While some top-level banks top the rankings in a new survey of how they use mobile apps, leading US institutions fell short.

Deutsche Bank, Caisse d´Epargne and Bank of China have topped the rankings in a new MyPrivateBanking study assessing the mobile apps of the world’s top 50 banks; meanwhile, the big US institutions fell disappointingly short of the industry leaders.

Having benchmarked close to 200 mobile apps, the private client forum and research firm ranked Germany’s Deutsche Bank and France’s Caisse d´Epargne as joint first place, with both being awarded 50 points out of possible 60.

Deutsche was lauded for its app’s comprehensive content and the integration with other online media like Facebook, Twitter and the bank’s own website. Caisse d´Epargne, meanwhile, was awarded the top spot for the “excellent functionality and clear design” of its app.

Bank of China was the winner in the category of best standalone app, scoring 40 points out of 60, but the surprise finding was the dearth of the big Wall Street names in the top ten. Of the US giants, only Citigroup made it into the top ten, coming in joint sixth place with 46 points.

The rest of the top ten top comprised: DBS Bank (47 points), ING Group (47), Société Générale (46), UniCredit (45), BBVA Group (44) and Credit Agricole (44).

The authors of the report, entitled Mobile Apps for Banking, concluded that while the mobile revolution has reached the banking industry, development is still only at a very immature stage. The report found that currently two-thirds of the world’s biggest banks only offer very basic apps with limited functionality and little content. Even more damningly, the report found that some global banks still offer no apps at all for private clients.

“Only a handful of banks can claim that they have a comprehensive and user-friendly portfolio of financial apps for private clients,” said the report’s authors, highlighting the need for the industry to up its game to stay in line with other sectors.

“Despite the strong growth in the use of mobile apps a large majority of banks are not yet harnessing the potential of apps to engage clients, market their products, strengthen their brand and provide more corporate information”, said Steffen Binder, research director at MyPrivateBanking.

The report had several criticisms to make of banks’ app provision, the first being a generalised reluctance among banks to provide Android-compatible apps, despite the operating system's popularity globally. Most banking apps are only available for iPhone, and there is even a lack of specific apps for the iPad, the report said.

Basic functionality was the second main criticism of banks’ apps. According to the study, only 65 per cent of firms offer market information apps to their clients and just 40 per cent of banks provide apps with brokerage functionality for trading stocks and other securities.

Further to this, MyPrivateBanking found that many banks’ apps provide little useful content, with less than half offering product information or financial news on their apps. Despite the expectation of interactivity among today’s tech-savvy clients, video content and digital client magazines are only offered by a small minority of institutions.

The report also highlighted that security should be a real concern, as many of banking apps do not offer the same level of security as regular online banking and privacy policies are rarely to be found with regard to the use of apps.