Niti Badarinath of U.S. Bank was named “Digital Banker of the Year”
today by American Banker. Badarinath, senior vice president and head of
mobile banking and money movement, joined U.S. Bank in 2009 and has
helped cement its position as an industry leader in mobile banking.
“We recognized early on that mobile banking was an enormous opportunity
to gain market share and deepen customer relationships,” said Kent
Stone, vice chairman of consumer banking sales and support for U.S.
Bank. “Under Niti’s leadership, we’ve become top-of-mind for industry
observers and customers seeking a full-service mobile banking
experience. His guidance, insight and drive for success in the mobile
channel certainly make him a deserving ‘Digital Banker of the Year.’”
Recognized by the industry for being one of leading innovators, U.S.
Bank regularly ranks among the top banks for functional richness,
superior customer experience, and ensuring customer security and
privacy. Badarinath is responsible for all aspects of U.S. Bank’s mobile
channel, including driving the innovation agenda, defining the bank’s
long-term strategy and roadmap, defining the business case, setting
investment priorities, and managing delivery to U.S. Bank customers. He
is also responsible for running the bank’s mobile channel – its adoption
and usage growth goals, and meeting revenue commitments.
“Adding value and improving the customer experience are the core drivers
of U.S. Bank’s mobile strategy,” said Badarinath. “Our innovations
address key customer pain points or provide new, differentiated value to
our customers. Our customers seem to love them, as seen by the rapid
adoption and use of these new features. A few years ago, paying your
cable bill by taking a picture of it with your phone would’ve been
unheard of, but now we’ve seen mobile bill pay more than double since
the introduction of Photo Bill Pay. The ease of mobile check deposit has
driven almost 90 percent of the checks deposited electronically to be
done via mobile.”
Notable mobile innovation initiatives at U.S. Bank include:
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Photo Banking: “Photo Banking” has become a common term across
the banking industry, thanks to the leadership of U.S. Bank and
Badarinath’s mobile banking team. What began in 2010 when U.S. Bank
was one of the first major banks in the nation to bring mobile check
deposits to customers, has grown to include other ways of using
imaging to enhance the customer experience, and provide innovative new
capabilities: U.S. Bank launched Mobile
Photo Bill Pay in March 2013, and Mobile
Photo Balance Transfer in November 2013.
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Pay-a-Person: U.S. Bank has made significant customer
experience and functional enhancements to its person-to-person (P2P)
product. Called “Pay-A-Person,” this builds on the core P2P
capability, delivered using Fiserv’s POPMoney, and adds key features
like “Send-to-Account” “Request Money,” and “e-Greetings.” U.S. Bank
also introduced faster ways of moving money, adding the “Next Day
Payments” feature in November 2013 and “Real-Time” or Instant P2P in
February 2014. This last feature, the first of its kind among major
banks, delivers funds to the recipient instantly.
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Mobile Payments: In collaboration with our payments innovation
team, Badarinath’s team has worked on recent advances in mobile
payment innovations including pilot projects in voice biometrics,
augmented reality to provide location-aware offers from participating
merchants, digital tokenization that increases the security of
personal data when making purchases via mobile device, mobile wallets,
and streamlined m-commerce through the bank’s up-and-coming app, Peri.
American Banker and Bank Technology News noted a number of these
initiatives as determining factors for the award, stating in
its article today:
“In the past year, no bank in the country has innovated in mobile
banking as much as U.S. Bank. It was one of the first out of the gate
with mobile photo bill payments, in March 2013, and late last year it
launched an app that allows consumers to apply for a balance transfer to
a U.S. Bank credit card simply by taking a picture of a credit card
statement. Its pilots of voice biometrics for customer authentication
and voice-activated mobile banking are among the first. And a unique app
the bank launched this year called Peri is one of the few bank offerings
to offer a plausible take on mobile commerce.”
About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $371 billion
in assets as of March 31, 2014, is the parent company of U.S. Bank
National Association, the 5th largest commercial bank in the United
States. The Company operates 3,083 banking offices in 25 states and
4,878 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage,
insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to
consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at
usbank.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2014