Thankfully, many, if not all, of the major universal and commercial banks in the Philippines have their own downloadable Android or iOS app. These apps allow bank clients to perform basic mobile banking activities, such as fund transfers and bill payments, at their own time and convenience minus the hassle of having to commute to an actual physical branch.
For this article, we will focus on two of the most popular local mobile banking apps in the Philippines: The Express Online mobile banking app of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and the iAccess mobile banking app of Landbank of the Philippines.
Landbank is used by millions of Filipino people, particularly government employees whose income is being coursed through their individual Landbank ATM accounts. Meanwhile, BPI is one of the oldest banks in the Philippines, with more than a century of banking experience that saw it grow into one of the country's top banks today.
The review of these two apps will focus on the following criteria: (a) ease of application for online access; (b) services offered by the apps; (c) navigability; (d) design; (e) ease of service completion; and (f) security.
EASE OF APPLICATION FOR ONLINE ACCESS
Both BPI and Landbank require clients to personally visit their branch of origin in order to request for online access. Forms need to be filled out and personally signed in front of the customer service banking associate before the client is given the option of choosing a username and password. This seems to be standard procedure for both banks; there is hardly a difference between the two.
Winner: NONE
SERVICES OFFERED
BPI's mobile banking app features the following services: review of existing account together with enrolled accounts; Branch/ATM Locator; Promos; FX Rates; Social Media; Application Modules for BPI Products; Quick Links; Contact BPI; and Info tabs.
 |
| BPI Mobile Banking interface. |
 |
| Landbank Mobile Banking interface. |
Meanwhile, Landbank's mobile banking app features the following services: Mobile Banking; Credit Card; Cash Card; Inquiry; ATM/Branch Locator; Contact Us; Electronic Payment Portal; and One-Time Pin.
It is fairly obvious that BPI's mobile banking app presents a lot more add-on services as opposed to Landbank's, which mainly features its product services and nothing else.
Winner: BPI Mobile Banking
NAVIGABILITY
After logging in with your username and password, the Landbank mobile banking app will immediately show the values of your available and current peso holdings. If you need to do other services, you will need to click another button at the top right portion from where you can choose your desired service. There seems to be a lot of going around before finally being able to knock down a service.
In contrast, immediately after logging in, BPI will show all your accounts with only the available balance prominently displayed. At the bottom section of the page are quick links for account review, transfer, pay/reload, investments, and other services, including request for activation of transfer to anyone feature, quick portfolio, checkbook reorder, and change password tab. These are quick and easy references that do away with multiple clicking and unnecessary browsing.
Winner: BPI Mobile Banking
DESIGN
Both of BPI's and Landbank's mobile banking apps adhere to their bank's common color palette: crimson for BPI and bright green for Landbank. In graphic design, this is called branding by color recall.
But mention needs to be made of these apps' design features. Landbank's mobile banking app is awkward and does not make use of available space widely. The entry page, for instance, uses a mere 25% of the top portion; the rest is blank white space. The app also utilizes the old-school embossed buttons that are no longer in keeping with current design trends.
Current design trends go for flat design, which is by and large utilized in BPI's mobile banking apps. Here, there are no embossed tabs or buttons that mimic the buttons of Windows '98 or Windows XP from decades back -- it's just flat red squares evenly distributed in the available space.
Winner: BPI Mobile Banking
EASE OF SERVICE COMPLETION
For this criteria, let's focus on transfer of funds.
With BPI, transfer of funds can only be made to enrolled accounts. To enroll an account, one needs to request for enrollment then visit a physical branch for finalization. Transferring funds to a non-enrolled account? Forget it lest you want to get lost in BPI's labyrinthine enrollment process.
This is where Landbank's mobile banking app delivers exceptionally well. Using the app allows clients to transfer to any Landbank account without the need to enroll every single one of them.
Winner: Landbank Mobile Banking
SECURITY
In the past, both Landbank and BPI have figured in security breaches of their databases, resulting in the personal information of some of their clients being compromises. In any event, both of their mobile banking apps have their own security features enough to make a paranoid user feel a bit less worried. However, Landbank goes a step further by requiring a user to enter a PIN sent to the user's registered e-mail address before completing certain transactions, such as fund transfers. There's no such feature in BPI's mobile banking app.
Winner: Landbank Mobile Banking
CONCLUSION
BPI's mobile banking app managed to win in three of the six criteria while Landbank won in two. Clearly, it was a tight contest, but in the end BPI takes the cake.
To sum up: For those looking to do basic account review and fund transfer activities, Landbank's mobile banking app seems to do a better job at it. But for those who seek for more than just the basic, BPI's mobile banking app is the way to go.
How's your experience using either of the apps in this review? Let us know in the comments section below.