A hint of a lightweight laptop with a dashof a really big handset, tablets are still retail banking use-case nomads, in search of the best ways to get consumers excited and curious. Wherever the new devices are finding a comfort zone, in places such as sales and investing, tablets like Apple's iPads and RIM's Playbook are proving to be just as un-encumbered as their smartphone cousins.
"You can literally conduct business anywhere with mobile tablets,and in real time," says Nadia Darwisch, vp of client relations and business development for group retirement services for SunLife Financial Canada. "Not to mention, sales and service staff can demonstrate key services, like wireless enrollment, on the tablet."
SunLife's staff use the BlackBerry PlayBook (RIM's tablet), to make sales presentations to plan sponsors for corporate employee benefit packages. Sales and marketing are the top uses so far for the tablet devices, which feature touch screens that are about 9.7 inches wide. The larger screen and increased navigation are also just the right size for self-serve wealth management and investing; TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, and Charles Schwab are among the firms migrating interactive research, market data and educational materials to tablets.
"We've got hundreds of technical studies in our iPad chart application," says Nicole Sherrod, managing director of TD Ameritrade, which has built its own native iPad application for investors. "Traders are looking for a large screen size so they can wrap their arms around what's going on in the markets."
Tablets' large size makes them unwieldy for the simple mobile banking transactions consumers like to make on their smartphones, such as funds transfers, payments, remote deposit capture and balance inquiries. "Because of the larger screen footprint, and because it's so visual, the tablets will be more conducive to sales and cross-selling," says Susan Feinberg from TowerGroup. "We see an interest from banks in having people walk around the branch floor and showing people information on products."
In the future, the expected introduction of personal financial management-type services to mobile banking should make tablets more palatable for retail banking use, as should the growth of the tablet use outside of financial services.
And the uptake of tablets should make retail banks take notice. New research from Gartner predicts that global tablet sales will increase from 17.6 million in 2010 to nearly 70 million in 2011 and close to 300 million by 2015. And during that time, the average price should fall to half of the current level, which is just under $500 for entry level models.
That's got at least some tech providers bullish about the future of tablets as a retail banking device. "Online banking is about to be upended by the fast-selling tablets, they're the fastest-selling product in electronic history," says Drew Sievers, CEO of mFoundry, which is developing mobile banking software for the tablet.
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