Pakistani banking apps are far from good. Compared to banking apps from other countries, the UK for instance, Pakistani apps fall short by a big margin due to a lack of features and user convenience. Almost all local banking apps ask you for PINs and OTPs over and over to a point it becomes more of an inconvenience rather than security.
This is just one example of why these apps do not match up with international ones. Let’s have a deeper look at each app to find out the pros and cons of each to decide which ones are the best and which ones are the worst.
This will be a series of articles where we will do a deep dive on each banking app for an honest review.
We will start off with Askari’s mobile app.
The Askari banking app has not always been this way. It has gone through several updates over the past which completely revamped its appearance and also added a variety of new features. But for the review, we will only be talking about the latest versions of banking apps and their shortcomings.
The Askari mobile app is currently available on the Google Play Store as well as Apple’s App Store for free. It has a 4.0 rating (out of 5) on the Play Store with more than 500,000 installs. It was last updated on December 24, 2021, which shows that Askari’s developers have not yet abandoned the app, which is a good sign.
The latest version of the app at the time of writing is 2.1.1 (39).
Upon opening the app, it greets you with a login screen that requires your username and password. Entering your credentials or fingerprint will take you straight into the app without asking for any verification PINs (which used to be a requirement in older versions of the app). It’s a good practice to have the fingerprint login option enabled in case you forget your credentials.
For some reason, there is no “forgot password” option on the login screen. The option is only available once you successfully log into the app. It should also be available outside the app in case you don’t remember your credentials and have not set up the fingerprint login.
The login screen includes options to contact Askari (email and phone) as well as exclusive Askari discounts available around the country through their debit/credit cards. There is also the “Apply Online” option to apply for different types of loans including car loans, agriculture loans, Islamic loans without interest, and more.
Some of these options require a login so it makes little sense to place them outside the login screen. Why are they placed before the login screen when they require a login? Placing these features inside the app (after login) would remove one unnecessary step.
But overall, these menus are quite straightforward and easy to navigate through.
The main menu of the app shows your account type, account number, and account balance at the top. This can be problematic when you’re trying to maintain privacy in a public place. There should be an option to hide these details and only reveal them if you touch your account details.
Sometimes the account balance is displayed as N/A due to a bug, which can be quite nerve-racking. But this is nothing to worry about as it is only a minor bug in the latest version of the app at the time of writing.
Redundant Sidebar
The hamburger button (three adjacent horizontal lines) on the bottom right opens up a separate menu with more features. A lot of these features are the same as the main menu, such as Account Details, Card Management, Bill Payments, etc. This space could have been used better by adding other features in this section. This would also make the main menu features a bit less cumbersome.
Furthermore, features such as ‘Account Statement’ should not be separate from ‘Account Details’ for the sake of proper categorization. It should either be together on the main menu or just the hamburger menu, instead of keeping two of the same feature options in separate locations.
The space-saving issue can be seen with “Card Management” as well where the main menu has one spot for Card Management, while the hamburger menu has two separate categories for managing credit cards and debit cards. This is entirely unnecessary and a waste of space.
Payment options such as buying tickets and bill payments can also be put together in one tab as “Payments” to keep things simple and properly categorized.
The “Points/Discounts” section in the center of the main menu includes a section for “Digital Banking Reward Points”. There is no explanation on what these points are, how they are earned, how they can be redeemed, or how they are supposed to be used. There would be no need to Google everything if there was a simple explanation within the app.
Finally, some horizontal scrolling menus lack the search feature. Some sections of the app do have the search feature for convenience, such as the bank transfer section, but some others like the ATM locator could use the search feature. This would save users from endless scrolling to find the right box in the list.
Otherwise, the interface is quite simple to navigate through.
Now for the features.
Logs Out Too Quickly
First and foremost, the app has a very small duration for login sessions. The app kicks you out if it stays inactive for a minute or two, forcing you to log in again every single time. While this does act as a security feature, it is also highly inconvenient to log in every other minute. Users should have the option to adjust their login session durations.
There are times the app gets stuck with the “Loading, Please Wait..” prompt, especially with slower internet connections. However, slow internet cannot be blamed here as better apps do not struggle with this problem even with a poor connection. This problem can be seen while trying to transfer funds to someone as well. The app often gets stuck on “Loading, Please Wait..” even with a normal internet connection.
Tax Certificates Don’t Work, Account Statement Limit
At the time of writing, the latest version of the app does not load tax certificates at all, nor does it allow you to see an account statement for more than 6 months at a time. Better banking apps, such as the UK’s Barclays banking app, for instance, show more details in its app-generated bank statement.
The Barclays banking app even gives you additional useful features such as a secure cloud where you can keep your sensitive documents and other private items.
Cash Withdrawal Without Card
However, Askari is one of the few Pakistani banking apps that allows you to withdraw cash without your bank card. The Raast Instant Payment system also makes it much easier to transfer funds to someone. You can simply use your phone number or your Raast ID as your account number to transfer funds to someone.
This feature has made its way to several Pakistani bank apps including Askari and UBL.
Last but not the least, Askari deserves credit for making their app better and better with new updates. The app did not have even half of these features in the past and the UI has improved over time as well.
There are still several kinks to iron out, but at least Askari is on the right path.
Source: Pro Pakistani