Not everyone's too happy with AIB's new mobile banking app

AFTER MUCH TEASING, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) officially launched its redesigned app at the end of June and continued to roll it out across various accounts and devices on a phased basis.

It has officially usurped its predecessor app – but not everyone’s happy.

The new app was marketed as “the most significant change to our [AIB's] mobile channel in over a decade” with a more intuitive layout, easier payments, enhanced security and improved personal finance insights, the bank said in advance of its launch.

But the discarding of AIB’s quick balance feature – where people could press and hold a button labelled with a euro sign on its login screen to see their balance, without logging in – has attracted consternation from some customers.

One person took to the internet to write: “The classic banking app ‘upgrade’ where they strip out the one feature everyone used”.

Another said, “Losing the quick balance view option is a kicker for myself as I don’t always want to log in to view the current balance”.

A third person also lamented its loss, saying, “The point of Quick Balance was to see a snapshot of your balance without logging in. It was brilliant. Probably the best thing about the app.

“Of course AIB would do something Irish like get rid of it.”

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Outside the quick balance, there has also been some annoyance at the binning of integrated biometrics to log in, such as face ID and fingerprints for older phones (these biometrics are still available via passkey, which is your phone’s digital key for protected apps).

That said, there was some appreciation for what is a more visually appealing interface, even if complaints around the functionality remain. 

The Journal put these complaints to AIB. A spokesperson for the bank said the app was designed on foot of feedback from customers and built on their requirements.

“We’ve designed the home screen to give customers more than just their balance. As soon as they log in they can immediately see their balance and all the recent transactions that make up their balance, all in one place,” the spokesperson said.

He added that passkey includes an “additional layer of security on top of traditional biometrics” for a more standard and secure way to access the app.

“Our customer upgrade approach has been specifically designed to minimise the impact on customers as they transition from the existing app. We are closely monitoring logins, payments and feedback from our customers to understand any issues arising and to support them as required.

“With the majority of our customers now using the new app, we can confirm that we are not experiencing issues with payments or other specific areas of the app.”

The spokesperson said all feedback is reviewed to identify any potential improvements. Customers with issues or queries are urged to contact AIB’s customer service team.

A question and answer section on the app is available to view here.