Chase has expanded its Chase My New Home application by creating a version that is customized for Apple’s iPad.

The company debuted its Chase My New Home smartphone app last fall, and it is now adapting it for tablets to improve the user experience and add features. The app helps users finance their new home.

“It starts with the fact that we know that consumers and home buyers, they often use the Internet and apps to learn about home buying, and it starts with what do customers want, and they tend to be on the Internet and using apps,” said Lisa Foradori, head of marketing and product at Chase Mortgage, New York.

“We really wanted to help consumers through the whole home-buying process,” she said. “The idea behind the mobile app is to help them at the very beginning, but as they move along, too. That’s why we have the payment calculators and the way to connect with a mortgage banker.”

House-hunting tools
According to Chase, this is the only app that guides users through the home-buying process from start to finish.

Chase My New Home allows users to search and rate homes using their own criteria, record notes, take photos and videos of houses, calculate monthly payments and access local Chase mortgage bankers.

The iPad version gives users additional information about financing and desired neighborhoods. It includes listings and neighborhood information, such as the school district and property history.

Additionally, the iPad app lets users access the new My New Home YouTube channel. The YouTube videos provide practical advice from homebuyers and experts to help viewers throughout the home-buying process.

Mobile chasing
Since Chase created its My New Home smartphone app last fall, more than 250,000 house hunters have downloaded the app.

Chase has put a lot of effort into its mobile presence over the years.

For the third time in a row, Chase recently topped the list of financial institutions that provide the most comprehensive mobile banking offerings and aced Keynote’s “Spring 2013 Mobile Banking Scorecard” (see story).

In May, Chase added a feature to its Jot app that offers a photo feature to capture receipts and save paper (see story).

In December, Chase also experimented with QR codes to drive app downloads (see story).

“The idea behind our mobile strategy at Chase is how do we make banking easier for our customers, so when you think of our regular banking app, it’s to make it easier for them,” Ms. Foradori said. “The way that this is different is this app is for not just customers of Chase but anyone, so you don’t have to be a customer of Chase to use the My New Home app.

“Our regular app is more banking-related for our customers,” she said. “I think it’s very complementary to everything else we’re doing, and it’s a great way for us to differentiate ourselves.

“What we want to do is stay ahead ahead of the competition. We want to react to any consumer needs, make sure that if there are features we can make, to do that. Mobile, in general, this is where consumers are, so we will continue to develop where our consumers are and meet their needs.”

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York