Nedbank retail has developed a mobile BI application for its clients to meet the growing need for on-the-spot analytics.

“Our clients need information constantly. Behaviour is shifting away from relying on other people to get the data that you require – clients must be able to get the data they need, when they need it,” said Tinia Scholtz, Nedbank senior manager: retail analytics and insights, speaking at the Mobile Commerce Executive Forum.

Going mobile is the logical choice, continued Scholtz. “Everybody is spending more time on their mobile devices. If you can read world news on your device, why not company news?

“By placing BI on a device, we enable clients to make this part of the daily decision-making process – people already read business mail off their personal phones, so why not follow this trend, leverage this platform, and enable BI on personal devices?”

Having business information close at hand is an important step towards improving efficiency, Scholtz noted. “If you know that it’s going to take three days to get the data from your analyst, you’re not going to use it. The closer you have the info to you, the easier it will be to use the data for your decision-making process.”

It is vital for mobile apps to be simple and innovative in order to ensure user adoption. “Start small and only build what you need. Intuitive navigation will fast-track adoption and enable self-help. We need to ensure that executives can help themselves,” said Scholtz.

Nedbank’s goal is to deploy the mobile BI application to a wider Nedbank Retail audience of 1 000 to 5 000 users, as well as to develop a version for Android on top of the existing iOS version.

The project’s aims include improving Nedbank’s understanding of the extent and application of mobile intelligence, concluded Scholtz.