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Nearly One Quarter of Americans Utilize Mobile Banking

November 2, 2011 By Banking.com Staff 1 Comment

Mobile continues to grow in popularity as consumers embrace a lifestyle that allows them to be connected on-the-go. For consumers using a smartphone with Internet browsing capabilities and apps, the possibilities to connect are endless. You can now pay bills, shop, peruse apartment listings and apply for jobs from the palm of your hand.

Intuit Financial Services’ 4th Annual Financial Management Survey found nearly one quarter (23 percent) of consumers are using a mobile device for banking needs and an additional 17 percent plan to try mobile banking in 2012. Of the respondents who use mobile banking, 65 percent access their bank or credit union account through the Web/Internet, while a little more than one quarter (28 percent) use a mobile application.

Similar to findings reported earlier this week from comScore, it is clear mobile banking adoption is directly linked to Smartphone adoption. Analyst firm IDC mentioned they have been predicting that smart phone growth in 2012 would exceed the feature phone, noting “in addition to more people having smart phones, banks’ awareness campaigns have also helped drive mobile banking adoption.”

Do you use a smartphone to access mobile banking? If so, do you use the Web/Internet or an app provided by your bank or credit union? If you’re an FI, how have you been driving mobile banking adoption? Let us know in the comments section below, or Tweet @bankingdotcom.

Filed Under For Financial Institutions, Surveys Tagged With #IFSsurvey, Intuit Financial Services, mobile banking, smartphone

Mobile Apps Prevail over the Web

June 21, 2011 By Banking.com Staff Leave a Comment

In 2009, Apple created a commercial for the iPhone 3 to highlight the versatility of apps, coining a term that has been widely used for the last couple years: “There’s an app for that.” With apps for everything from gaming to banking to social media, it’s no surprise that mobile adoption has soared in the past couple years.

Mobile analytics firm Flurry recently released a report which revealed people are spending more time on mobile applications than on the Web. In fact, the amount of time people spend on mobile apps has almost doubled in the last year. See below for the breakdown:

Are you using mobile apps more than the Web? What are you doing to engage customers on their mobile devices? Tweet @bankingdotcom or let us know in the comments section below.

Filed Under For Financial Institutions Tagged With mobile, mobile apps, mobile banking, smartphone

SMS Prevails on Smartphones

June 17, 2011 By Banking.com Staff 1 Comment

A recent survey by Upstream highlighted consumers’ attitudes towards mobile marketing. The survey indicated that although there are a plethora of mobile marketing options available, 75 percent of smartphone users prefer to receive notifications via SMS.

Other interesting findings from the survey include:

  • 51 percent of smartphone owners prefer receiving offers concerning mobile products only (upgrade plan, top-up discounts, etc).
  • 83 percent of respondents indicated they are only open to receiving notifications up to twice a month
  • 72 percent would change providers if they received third party ads

For more details you can view the mobile marketing infographic.

Do you find these statistics in line with your own mobile preferences? Let us know in the comments section below.

Filed Under For Financial Institutions Tagged With mobile, mobile marketing, smartphone, SMS

Mobile Payments Round-Up

April 4, 2011 By Banking.com Staff Leave a Comment

The mobile payments industry is evolving quickly, so our staff has gathered some of the interesting mobile payments stories we’ve enjoyed reading over the past week. Let us know what you’ve been reading in the comments section below.

More than a smartphone: The New York Times recently reported on the companies contending for a piece of the mobile wallet. With no clear leader in the space everyone from banks, credit card companies, payment networks and mobile phone carriers are trying to find where they can fit into the mobile wallet, and how they will get paid. According to the New York Times, the mobile wallet provides a big opportunity, “The stakes are enormous because small, hidden fees that are generated every time consumers swipe their cards add up to tens of billions of dollars annually in the United States alone.”

Google’s jump into NFC: This week, Google announced that they are teaming with MasterCard and CitiGroup to embed technology into Android devices, making a strong push into the NFC space. VeriFone Systems, who makes credit-card readers for cash registers, will play a large role in the announcement as the company plans to roll out more credit-card readers that enable consumers to pay by simply tapping their smartphones.  The Wall Street Journal, who broke this week’s news, wrote “The planned payment system would allow Google to offer retailers more data about their customers and help them target ads and discount offers to mobile-device users near their stores, these people said. Google isn’t expected to get a cut of the transaction fees.”

