Patterns

Synthesis from the competitive audit: common tab count and naming, typical IA, and notable outliers.

Common tab count and naming

Many full-service financial apps use 4–6 top-level sections: Home as hub, Banking/Pay for transactions, Invest (or Investments) for brokerage/retirement, and Plan / Goals or Benefits for planning and cross-sell. Insurance often under Benefits, More, or Protection.

Typical peer IA

From the audit, the most common primary navigation is 4–5 bottom tabs: a hub tab (Home or Accounts), Pay & Transfer (or Banking), Invest when brokerage exists, and More/Menu (or a fifth tab for Plan, Benefits, or Services).

Primary navigation (bottom bar) – common pattern
            ┌────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
            │  Home /    │  Pay &     │  Invest /  │  Plan /    │  More /    │
            │  Accounts  │  Transfer  │  Portfolio │  Benefits │  Menu      │
            │  (hub)     │  Banking   │  (if LOB)  │  (or 4th)  │  Profile   │
            └────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘
            
            Examples: BofA/Merrill (Accounts, Pay & Transfer, Deposit, Services, Research);
            Chase (Accounts, Pay & transfer, Plan & track, Offers, More);
            Morgan Stanley (Accounts, Pay + Transfer, My Team, Menu);
            Ally (Snapshot, Profile, Explore, Menu); Amex (Home, Membership, Offers, Account).

Notable outliers

Fidelity: Two nav modes (Standard vs Classic); optional Trader+ (Portfolio, Watchlist, Markets). Users choose in Settings > Layout > Navigation bar.
Chase: Dedicated Plan & Track tab; Benefits as first-class tab. Planning and cross-sell elevated.