Persuasion in Mobile Financial Service: A Case Study with a Bank Savings Mobile Application

Abstract

Financial institutions are undergoing a technology transformation. The digitization now drives the addition of new services and expectations. In this context, mobile has become a strategic channel to encourage users to adopt specific behaviors and change habits effortlessly. The research question underlying this study focuses on mobile banking applications and how they could support the adoption of savings behaviors. A qualitative study was conducted, in order to evaluate the persuasiveness embedded in a mobile bank saving app. Three experts in humancomputer interaction (HCI) assessed the mobile app interfaces through a scientific grid of persuasive criteria to guide their heuristic inspection. Results confirm both a satisfactory level of persuasiveness of the mobile app and the dynamic application of persuasive criteria. The study shows that a mobile app involving certain specific features supports a positive banking customer’s experience related to savings. This study contributes to the user experience field, showing that mobile apps can support behavioral change when persuasiveness is embedded in the design process. Using a valid and reliable assessment method to establish the level of persuasiveness of a bank savings mobile app, this study confirms that the persuasion grid is applicable to mobile interfaces.