Banks Use Apps to Push Cards Top of the Wallet

The bank app is no longer just a utility for checking balances or paying bills. Increasingly, it is becoming the control center for customer engagement, rewards visibility, spending management and card loyalty.

A new PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Winning Top of Wallet: How Credit Card Apps Shape Choice,” found that 69% of U.S. adult cardholders say the quality of a credit card’s mobile app influences which card becomes their most used. Seven in 10 cardholders use their primary card’s app, while 32% of app users say they increased spending after adopting it.

Large issuers are increasingly treating mobile apps as engagement platforms designed to keep customers interacting with cards throughout the day, not just when monthly statements arrive.

Bank of America has leaned heavily into artificial intelligence (AI)-driven engagement through Erica, its virtual assistant. The bank said Erica has surpassed 3.2 billion client interactions since launching in 2018, with users interacting with the assistant nearly 700 million times last year. The bank positioned Erica as a proactive financial guidance tool embedded directly into the digital banking experience.

Capital One’s Eno has focused on real-time controls and transaction monitoring, alerting customers to potentially suspicious charges, tracking recurring subscriptions and allowing shoppers to generate virtual card numbers for online purchases. Chase Media Solutions, meanwhile, reflects how JPMorgan Chase is increasingly turning its app into a commerce and loyalty platform through personalized offers and rewards tied to spending behavior.

The strategy reflects a larger industry recognition that app engagement increasingly shapes card usage. Alerts, autopay reminders, rewards prompts and spending insights create more opportunities for banks to remain part of consumers’ daily financial routines.

“The overall experience is seamless since all aspects of the bank’s system sit atop one technology stack,” said John Taylor Garner, founder and CEO at Odynn, describing how large banks increasingly combine servicing, engagement and personalized recommendations inside their apps.

Community Banks Try to Close the Gap

Community banks and credit unions have improved their card apps, though many still face structural disadvantages compared to national issuers with larger technology budgets and deeper data infrastructure.

“Community banks and credit unions have improved their credit card applications, but they still lag behind national banks,” said Ashish Garg, CEO and co-founder of Eltropy. “The problem is more about execution gaps than demand.”

According to Garg, many smaller institutions still rely on fragmented approval processes that require customers to move between apps, emails and manual verification steps. That friction can increase abandonment rates, particularly among younger consumers accustomed to instant mobile-first onboarding experiences.

At the same time, FinTech partnerships and white-label technology providers are helping narrow some of those gaps. Smaller institutions increasingly offer features such as push provisioning to digital wallets, virtual card issuance, card locking tools and transaction alerts without having to build those systems internally.

“With community financial institutions and the card experience, you see a bifurcation — those who have invested heavily here, and those who haven’t,” said Nikhil Lakhanpal, co-founder of Narmi. “For the ones who have, the mobile card experience is best-in-class.”

That investment push reflects growing recognition that mobile apps now play a direct role in customer retention and wallet share. Consumers increasingly expect immediate access to controls, personalized insights and integrated servicing from within a single interface.

Apps Become Data and Loyalty Platforms

The competition increasingly centers on who can make the app feel most relevant in real time.

Large issuers are using AI and behavioral analytics to surface spending alerts, installment offers, subscription tracking and personalized rewards recommendations directly inside apps. Several experts interviewed for the report said the distinction is no longer whether a bank has a mobile app, but how intelligent and responsive the experience becomes.

Many large issuers are also weaving broader financial ecosystems into the app experience itself. Some now integrate budgeting tools, installment options, travel booking, merchant offers and virtual cards into a single interface designed to keep users inside the platform longer.

Wells Fargo’s Fargo assistant and LifeSync tools reflect another part of the industry push toward predictive banking and goal-based engagement.

The challenge for smaller institutions is not simply adding features, but maintaining continuity across multiple systems and vendors. Community institutions often rely on processors, FinTech partners and third-party app layers that can create fragmented user experiences compared to the more unified technology stacks operated by national banks.

Even so, some industry observers argue community institutions retain advantages in areas such as customer service, lower APRs and human interaction during disputes or underwriting reviews. That balance may become more important as banks automate financial interactions through AI and predictive engagement tools.

PNC’s Low Cash Mode illustrates how banks are also using apps to address cash-flow stress and overdraft management in real time.

The broader takeaway from the PYMNTS Intelligence findings is that the app increasingly sits at the center of the card relationship. In a market where consumers often carry multiple cards, issuers are using mobile experiences to influence not only how customers bank, but also which cards they reach for first.