BofA, Amex, Fidelity Among Top FI Tablet Apps in Mobile Report

Bank of America, American Express and Fidelity were among the financial institutions that fared best in research firm Corporate Insight's latest Mobile Monitor report focusing on tablet-specific financial services apps.

New York-based Corporate Insight's research focused on apps for the iPad, Android and Kindle Fire tablets, and addressed issues such as design, functionality and usability.

[Related Content: How to Create a Superior Tablet Banking App]

According to Corporate Insight, one of the main keys to achieving optimal results in the tablet space is to offer an app that improves upon what is already available for a smartphone. Corporate Insight recommended that financial institutions develop tools and content specifically to take advantage of the large screens afforded by tablets. The firms that fared the best in the analysis – including Bank of America, Fidelity and American Express – all incorporate features and capabilities unique to tablet design and navigation.

"Many consider tablet computing to be the future of mobile, if not the future of computing itself. The popularity of these devices is undisputed," said Dan Wiegand, senior analyst for Mobile Monitor at Corporate Insight, in a written statement.

The report also found that the iPad is the industry's most widely supported tablet, with 12 out of the 20 firms that Corporate Insight tracks offering account management platforms specifically designed for the iPad, while just two offered apps for Android tablets and one offered an app tailored to the Kindle Fire. The firm also reported that twenty percent of the financial institutions it tracks take advantage of the larger tablet screen by presenting account information with new, visually appealing graphs, charts and other displays.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio