E*Trade, Fidelity Investments and JP Morgan Harness the Power of the Human Voice DALBAR Study Reveals Innovators in the World of Mobile Apps

Boston, MA, March 5, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DALBAR, Inc. announced today the release of its evaluation offinancial services firms mobile apps, which included an in-depthstudy and review of 45 applications.

Some years ago, the value of the human voice was realized byinfluential names in the technology space. Since then, hugeadvancements have been made in this area and today's mobileconsumers expect more than simple speech-to-text functionality. Theexpectation has gone from dictating to a piece of technology tocarrying on a dialog with it, having it listen to us and eveninteracting with us when necessary.

The financial services industry has been pretty quick tointegrate the human voice with their mobile technology endeavors,with the following firms leading the pack:

• E*Trade Mobile houses a microphone icon at thetop of the screens. Logged in users can not only request that theapp show them information for a specific company (stock prices ornews items), but one's voice can also be used to buy and sellshares.
   
• Fidelity Investments app offers the ability tonavigate to various screens, request information and performtransactions and take it one step further. For example, when asking"Give me a quote for Google," within a few moments, not only didthe app pull up the correct stock, it read a summary of itsperformance aloud. In addition, when we requested it be added to awatch list, we were requested to specify which watch list to add itto, followed by watch lists being generated.
   
• JP Morgan ACCESS Mobileoffers the ability to log into the app by using one's "voiceprint." As with any biometric technology, multiple recordings aremade to ensure both accuracy and security. As an additional layerof safety, users must also trace a pattern to "log in and releasepayments."

"These institutions recognize that in the world of technologythe competitive landscape is vast. These leading firms understandthat consumers will expect their financial institutions to providethem with the same ease of access and getting things done that theyexperience with the likes of Amazon or Domino's Pizza" saidKathleen Whalen, Managing Director of DALBAR.

The Apps were evaluated using DALBAR's Mobile InSIGHT program criteria. The criteria consistof 9 distinct evaluation categories including Discoverability,Branding, Design, Navigation, Engagement, Draw, Personalization,Support and Ease of Use.  The apps were awarded star ratingsboth overall, and for individual evaluation categories.

For more information on DALBAR's Mobile InSIGHT: Innovations inthe World of Apps report,  please visit the web site atwww.dalbar.com or contactNicole Struzziery at 617-624-7153 or [e-mail]. 

DALBAR, Inc. is the financial community's leading independentexpert for evaluating, auditing and rating business practices,customer performance, product quality and service. Launched in1976, DALBAR has earned the recognition for consistent and unbiasedevaluations of insurance companies, investment companies,registered investment advisers, broker/dealers, retirement planproviders and financial professionals. DALBAR awards are recognizedas marks of excellence in the financial community.

CONTACT: Kathleen Whalen 617.723.6400 [e-mail]

Source:DALBAR, Inc.