Larky Lowdown Reveals Popular Push Notification Messages Used by Financial Institutions and Engagement Rates by Category

Kurt Schadenbrand

​Larky, a fintech provider helping financial institutions proactively connect with their audience in the right place and at the right time, has released the second issue of The Larky Lowdown report. This quarterly report centers on push notification use within the financial services industry and shares intriguing data insights on the impact of this unique communication channel.
 
“Financial institutions can leverage push notification technology in a myriad of different ways, and we highly encourage our clients to use a wide range of messages to effectively engage their account holders,” said Kurt Schaldenbrand, Chief Technology Officer and VP of Product at Larky. “This iteration of the Larky Lowdown explores the varying message categories commonly used by financial institutions, which includes Brand Awareness, New Product Promotion, Current Product Expansion, Operational Announcements and Community Events.”
 
Several push notification message categories indicated strong engagement results, as seen via tap-through rates. Report findings include:

• New Product Promotion push notifications (e.g. car loans, mortgages) typically receive the strongest engagement rates – 31% of the messages distributed by financial institutions fall within this category. More than 25% of messages within this category earn exceptional tap-through rates of 20% and above; 

 

• About 25% of Current Product Expansion messages (e.g., increasing existing debit card usage) earn exceptional tap-through rates. These push notifications are distributed by financial institutions about 5% of the time; and,

 

• Operational Announcements (e.g., special branch hours or closings) make up 19% of messages distributed by financial institutions, and this category receives mixed tap-through rates – about half of messages sent earn engagement rates of at least 10% or more.
  
  

Schaldenbrand added, “A notable report finding was that although New Product Promotions often earn the highest engagement rates, likely due to segmented targeting and strong call-to-action statements, these notifications are only the second most popular message category used by financial institutions (FIs). This category is surpassed by Brand Awareness messages, which typically earn lower tap-through engagement rates. While these low rates may appear to indicate a lack of success, this assumption does not account for the purpose of these messages – to keep FIs top of mind for account holders. Brand Awareness messages often do not require a call to action and instead provide value by earning impressions, which cannot be measured as concretely as tap-through rates.”
 
Each issue of the Larky Lowdown report focuses on a particular area of push notification usage among both banks and credit unions. The quarterly report is freely available for download from the Larky website.

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