Believe it or not, there are still financial institutions that don’t have locators in their mobile apps or on their websites. Clicking on “locations” brings up a list of branches. For ATMs, there are links to surcharge-free partner locators, sending account holders off-site to locate convenient access.
But linking to your surcharge-free partners, while convenient, isn’t the best solution for your institution. Here are three reasons why banks and credit unions should avoid partner locator links and implement robust branch and ATM locators instead.
Your SEO will love you more.
One of the key metrics for search engine optimization (SEO) is time on site. And hardly anyone spends as much time on a website as a person playing with cool search tools. They can enter different zip codes or cities. They can investigate if your institution has access near their school, work, home, or relatives. Some account holders may even use their bank or credit union locator when planning business trips or vacations to ensure they have convenient banking near their hotel or AirBNB.
But if you send them off-site, they aren’t spending that time on your website. Even worse, they are also more likely to seek help elsewhere later. So, you not only lower your current metrics, but your website also loses visitors in the future.
A sweet, interactive branch and ATM locator gives account holders an easy and reliable way to find every free-to-use account access option. If they’re as cool as the Wave 2 locator, they can offer 3D navigation, custom messaging, and a wealth of other interesting selections. Things like deposits, ITM, surcharge-free, mortgage lending, after-hours, and much more.
Because sending consumers off your website or mobile application does much more than directing them elsewhere. It trains current and potential account holders to look to other businesses for financial information. It might start turning to a third party to see where to find a surcharge-free ATM or a local branch. But that can quickly turn into consulting other resources for mortgages, car loans, and other large-scale financial products.
Like bill payments, check deposits, and transfers, location information is just one more thing today’s consumers expect to be easily available on their mobile devices. Being the institution that gives them MORE than they anticipate with branded features combined with superior functionality and performance gives the positive impression account holders want and rely on.
Gain important insights.
Financial institutions with advanced, integrated branch and ATM locators can do even more than gain improve their reputation and keep consumers coming back. They can track and record the visits, locations, and selections for which their current and potential account holders are searching.
This information offers incredible insights into where consumers need financial services, what type of services they want, and how many times different people have searched for the same or similar things. Armed with this data, banks and credit unions can make better decisions about where they should place branches and ATMs as well as the networks and offerings they should provide at those locations.
But institutions that send searching consumers off your website and mobile app, lose access to that vital information. Instead, they must rely on surveys, third-party consumer data, and other resources to learn what their current and potential account holders might have already told them.
So why keep sending consumers elsewhere when you could have a robust, innovative, full-integrated branch and ATM locator right now? Discover how Wave2’s locator system can benefit your financial institutions and its account holders today!
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Wave2 Contact:
Jason Green, Co-Founder
301.652.1245
jgreen@wave2.io
Schedule a Demonstration & Discussion
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