Huntington is adding an iPad application to its mobile repertoire in an effort to make banking more convenient and accessible for customers.

The news follows Huntington’s introduction of apps for the iPhone and Android several months ago. The financial institution is focusing on putting the building blocks in place for its mobile strategy so that it can begin to build out features next year.

“Consumers will be using iPads to access financial information and I didn’t want them to go through an experience that is not optimized for that device,” said Jeff Dennes, online and mobile services director of Huntington, Columbus, OH.

“We are the first financial institution of our size to have an iPad app in the iTunes App Store,” he said.

“All of this is getting some of the basics done in the mobile space so that in 2012 we can start putting some other things on the apps that our customers will be able to use.”

Frequent use
With Huntington’s new iPad application, users can search for a branch or ATM, contact customer support and service areas, as well as learn more about Huntington.

Customers enrolled in Huntington’s online banking service can pay bills, transfer funds and view real-time account balances and account activity from their iPads.

With iPad penetration growing, consumers are starting to rely on them for more daily activities, including banking. Huntington believes that customers will eventually touch mobile devices more often than a physical branch or an automatic teller machine.

“Customers go to branches 1 to 3 times a month while customers using our digital channels are accessing online banking more than that,” Mr. Dennes said. “In the mobile space, we are seeing that customers are accessing as much as once per day so we want that experience to be the best that it can be.”

Remote deposit capture is one of the features Huntington is looking to bring to its mobile apps next year.

The iPad app was developed using Kony Solutions platform.

The Huntington iPhone app has been downloaded 80,000 times and the Android 75,000 times since they were launched.

“These are very good adoption rates and about what I expected because we were seeing those kinds of volumes prior to launching,” Mr. Dennes said.

The iPad app is free to download and is available in the iTunes App Store as well on Huntington’s Web site.

“So many customers are already accessing Huntington with these devices and we want the digital experience to be the best it can be,” Mr. Dennes said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York