Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) continues to break records on digital capabilities.
Charlotte-based BofA added 2 million active digital clients last year, with total digital users surpassing 54 million. The bank logged a record 10.5 billion logins in 2021 — a 15% year-over-year increase.
David Tyrie, chief digital officer and head of global marketing at BofA, attributes these trends to the bank's focus on digital engagement. He views it as different from digital usage. Engagement is more about the value of clients' experiences — for example, the bank incents a user who deposits a check via ATM to instead try a mobile deposit the next time for convenience.
Last year, BofA rolled out more than 3,000 major enhancements to its digital features, Tyrie said.
"You really just can't start and do stuff overnight," he said. "All of this is a result of the last 10 or 15 years of continued and regular investment into technology."
BofA now spends roughly $3.5 billion on new technological capabilities each year. That level of investment is paying off. The bank reports nearly 16 million Zelle users, with money transfers up 39% year over year. More than 85% of small-business clients are using digital platforms. Three-quarters of midsize and large corporate clients use digital capabilities to manage their companies’ finances. BofA's Life Plan tool, which launched in late 2020, is up to 6 million users.
Another hallmark capability is Erica, BofA's virtual assistant. Nearly 25 million BofA clients have interacted with Erica a total of 659 million times since it launched in 2018. Most recently, BofA logged 123 million interactions in the fourth quarter, a 247% year-over-year increase.
Tyrie said clients spent more than 2.2 million hours using Erica in 2021. That reduces the resources spent on phone calls or other, more time-consuming options.
Erica's capabilities improve as it learns what clients want, Tyrie said. The team can add features based on high demand.
As expected, BofA is seeing a higher rate of digital engagement among younger generations. About 95% of millennial clients are digitally active, Tyrie said. Those customers are more used to digital and are newer to banking — meaning they were exposed to BofA's digital offerings early on. About 75% of baby boomers are active users, with the rate dropping to 52% for older seniors, he said.
Tyrie said the bank focuses on strategies to meet each age group's demands. He sees potential to sustain BofA's current level of growth, considering its 67 million total consumer and small-business clients.
"There is a lot of head room for us to continue to drive and go after digital engagement," Tyrie said. "We're growing faster now than pre-pandemic, so if you take a look at what happened when everybody made the shift to digital and now you look at where we are, we're continuing to ramp up."
Late last year, BofA launched a security meter, which monitors customers' digital engagement and assigns them a score based on safety. The bank suggests ways for customers to improve their scores, such as choosing a stronger password or going paperless. BofA tests these types of capabilities for a few months among employees and long-standing customers before a full launch.
In 2022, BofA is not slowing down. It will continue to improve and enhance its digital capabilities, Tyrie said. There are some new projects in the pipeline, although he declined to give details. He did say planning and investments will be important factors moving through this year.
