The Future of Mobile Banking: 8+1 UX Trends in 2025 and Beyond

Mobile banking services are rapidly evolving, and the use of mobile banking applications is growing worldwide. The future of mobile banking is being shaped by UX trends such as AI-powered hyper-personalization, contextual recommendations, and customizable banking. The mobile banking experience is also being molded by robo-advisory, in-app financial education, and flexible payment options. Biometric security is crucial for maintaining user trust, while social-media-inspired mobile banking UX enhances the customer experience. Let's look at the 8+1 key UX trends that will define the future of mobile banking in 2025 and beyond.

While there may be significant differences in how many people regularly use mobile banking applications in different countries, this number is growing rapidly: according to Dimension Research, 89% of digital banking users perform transactions (also) via mobile devices, 69% of Americans use mobile applications to manage their finances, and in some countries (such as South Korea or China) this number can even exceed 80%.

This process is intensifying due to the proliferation of mobile devices, growing user needs, and rapid technological development. Mobile banking is increasingly becoming the main arena for managing finances, and for many, it already has. It is, therefore, worthwhile reviewing the main trends that may shape this world in the near future.

1. Hyper-Personalization Driven by Artificial Intelligence

Although it can be argued that AI is not a separate trend, since it is gaining more and more ground in almost every area of the digital world, we would still like to highlight one aspect, and that is the hyper-personalization of the banking experience. According to a Salesforce survey of more than 6,000 banking customers worldwide, 61% of people expect personalized suggestions and offers from their bank (although their opinions on the role of AI are mixed). Furthermore, a McKinsey & Company study found that 71% of customers expect personalized recommendations from companies, and 76% felt frustrated when this did not happen.

Hyper-personalization goes beyond the way companies previously made personalized offers, i.e. by segmenting the target group based on some characteristic and thus formulating messages ‒ with the help of AI, banks can literally speak to a given customer. Through AI and machine learning, the best mobile banking applications can analyze a huge amount of data: our transaction history, spending habits, and financial goals, Even (obviously only with our express permission and control) our browsing and social media activity can become such data, including where we are and what we are doing, but more on that later. This allows banks to offer personalized products, services, and communications to each customer through data analysis and predictive modeling.

• For example, AI may be able to predict customer needs even before they arise. Predictive models analyze customer data to recommend savings plans, loan options, and risk management solutions. 
• AI-powered customer service, such as chatbots, can assess customer preferences and history, allowing for faster, more efficient, and more personalized communication. 
• AI-powered personalization can also represent a huge step forward in the field of security. Fraud models evaluate and predict expected transactions based on the customer's unique transaction history, which makes fraud detection much more accurate, significantly reducing the number of false positive alerts. 

In addition to increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, reducing fraud, and significantly reducing the energy-consuming customer management, this can also directly increase banks' revenues, as they can offer very precisely targeted upsell and cross-sell opportunities, the right products at the right time to the right person.

2. Contextual Recommendations: The Right Product at the Right Time

Pitching the right product at the right time is so important in mobile banking that it is worth mentioning as a separate trend. AI can provide personalized recommendations based on the current context – that is, not only factors such as spending habits and financial goals, but also location, time (specific time of the year or month, or even time of day), social context, and current activity. This can be something as mundane as a reminder of an upcoming bill payment, or more complex financial advice. The goal is for the customer to receive relevant information at the right time, and at the right place. Just a few examples:

• When traveling abroad, you can get suggestions for nearby ATMs where the exchange rate is currently the most favorable. 
• If you frequently dine out, the app may suggest a nearby, similar, but cheaper establishment, or that it may be worth joining the loyalty program, if available. 
• You may receive an alert if someone tries to make a purchase in a place where you don't usually shop. 
• It can also recommend personalized investments based on your income, expenses, savings goals, and risk tolerance.

Banks should also ride the trend of contextual recommendations because it allows them to move away from traditional marketing, often perceived as intrusive or irrelevant by customers, toward a kind of helping role. The bank will thus not be something that wants to sell me something, but a useful companion. This can make a huge difference in terms of brand image and customer loyalty.

3. Customizable Banking

As individual needs become increasingly important in the financial world, it is natural that this is also reflected in the best mobile banking solutions: general, one-size-fits-all solutions are becoming less and less attractive; the emphasis is shifting to shaping the digital banking process to the customer’s needs as much as possible.

