Capital One has updated its mobile banking app to enhance the customer experience by enabling customers to receive special offers from retailers such as Whole Foods and Starbucks.

In the past year, Capital One has seen the number of unique mobile users grow by more than 200 percent. The updates to the mobile banking app are intended to provide customers with new and easier ways to manage their financial lives that they are looking for.

“If you use your credit card at the grocery store or a fast food chain, you will start to see deals more based on Burger King or Whole Foods,” said Mark Andrews, a spokesman for Capital One, McLean, VA.

“You don’t have to clip coupons and you don’t have to preselect an offer,” he said. “It takes a lot of the hassle out of coupons.”

Simplifying coupons
The update enables rewards customers can redeem their rewards for previously purchased travel, account credit, gift cards and cash back straight from the app. They can also view their rewards history, account information and request transfers to other rewards accounts.

In terms of special deals, customers will receive a weekly notification via the app or email with offers that have been customized to them. The deals are personalized based on a customer’s purchase history.

Some of the merchants signed on to offer special deals include Coldwater Creek, Whole Foods, Body Shop, Quiznos and Starbucks.

The deals are automatically tagged to users’ credit cards so when they use their card to pay at a retailer with an offer, it is applied to their account.

Some other deals offered via mobile require the user to pre-buy the offer and print an email that can be presented to the merchant. Capital One is attempting to simplify the process both for customers and retailers via its deals offering.

Those who have the app are automatically enrolled in the deals program.

The updated mobile app is available for Android and iOS.

Banking on mobile
The new offerings in the Capitol One banking app augment existing functionality such as the ability to access credit card and banking accounts, find a branch or ATM and browse products.

Capital One offers a spectrum of mobile banking services, including apps for both iOS and Android, a feature-rich mobile site, text and voice alerts. The financial services company recently used a mobile sweepstakes to let brands engage with customers in a fun way while encouraging them to try its mobile banking services (see story).

“Capital One is known for making things easy and simple for customers,” Mr. Andrews said. “We’ve rolled up deals into the mobile app so customers can keep track of the latest deals that targeted at them and keep a running total of the amount saved through the deals program.”