Bank of America announced in January it would drop its Windows and Windows Phone app because it did not have enough users. Dumb move, but more on that later. Bank of America has followed through on that promise and their app no longer works. The company directed users to access the bank through the mobile browser, but their mobile site does not work with Internet Explorer 11 on Windows Phone. Bank of America is leaving users out in the cold.
Now, why is this dumb? First of all, it is never a good situation when you drop support for some users. No matter what the numbers, there are Windows Phone users who were relying on the app. The whole world is moving to mobile as a computing platform and Bank of America would be wise to make their service accessible to as many users as possible.
Secondly, the Windows Phone user base might be small now, but Microsoft is putting serious efforts into growing it. With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft Windows will be universal on all devices that support the OS. Since Microsoft still holds the majority market share on desktops and laptops, BOA is leaving a large group of potential customers out in the cold. I would suggest it's unthinkable Microsoft will not succeed in growing their mobile user base.
Chase dropped development of their Windows Phone app too, but they still allow users who already have it to use it. In fact, after a user inquired on Twitter about Chase dropping the app, the company tweeted him back encouraging him to keep using it until further notice. That's a much better way to handle a situation like this.
Now, why is this dumb? First of all, it is never a good situation when you drop support for some users. No matter what the numbers, there are Windows Phone users who were relying on the app. The whole world is moving to mobile as a computing platform and Bank of America would be wise to make their service accessible to as many users as possible.
Secondly, the Windows Phone user base might be small now, but Microsoft is putting serious efforts into growing it. With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft Windows will be universal on all devices that support the OS. Since Microsoft still holds the majority market share on desktops and laptops, BOA is leaving a large group of potential customers out in the cold. I would suggest it's unthinkable Microsoft will not succeed in growing their mobile user base.
Chase dropped development of their Windows Phone app too, but they still allow users who already have it to use it. In fact, after a user inquired on Twitter about Chase dropping the app, the company tweeted him back encouraging him to keep using it until further notice. That's a much better way to handle a situation like this.
Tags: windows phone