Customizability now goes far beyond changing the color scheme of the application, turning on dark mode, or choosing which account to display on the home screen. It’s now about users being able to assemble and configure the various components that are important to them, even in-house and external services via application programming interfaces (APIs).

An everyday user can choose simple modules to track spending and focus on savings, while a small business owner can, for example, integrate accounting software, payroll, or specialized analytics tools directly within the banking dashboard. They not only gain from not having to jump back and forth between different apps, but they also see everything in one place, and don't have to transfer different data from one place to another.

Of course, many banks already offer customizable features, but with the further spread of open banking (i.e. the bank gives access to its system through APIs) and the increasingly strong integration of AI, this trend will continue, even bringing with it solutions where the app proactively suggests options and features even before we think of them.

4. Robo-Advisory: Investment for Everyone

According to Research Nester, the robo-advisory market is currently worth almost $11 billion and could reach $269.13 billion by 2037, representing an annual growth rate of roughly 30%. Market.us forecasts that robo-advisors could manage $16 trillion in assets globally by 2025, with the user base reaching 34.13 million by 2028.

But what is robo-advisory? Very simply, these are algorithm-based investment advisory services that offer a cheap alternative to traditional wealth managers. They make financial advice accessible to a much wider audience, although they are currently most attractive to younger, tech-savvy investors who primarily manage their finances online. These robo-advisors are no longer found only in specialized fintech applications; they are increasingly becoming an integrated feature of mobile banking applications. This makes them accessible to those who do not have the time, knowledge, or resources to work with a traditional financial advisor and do not want to bother with complicated fintech applications.

Obviously, there are those who still require human contact, especially when making major investment decisions or when the market situation is unclear, so the spread of hybrid solutions is also expected. These combine cheap, automated advice with the option to consult a human advisor if necessary.

5. In-App Financial Education: Learning on the Go

"Financial literacy" or "financial education" are terms that quickly make most people, especially young people, yawn, yet it would be hard to deny that they are increasingly important topics. This is not a new realization; there have been previous attempts to convey this knowledge in some easily digestible form ‒ animations and education in the form of games ‒ but the phone in everyone's hand, and the digital banking application on it, can open up new horizons in this area as well. 

Instead of long articles or courses, for example, we can get short, on-the-spot, AI-generated short tips, or even videos, gamified quizzes, infographics ‒ within the app itself. And most importantly: not just in general, but when and where we need it. For example, we want to buy a more expensive household appliance, and the application proactively offers a short animation that explains whether it is worth buying it on credit or paying with a credit or debit card, of course taking into account our current balance, regular income, and so on.

This contextual education, combined with the principles of behavioral economics (a relatively new field of science that combines economics with insights from psychology and other social sciences to better understand and predict people's economic decisions), can be a real breakthrough. These "nudges" – personalized cues, reminders – can encourage positive financial behavior, such as setting up automatic savings, paying bills on time, or diversifying investments. Apps can even incorporate peer-to-peer features to ask questions, share tips, and learn from each other's experiences in a dedicated community section.

6. Flexible Payment Options with Mobile Apps

Mobile banking experience has long since gone beyond being able to initiate transfers or pay with a card from our device, although according to data analytics firm Euromonitor International, remote mobile payments still make up the vast majority of mobile payments. In 2024, this accounted for 74% of all mobile payments, while in-person (so-called proximity) payments accounted for only about 26%.

These proximity payments ‒ while still only a smaller segment of mobile transactions ‒ are growing worldwide due to the increasing use of digital wallets, biometric authentication, NFC technology, and QR codes, especially among younger users. According to Euromonitor's Voice of the Consumer: Digital Consumer Survey, more than 26% of respondents aged 18 to 29 used their smartphone or wearable device for in-person payments at least weekly.

In the field of remote payments, person-to-person (P2P) transfers, such as those offered by Revolut or Venmo, are already ubiquitous, but they may increasingly infiltrate more traditional banking applications as well. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, such as those offered by Affirm or Klarna, which offer interest-free installment payment options directly at the checkout, are also gaining ground. These may increasingly integrate into mobile banking applications, offering an alternative to traditional store credit.

One of the biggest trends, of course, is the increasing prevalence of digital wallets. Forecasts predict that they will handle more than half of payment transactions globally by 2025. These are also increasingly evolving from simple wallets into comprehensive platforms that offer budgeting tools and micro-investment opportunities. Potentially, they could even develop into super wallets modeled after super apps, becoming a kind of central hub for our financial activities.

