The Little App That Could: MILITARY STAR App Reaches a Billion-Dollar Milestone

Less than five years after its debut, the MILITARY STAR_® mobile app hit $1 billion payments processed, reaching the milestone on Jan. 11.

The milestone represents the organization’s dedication to expanding MILITARY STAR. The app is vital to empowering cardholders with flexibility, acting as a hub to monitor their balance, make payments, set up notifications and more.

Charlie Gallaway, Director of Risk Operations for the Exchange Credit Program, hailed the milestone as big news for the MILITARY STAR program.

“To see it really adopted by our customers is the most meaningful thing,” Gallaway said. “The Credit Program’s mission centers on our customers, and this shows that we produced something that they wanted.”

The app was a close collaboration between ECP and IT associates.

“ECP and IT literally sat next to each other while creating the app,” Gallaway said. “We purposefully kept the group small so we could go faster—from the initial idea of the app to the iPhone release was only six months.”

The app launched in October 2018 for iPhones. The app was an immediate hit, with customers downloading the iPhone version more than 74,000 times by January 2019. An Android version launched in February 2019.

“We knew this was probably going to be where our customers migrated to,” Gallaway said. “Generationally, younger shoppers go to mobile first.”

Since then, the app has been downloaded nearly 1.3 million times from more than 175 countries and regions. The $1 billion milestone represents more than 4.9 million payments processed.

Recent surveys have shown that nearly 80% of customers identify the mobile app as the primary way they access their bank accounts and cards. That number is even greater for millennials— 97% say they use mobile banking and card apps

Biometric security features ensure all account information stays secure. Besides monitoring balances, users can also track rewards points and check out exclusive savings and discounts. The free app has an average rating of 4.25 stars out of 5, an indication of strong customer satisfaction.

“The intent was to launch with very minimal capabilities, and then when people adopted it, we slowly added on the next benefit and then the next one,” Gallaway said. “We will continue to add abilities in the coming year. We are constantly listening to our customers and adding what they’re asking for.”

Associates can tell customers they can download the app through the Apple App Store or through Google Play.