Following Chase’s Departure, Bank Of America Bails On Windows Phone App
Just last week, we reported that Chase announced plans to remove its mobile app from the Windows Phone Store. With global Windows Phone market share hovering below three percent and users showing little interest in its app, Chase saw little reason to devote resources to the platform. "We are focusing our support on the products our customers use the most,” said a representative for Chase at the time.
Today, Bank of America has similar sentiments, as it too is abandoning its Windows Mobile app. Bank of America today posted a notice on the landing page for its Windows Phone app that states:
In early March 2015, we’ll no longer support this app for this device. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. You can access mobile banking with us through your browser. Just go to www.bankofamerica.com.
Interestingly enough, the same message is also displayed on the Windows 8.1 version of the Bank of America app in the Windows Store.
The Windows Phone version of the Bank of America app gives users unique functionality like the ability to deposit checks and provides Live tile updates. This functionality, however, will be lost when using your Windows Phone’s Internet browser to access your Bank of America account online.
Microsoft is hoping that its app situation for smartphones takes a turn for the better once Windows 10 arrives. With Windows 10, app developers will be able to write an application once, and push it out to multiple platforms including PC, tablets, smartphones, and even the Xbox One with seamless scaling. Unfortunately, it appears that Chase and Bank of America aren’t sticking around long enough to see how universal apps pan out for Microsoft.
