Category: Apps

AR is the next step that the major Canadian bank is doing to compete within its market.

Royal Bank is updating its mobile application to help to incorporate a number of new state of the art features to appeal to customers who enjoy location based mobile services, but with a unique twist in the form of an augmented reality app element.

All a user needs to do is to open the map in the application and the AR feature will display the results of the query.

The augmented reality app is meant to help to make it easier for customers to be able to find the nearest Royal Bank (RBC) ATM or bank branch. The AR function provides a live streetscape that uses icons to guide the customer to the nearest location, including the distance to get there. The key to this update is to make the location feature easier and more convenient for the customer to use.

The bank’s augmented reality app is only the latest in its many smartphone friendly options.

According to the head of the emerging payments division at RBC, Jeremy Bornstein, “Making continuous improvements to our mobile app to allow our customers a smooth user experience is a priority for us.” The tool that allows customers to locate branches and ATMs is among the most commonly used in the existing mobile app from the bank, he added.

The bank believes that by combining this popular feature with a live street view that incorporates various location based elements, it has enhanced the usability and effectiveness of this tool in a very practical and appealing way.

In order to use the augmented reality feature, the latest version of the mobile app is required. The “Find a Location” function needs to be opened and the icon the icon can be tapped to turn the smartphone’s camera feature on . The application then links the compass in the device with the live image and its location based service with the RBC location database in order to guide the customer to the nearest branch or ATM location.

That location is presented on the screen and then the augmented reality app provides on screen directions to bring the customer from his or her present location to that of the desired ATM or branch.

The application uses the GPS built into the device to ensure that food is served fast and hot.

Taco Bell is about to join the latest mobile apps that will be bringing enhancements to ordering functionalities over smartphones and tablets, as they expand the testing of location based marketing and services using GPS technology.

Californian consumers will likely be the first ones who will be able to take advantage of the new app.

Though using location based technology in mobile apps may seem as though it is a little bit risky, as it closes the window for error quite a bit, this does not seem to be the actual experience at the Taco Bell test restaurants, so far. It could seem that people would try to make their food orders on their way to the restaurant and that this would increase the likelihood of long wait times, but so far, those who have tested it are often reporting that their maximum wait times are around two minutes.

Taco Bell is using the design of its mobile apps to better suit the needs of its primary demographic.

The consumers who eat at their quick service restaurants the most are, according to Taco Bell, young Millenials. As those are the people who are the most likely to have smartphones and to use them for a greater number of daily activities, it only seems to make sense that restaurants tap into that with location based marketing and services that can help to increase their sales.

Their latest report indicated that among smartphone owners, two out of every five will use their mobile devices for finding a place to eat. Providing these diners with a way to not only find the restaurant locations very easily using GPS technology, but also offering a way to actually order the food while on the go so that it will be ready upon arrival.

Though Taco Bell is not the first company to implement mobile ordering, its mobile apps appear to be the first ones that will be full featured and that provide the ability to order anything from the menu – including customizations of those menu items – while allowing the customer to tell the restaurant when he or she will be arriving at the location to pick it up.