The rapid uptake of online and mobile banking applications has led to a new customer-centric design approach for digital platforms at Westpac.

The launch of the bank’s new iPad application (app) this week highlights the shift, with the app specifically designed to provide customers with a simple and clean user experience. Harry Wendt, Westpac’s General Manager, Online and Mobile says the look and feel of applications are now just as important as their functionality. “We approached the iPad app with the thought of what does an iPad do, and how do you interact with it?”, says Wendt.

The app features movable information tiles and at-a-glance access to key account information. Its user interface is also similar to current Android and iOS device, which customers are familiar with. Wendt says the functionality of the iPad app is deliberately limited to only enable the two most common activities customers use. “The thing most people do with mobile banking is look at the balance on their accounts. The second most common thing is to pay one another,” he says. This simplification is also designed to prevent what Wendt describes as potential clutter from functions that most users do not use.

The bank is looking to capitalise on the popularity and growth of tablets and mobile apps. Westpac’s mobile banking app took just 30 months to reach one million users; less than half the time needed to reach the same number of internet banking users. Westpac has also seen $250 billion worth of digital transactions in the past 12 months. Westpac will continue to build on the app, with new services offered on the basis of customer feedback.

Jason Yetton, Group Executive, Retail and Business Banking at Westpac, says the impending arrival of low-cost tablet devices means the technology will soon become “ubiquitous,” and play a major role in banking moving forwards. “It’s fundamental to our business to be receptive and proactive for the current and next generations,” he says. “It has never been more important to understand who our customers are, and how we can provide them with valuable services.”