Most credit unions and other financial institutions don't charge users for their mobile banking apps, but experts said changing four things could turn free mobile banking apps into bigger noninterest income drivers.

1. Better Onboarding

Letting people become members and open accounts is an obvious first step in boosting noninterest income via mobile, according to credit union mobile consultant Jonathan Stark.

"The majority of credit union mobile applications don't allow you to create a membership inside the app. You have to go through some outside avenue, either through the website, sometimes a combination of the website and printing out materials and faxing them in, or bringing them into a branch, or having a conversation with a human being over the phone," Stark said. "You download the mobile app and it does nothing for you. It maybe is an ATM locator, but it's just a brick wall. That's an obvious fix that could be made."

2. In-App Lending

The easier it is to get a loan via mobile, the easier it could be to boost noninterest income, Kris Kovacs, president/CEO of the Raleigh, N.C.-based digital financial services firm Constellation.

"Most of the lending tools that are available today haven't been on the market for mobile, so if a member is at the car dealer, it's not necessarily easy for them to be able to get a car. If I'm standing out in front of a house I'm considering buying, it's not easy for me to get a price quote on what my payment's going to be. So I would say certainly there are opportunities in the lending arm," he said.

"There's no doubt that the [mobile] offering for most credit unions today doesn't even expose most of their services and products," he added. "Look at the rush the industry has had in trying to keep up with Rocket Mortgage. Being able to take a mortgage easily online is something they've established as a standard, and most credit unions – they can't get anywhere near that kind of member service or that kind of ability in exposing one of their core products."

3. Customized Offers

Using data to make unique offers to members based on their habits and history via mobile could be a game-changer for credit unions and noninterest income, Achim Griesel, president of consulting firm Haberfeld in Lincoln, Neb., said.

"If we can actually customize it to that degree, that would be ideal," he said. "I don't know that most institutions are there."

Stark dreamed of going even further.

"It would be great if a credit union mobile app allowed members to easily share attractive offers, credit union products and services with people who are not yet members but are in the field of membership," he said. "Maybe I'd be able to share something directly from inside of the app that would go straight to my nephew George, and George can click on a link and install the credit union app, become a member and apply for that loan or apply for that savings account in 60 seconds."

4. Personal Financial Management

Cornerstone Advisors Senior Director Jim Burson said credit unions could also drive more noninterest income with their mobile apps by offering personal financial management tools. Logging in to see spending patterns was one example.

"You're starting to see that stuff as information, but where it's still breaking down is the compelling and relevant offer for me that says, 'Hey Jim, we see you're making a car loan payment every month to Wells Fargo dealer services. Maybe we can refinance that car for you at a lower rate,' or, 'Jim, we see you have a lot of excess liquidity sitting in a share account, maybe you should be talking to us about a certificate, or a money market account or some other way to generate incremental revenue,'" he explained.

Kovacs said appointment-setting is another opportunity for mobile apps to drive noninterest income.

"How many credit unions expose to their members the ability to go on their devices and make an appointment at the branch? To talk to somebody about a product or service? The ability to say, 'Oh you know what? I'm sitting on my couch, I just saw that commercial for Fidelity, I really need to go and talk to my credit union. Now I'm interested in that, I'd like to set an appointment.' Well, in most cases, you can't … but I'll assure you that if you wanted to do that on Fidelity, they'd have somebody call you back that night," he said.

Finding the Money

Upgrading mobile apps isn't free, and credit unions may need to prioritize if they want to invest more in mobile.

"Quite frankly, there are ways for credit unions to think about funding this right. Part of the ways for them to think about funding this kind of innovation is to say, 'I'm not going to build that $2 million branch; instead, what I'm going to do is invest $2 million in doing this with my mobile app,'" Burson said. "That's not a bad thing when you look at where trends are going."

It's a tough decision, Stark added, but in the end there might not be a choice.

"I have a good friend who just pulled her money out of the local credit union because they don't have any online banking whatsoever," he said. "You have to go to a branch to do anything. She can't do that. She's been with this credit union since she was three years old … she knows everybody there. She lives in a small town, whole thing. She said, 'I want to support them, but I cannot. They have to meet me halfway.'"

In March, part two of our series will explore what's keeping some credit unions from adding more noninterest income drivers to their mobile apps.