Study Shows Growth in Mobile Banking Usage, Functionality (June 3, 2013)
June 3, 2013
Mobile banking is on the rise, with 33 percent of consumers now using banking apps on a mobile phone or tablet device, according to a report by electronic payments association SWACHA. The organization’s newly released 2013 Consumer Insights Survey shows just how quickly mobile banking has grown; in 2011, just 20 percent of those surveyed reported using mobile banking. In 2009, the figure stood at a mere 7 percent. Twenty percent of mobile banking users, meanwhile, use their mobile banking apps daily, while 45 percent said they used it least once a week.
The range of mobile banking functionality also is increasing, the report found, with mobile deposit capture among the fastest-growing features. Forty-six percent of mobile banking users surveyed are now depositing checks with a mobile banking application, compared to just 16 percent in 2011, a nearly 200 percent increase. The study also revealed a significant increase in the number of respondents who plan to deposit checks in the future using a mobile device. While only 16 percent planned on using their mobile device to deposit a check in 2011, 25 percent of people now foresee themselves depositing checks remotely. Balance checks were among the most widely used mobile banking features, with 86 percent of those surveyed having used a mobile device to check their account balances. Mobile-based bill payments, meanwhile, ticked up, to 41 percent of respondents in 2013, from 36 percent in 2011.
Dennis Simmons, CEO of SWACHA, said the rise of mobile banking is “not only changing the way people interact with technology, but it’s also changing the way people interact with their banks, and it’s an adjustment the industry is welcoming.” Dallas-based SWACHA’s report was based on an online survey of 601 Texas residents conducted in April 2013.
