Smartphones Still Behind Desktops In Mobile Banking Use

Smartphones and mobile apps are both the present and future of the payment industry. The ability to review accounts, transfer funds and make payments from nearly anywhere at anytime means smartphones will shortly become the number one platform through which most consumers do their banking.

Right?

According to The Auriemma Consulting Group’s “Mobile Payments Report,” not so fast. A study of mobile U.K. bankers found that while 51 percent of consumers own a smartphone, less than a quarter use financial services on their devices. That’s a surprisingly low number compared to the 65 percent of desktop owners who use remote banking services.

From these numbers, Auriemma concludes that banks have not kept up with demands for smartphone banking capabilities.

Check out some more interesting statistics from the report below.

Survey Demographics
Smartphone owners tend to be younger, at an average age of 39, and have higher average incomes, around $51,000, than the overall population, which was five years older but brought in around $7,000 less a year on average.

Transactions
Smartphone users registered at just 17.5 percent in terms of those who paid bills with their devices, and only a fifth transferred money between accounts. On the other hand, almost half of all desktop users said they paid bills, while 52 percent engaged in transfers.

Mobile Wallet Relevancy
Just 45 percent of those surveyed had heard of a mobile wallet, and a little less than half of those consumers expressed interest in owning one. Eighteen percent said they’d prefer to use a mobile wallet from a bank or payment company.

Mobile Features That Work
Two areas where mobile users bucked the overall trends indicated by the study? ATM locators, used by 10 percent of the mobile community but just two percent of those banking online, and reviewing account balances, which mobile users still checked less frequently than their desktop counterparts but still at a decent 69 percent.

See more statistics and read the full report here.