforms aren’t created equal. How do you know which low-code platform will meet industry requirements and best serve your firm? Here are five key features that the top low-code development platforms will offer.
- Multi-experience development platform (MXDP) capabilities
An MXDP allows your firm to create a consistent, fluid experience for each user across every touchpoint, from setting up an automatic payment on your website to making a deposit on your app to calling customer service. Modern users are so accustomed to this kind of experience that they only notice when it’s missing, and they’re unforgiving about its absence: 85% of customers disengage with a company following a bad mobile experience.
Having an MXDP is especially critical for wealth management, where establishing and maintaining a trusting relationship with users is fundamental to success. Bad mobile experiences don’t just frustrate your users—they can damage that trust by making customers question your brand’s ability to handle more important services.
Traditionally, multi-experience builds have been complex projects, but low-code platforms make these projects much easier to carry out. Having one is vital for keeping up with industry leaders.
- Native mobile app creation
Business Insider reports that 91% of Gen Xers and 97% of millennials use mobile banking, which means your wealth management app needs to be flawless. A native mobile app is one that’s installed on a smartphone and can often work even without an internet connection. This uninterrupted experience creates an indisputably improved user experience compared to web-based or hybrid apps, so much so that native mobile apps are known to convert better.
But native mobile apps need to be developed in platform-specific languages, which essentially requires two dev teams: one for Android and one for Apple. Regional wealth management firms don’t have the resources to support those kinds of development projects, but the best low-code platforms now offer native mobile app creation capabilities.
- Agility and flexibility
Building a modern, user-friendly app is a good start to engaging millennials and Gen Xers, but even the best app is never done. Your solution needs to be agile and flexible enough to stay updated, competitive, and responsive to evolving user needs and demands.
Agility and flexibility are key in almost any digital industry, but particularly so in wealth management. Just consider that millennials change their primary financial institution 2.5 times more than previous generations.
One of the greatest benefits of low-code development is the speed and flexibility it brings to software development, so make sure your development platform focuses on compatibility with agile methodologies.
- Built-in security standards
Security standards are especially for wealth management apps targeting generations of digital natives. Millennials and Gen Xers are familiar with digital security risks and historic breaches. They won’t forgive a security issue with their financial firm.
Most low-code development platforms have robust security measures built in, but they don’t meet consistent standards. Make sure the low-code development platform you choose is regularly reviewed, audited, and updated, and check that it offers admin features like threat assessment and access control.
- Multi-cloud deployment options
“Multi-cloud” is the presence of more than one cloud storage and computing service within a single network. A multi-cloud approach allows a firm to spread workloads and risk over multiple services, improving performance and mitigating disaster if one cloud provider experiences difficulties.
As fintech security threats continue to evolve and mobile wealth management technology becomes more connected and user-friendly, your solutions need to be able to scale and adapt without being completely redesigned. Enterprise firms are moving to multi-cloud or hybrid cloud platforms, and staying competitive means your low-code platform needs to do the same.