A new survey, published today by mBlox, found mobile banking has gained a significant foothold in the U.S. and U.K. markets. Surpassing both branch and telephone banking in terms of popularity, the survey found that 25 percent of U.S. mobile phone users and 37 percent of U.K. mobile phone users have adopted mobile banking services in a big way.
The survey revealed the greatest benefits of mobile banking for consumers (52 percent in the U.S. and 46 percent in the U.K.) are the ability to “access banking services anywhere, at any time,” as well as “convenience” and “time-saving.”
When asked which banking method users preferred, respondents found mobile banking more convenient and easier to use than telephone banking (voice and touchtone) by a margin of 3 to 1 in the U.S. and by a 1 percent margin in the U.K.. When asked about branch banking, fewer respondents selected it as their favorite method of banking, with only 2 percent in the U.S. and 3 percent in the U.K. choosing it as their preferred method- no surprise there.
While nearly all banks today have mobile options, the features each integrate into their mobile apps and mobile Sites differ greatly. The most interesting aspect to the survey, in my opinion, was consumer’s response to what features of mobile banking they most prefer and use the most.
Daily balance notifications; suspicious activity notifications; fraud alert notifications; and low balance, overdraft, and credit limit notifications ranked highest from a consumer point of view, while U.S. respondents also cited as a key service the ability to transfer funds between accounts.
“It’s clear from the findings of this survey that consumer behavior is shifting to adopt the capabilities afforded by mobile banking,” said Andrew Dark, CEO, mBlox. “We are seeing strong interest in the mobile sector from a wide variety of industries including transportation, retail, marketing and entertainment, which shows there is an opportunity for financial services to benefit from this increasingly popular channel.”
