When is an app not an app? Rethinking mobile in your benefits strategy

What should you expect from your benefits mobile app? Employees today demand seamless, intuitive, and fully functional digital experiences – their expectations are high because they’re used to using apps like Amazon, Netflix and Spotify. But not all benefits apps deliver. Is it enough for employees to simply view their benefits, or should they be able to take action and engage with them in one seamless experience?

In our recent webinar, Benifexers Ryan Hall, Commercial Lead, and Matt Nathanielsz, Senior Product Manager, tackled this exact question, breaking down what separates a true benefits app from a glorified website. Here are the key takeaways from that session – and what they mean for HR and Reward leaders planning their mobile strategy.

6 considerations for your benefits mobile app

1. Check what you’re actually offering: Not all apps are created equal

The word “app” can sometimes be thrown around too loosely. Many so-called “apps” are just websites dressed up to look mobile-friendly, read-only content hubs, or only available on one operating system. While they may appear polished from the outside, they lack the depth and flexibility employees expect from true mobile experiences.

“If your app is just a website in disguise… you’re highly likely to lose out on some of those key [app] features… and then there’s a real opportunity that your employees will start to become disengaged.”
– Matt Nathanielsz, Senior Product Manager, Benifex

For the end user, the difference is instantly clear. A genuinely native app, built for both iOS and Android, feels faster, smoother, and more intuitive. Anything less is frustrating and, more often than not, abandoned by employees.

2. Think about who you’re engaging – and how they want to connect

Not all employee populations engage the same way. If most of your workforce sits at a desk, web platforms may be sufficient. But for deskless workers – whether in field roles, operations, or frontline service – desktop access simply isn’t part of their day-to-day at work.

Roughly 80% of the global workforce is deskless or working remotely. That’s a significant majority of employees who’s primary (or only) workplace tool is their smartphone.

Understanding how your people prefer to engage – and when – should shape your platform choices. In some cases, that means a hybrid approach with a consistent experience across mobile and desktop. In others, a mobile-first experience is needed to enable employees to engage anytime, anywhere.

“We have a very diverse group of people who work in the company. But one thing the vast majority of them will have is their mobile phone in their pocket. So, getting that immediacy and using the [OneHub] platform to communicate to them is something that’s really, really important to us.”
– Alan Smullen, Head of People, The Doyle Collection

3. Experience isn’t a luxury – it’s the standard

Employees don’t compare your app to other HR tech – they compare it to the apps they use daily to bank, shop, and stream. If your benefits app doesn’t feel as fast or intuitive as the tools they use in their personal lives, it won’t be used.

From login to navigation, native features like Face ID, push notifications, and platform-specific interactions should feel second nature. It’s not about shrinking a desktop site to fit a phone screen – it’s about building mobile-first, with user expectations at the center.

“Your benefits app shouldn’t be a shrunken website. It should feel just as intuitive as your banking app.”
– Matt Nathanielsz, Senior Product Manager, Benifex

4. If users can’t do anything, what’s the point?

Employees don’t open an app just to browse. They want to take action – updating their pension contributions, adding a dependent, changing a benefit selection, or accessing real-time support. If your app doesn’t support these tasks natively, it quickly becomes irrelevant.

Concerningly, 70% of employees say that the technology they use at work lags behind the technology they use at home. That disconnect drives frustration, and in many cases, disengagement.

The moment a user realizes they have to switch devices or log into a separate platform to complete a simple task, you risk losing their attention. And if employees aren’t sat at a desk, they might not even have access to a laptop – or they’ll simply forget to do it later.

Mobile isn’t just a channel – it’s the moment of intent. Because if your app doesn’t let people act in that moment, the opportunity is gone.

“At the airport we employ lots of people who aren’t sitting at a desk. They might be helping people through security, they might be helping people to find their way around the building and keeping our car parks and estates secure. Of they’re even bringing planes in and clearing the runway. So they don’t sit at a PC with easy access to anything quite honestly. So, we wanted to make sure that the benefits that we provide were not just the sort of benefits people wanted, but they could actually get hold of them – it was important that they were able to do it remotely.”
– Steve Walsh, Reward Manager, London Gatwick

5. A good app should reduce HR admin, not create more

HR and Reward teams often ask: “Will this mean more work for us?”  With the right provider, the answer is no.

A well-integrated benefits platform should ensure that data, content, and benefits are loaded once and automatically deployed across all platforms. With a unified setup, there are no duplicated workflows, no mismatched records, and no need to manage separate app and web systems. Launching a mobile app should feel like a frictionless extension of your existing web experience – not a parallel project.

6. Choose a partner who builds for today – and tomorrow

Mobile technology is evolving rapidly. It’s not just about delivering a clean interface today – it’s about choosing a platform that can grow with your organization’s needs tomorrow.

Benifex’s OneHub app, referred to as our “super app,” was built with this future state in mind. It brings together benefits, reward, recognition, allowances, TRS and more into a single mobile-native environment, that’s fully customizable and integrated.

We’re also actively developing new mobile capabilities, including:

• AI-powered discovery – helping employees find policies or benefits faster
• In-app education and assistance – making complex benefits easier to understand

These enhancements are designed to support the way employees want to engage today, and anticipate how they’ll want to engage tomorrow.

“The feedback has been pretty clear… employees want everything in one place. That’s why we built our OneHub app… we believe that is the best way to drive engagement.”
– Matt Nathanielsz, Senior Product Manager, Benifex

Mobile is the future – but only if it works for your people

A benefits app isn’t just a box-ticking exercise – it’s a critical touchpoint in the employee experience. It must reflect:

• The expectations of today’s workforce
• The diversity of your employee population
• The need for action, not just access

Whether your organization is mobile-first or balancing multiple channels, the question isn’t just do you have an app. It’s: is it truly engaging, future-ready, and built for your people?

To learn more about what you should expect from your benefits mobile app, watch the on-demand webinar recording here.