There is also tremendous development in the field of contactless payments. Beyond tapping my mobile, tokenizable wearable devices (such as smartwatches and even smart rings) or voice-controlled payments are gaining ground, and there are initial attempts to link various biometric identification procedures (e.g., iris and even vein scanning) with payment transactions.

However, the real innovation here also lies in the contextualization and personalization of payments. For example, the app proactively suggests the optimal payment method for a given purchase on the spot, based on our available credit, loyalty programs, current interest rates, and even our location. For example, when traveling abroad, the application may automatically suggest using a card that charges the lowest foreign transaction fee.

The integration of cryptocurrencies, although still in its early stages, is increasingly appearing on the horizon, with more and more banks looking for ways to enable users to securely buy, sell, and spend cryptocurrencies within the mobile banking application.

7. Community Banking: Social Media Inspired Banking Applications

It is undeniable that social media has fundamentally changed our interactions and communication in recent years, and even decades, and this, albeit slowly, is definitely starting to infiltrate the traditionally more rigid banking world. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, such as those offered by Revolut, Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App, are the most obvious forms of this trend, but it's not just about that; social features may appear in our banking apps, such as:

• Shared financial goals: for example, setting a joint savings goal with our family, partner, or even a group of friends within our app. 
• Financial literacy communities: The app can incorporate moderated forums and groups where we can discuss financial topics, ask questions, share tips, and learn from each other and from experts. 
• Gamified savings challenges: Friendly competitions or group challenges that encourage us to save more or pay off our debts, all with rewards and recognition for progress. 
• Sharing bills and expenses: Integrated with P2P payments, banking applications can simplify the calculation and sharing of group activities or shared expenses. 

Of course, banks have to be very careful in this area, because security and data protection are particularly important here. For these solutions to become widespread and truly usable, users must feel that their money and data (e.g., what they spend and where) are safe. In addition to traditional procedures such as multi-factor authentication or end-to-end encryption, AI can also play a major role in monitoring transactions and recognizing unusual patterns.

8. Biometric Security and Mobile Banking

Biometric identification ‒ the use of unique biological characteristics, such as fingerprints, face, or even voice, to verify identity ‒ is now fundamental in mobile banking experience, but in 2025, this area is far beyond simply replacing passwords with fingerprints.

One of the most exciting new technologies, behavioral biometrics, for example, can add another layer of security. This involves (supported by AI, of course) the system analyzing the unique ways in which we interact with the device: how we type, how we swipe, how we usually hold the phone, and even, with pressure-sensitive screens, how hard we usually press. This creates a digital fingerprint that is incredibly difficult to accurately imitate or copy and provides continuous, invisible authentication in the background, without us having to actively do anything.

There is also tremendous development in the field of liveness detection, which makes it increasingly difficult for fraudsters to hack biometric systems through photos, videos, or even sophisticated 3D masks. Decentralized identity solutions can provide even greater security; these IDs are stored using blockchain technology, making them virtually impossible to access.

+1: Social Media Inspired UX in Mobile Banking

Let's face it, older banking apps weren't famous for their world-beating design or streamlined UX, but that's changing fast. Banks are increasingly drawing inspiration from social media design principles and UX. Which, of course, doesn't mean that mobile banking applications will be like TikTok or Instagram, but it is possible to incorporate elements that can attract and retain users' attention.

• Visually rich interfaces: Moving away from cluttered, text-heavy dashboards toward vibrant graphics, intuitive navigation, and elements such as swiping, scrolling, and drag-and-drop functionality. 
• Personalized content feeds: Transaction notifications, financial advice, and product recommendations displayed in a continuously updated news feed. 
• Story formats, short video content: Use of short videos that have spread almost everywhere from Snapchat and Instagram to provide financial education, product news, or tips. 
• Microinteractions: Incorporation of subtle animations and haptic feedback that provide an immediate response to actions, making the application feel more responsive and alive. 
• Social proof: Incorporation of recommendations, user reviews, and statistics, e.g., "Customers like you have saved this much by switching to this product."

These trends point in a direction where mobile banking is no longer just a tool to check our balance and pay our bills, but a personalized, proactive, informative, and even social experience. However, this process requires a delicate balance: leveraging AI while maintaining the human aspect; prioritizing security and data protection while fostering a sense of community; providing personalized experiences without being intrusive or manipulative. The banks that do this well may be the ones that will be the biggest winners of this development in the years to come.