Banks are having little success with customers with many of their services for smartphones. This is the result of a study by the consultancy firm Sopra Steria. It surveyed 11,300 bank customers in nine European countries, including 2,000 in Germany.

Traditional German banks have improved their digital offering for smartphones, and their apps are ranked highly in terms of user-friendliness. "Many banks want to serve as many customers as possible directly via their mobile devices in future," the study states. The aim is to replace branch networks and self-service terminals with apps.

Institutions in Germany are under more significant pressure than in neighbouring countries to make using mobile banking services attractive to their customers. In addition, the offers do not always meet the needs of customers. For example, only 45% of customers are interested in completely replacing their bank cards with apps on their mobile phones. However, 20% have already given up the payment cards in their wallets.

Other banking services for private customers will not match the reality in a lot of users' lives. 62% of respondents consider instant transfers via SMS to be not of interest. "Many services fail to meet customer needs," says Martin Stolberg, Head of the Banking division at Sopra Steria. Translated into interpersonal terms: "The relationship status of customers with banks is complicated."

The examples go on and on. In Germany, 56% of customers are not interested in paying in instalments by mobile phone. However, according to the results of an expert survey, 66% of companies offer a comparable service such as "buy now, pay later".

This reluctance is not due to a lack of knowledge: 82% of customers surveyed were aware of contactless payment by smartphone, but only 28% used the function. In comparison: In the other countries surveyed, an average of 36% of customers make contactless payments with their mobile phones.

"Traditional banks aim to become digitalized institutions in the long term. However, this transition is particularly challenging in Germany due to the widespread expectation of free banking services and physical branches. In other countries, there isn't as strong an attachment to offline channels, partly because some banks there boldly embrace mobile-only banking," says Stolberg.

In countries like the UK and Sweden, where many traditional banks now offer a "seamless digital customer experience," acceptance and usage are higher.

Pure digital banks like N26, on the other hand, have not yet managed to surpass established institutions in Germany. This is indicated by the fact that only 5% of customers switched their banks in the past twelve months, despite 25% intending to do so. Currently, digital banks and neobrokers are more of a "complementary bank" rather than a proper replacement. Sopra Steria does not see neobanks exerting significant pressure on traditional banks.