The explosive growth of applications has changed the app world to the point where banks may require a new approach to their deployment, according to technology analyst firm Gartner. Gartner said banking chief information officers, chief marketing officers and "line of business" heads have two problems to solve: the decreasing visibility of customer banking apps in public stores due to the sheer number of apps available; and, similarly, decreasing visibility of apps on banks' own websites because the number of apps deployed by banks themselves is increasing. "This second issue is exacerbated by the fact that most bank websites do not make it easy for customers to find their apps," said Gartner. "Apps are often listed by business line, making it difficult for a customer to see all the apps offered by the bank, and even if they are listed in one place, the descriptions are often high-level and vague." Given the rapid growth of apps, Gartner said it believes that CIOs, CMOs and LOB executives should evaluate the need for a bank-specific app store within the next two years. By 2016, Gartner expects to see about 25 per cent of large banks deploying app stores to improve "discovery, user experience and collaboration". This will put competitive pressure on those that do not.In the light of Gartner's report, it's not surprising to hear that Commonwealth Bank is launching another application, this time based on its Pi platform.  CBA said the app would allow the bank's small business customers to accept on-the-spot payments via card, BPAY, EFT, cash and cheque; create estimates and invoices instantly; and manage cash flow and business operations from a mobile device.Banking app stores can improve user experience because they mimic the look and feel of the public stores, noted Gartner. As an example, Gartner cited CBA's AppBank, launched as part of its Pi system, which includes an open-development platform. CBA's "App Catalogue" includes apps built on the open platform and is segmented by category (business analytics, business tools, point of sale), industry, access device and price.The report also cited Westpac and JP Morgan as examples of banks providing dedicated sections on their websites listing their own apps by, for example, retail banking or investment services, descriptions of the mobile apps they provide, and links to the public app stores. This approach was said by Gartner to be the most effective strategy when the total number of apps is between ten and 20.