AMEX and Visa, on your phone: American Express has followed in Visa’s footsteps and released a payment service that allows Android and iPhones to be utilized for person-to-person (P2P) online payments. The service, named Serve, is also available through Facebook and Serve.com. CIO Magazine reported, “Serve also allows users to create and manage sub-accounts for friends and family members to, for example, pay a child’s allowance or a dog walker fee.”

Filed Under For Financial Institutions Tagged With mobile, mobile apps, mobile banking, mobile payments, mobile wallet, smartphone

Mobile Banking: More Than Checking Your Account Balance

March 18, 2011 By Banking.com Staff Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that mobile banking has become a part of consumers’ day-to-day life. Whether it is checking an account balance, or making a remote deposit from a smartphone, mobile banking is poised for significant growth in the next five years. Forrester Research Inc. approximates that 10 million Americans are currently using mobile-banking technology, and by 2015 that number could grow to 50 million.

In order to keep up with the speed of smartphone and tablet adoption, Gartner Inc. believes companies need to make mobile banking more versatile than ever. Analyst Stessa Cohen said, “While many of those consumers are comfortable using mobile apps to check their balances, companies need to work themselves more deeply into a mobile customer’s financial life or the work that goes into developing all of these mobile apps may wind up being  ‘another cost center.’”

So, how can financial institutions keep their customers engaged on mobile platforms? A recent Bloomberg article outlined a few tactics, including offering coupons and promotions to shoppers and the ability to have face-to-face teleconferencing.  As the adoption of smartphones and tablets continues to soar, Arah Erickson, head of Wells Fargo’s retail mobile banking division, summed up the importance of mobile banking by stating, “Mobile devices are changing consumers’ perceptions of how convenient financial transactions should be…today, convenience means the PC is across the room, and I don’t feel like booting it up.”

Does your FI offer mobile banking? What features do your members use most often? Let us know in the comments section below.

Filed Under For Financial Institutions Tagged With mobile banking, online banking, smartphone, tablet apps

Goodbye Wallet, Hello Smartphone

February 22, 2011 By Banking.com Staff 2 Comments

With the recent onslaught of mobile payment applications, choosing credit over cash is becoming an expected method of payment. Traditional cash transactions, which are often used at a farmers’ market or to pay a dog walker or babysitter, can now be handled via mobile devices. Even large chain stores like Starbucks have a mobile payment option allowing users with a Starbucks card to simply tap their phone onto a scanner, and the money for their coffee or beverage is automatically deducted from their Starbucks account.

For mobile banking, the move from wallets to smartphones presents a shift in banking industry. Lori Ann LaRocco at CNBC recently spoke with Omar Green, Director of Strategic Mobile Initiatives at Intuit, and Brett King, author of Bank 2.0, about what this move means for the banking industry.

When Green was asked by LaRocco how he has quantified mobile banking opportunities, Green noted, “From a revenue perspective, there’s an awful lot at stake in the payments and banking fields as this new expansion of mobile financial solutions comes.”

King echoed a similar sentiment stating, “Mobile banking is part of an individual’s basic expectation of a service proposition from a bank these days… St. George Bank in Australia reports that transactions through their Mobile App exceeds that of their Top 40 branches these days….by 2015 Mobile will be the most interacted channel, day-to-day, for retail banks in the USA.”

You can read the full interview here.

Filed Under For Financial Institutions Tagged With mobile, mobile apps, mobile banking, smartphone, wallet

Smartphone Adoption: Changing the Banking Landscape

January 3, 2011 By Banking.com Staff Leave a Comment

Smartphone adoption has rapidly increased over the past few years, changing the way Americans access the Internet, applications and interact with other mobile users. A recent Nielsen Company report showed that nearly one-third of U.S. mobile subscribers now own a smartphone, and when consumers are given the choice of buying a smartphone vs. a standard feature phone, 41 percent chose a smartphone.

As more consumers take their day-to-day life on the go, businesses in the U.S. and abroad are looking for ways to stay connected with customers 24/7. The banking industry is no exception, and mobile adoption is changing the way Americans manage their finances.

The Worcester Business Journal recently reported that:

“More than 13 percent of households accessed their bank account via a mobile device in the second quarter, according to a report from The Nielsen Co. That’s up from 11.6 percent during the first quarter. Meanwhile, the adoption rate of mobile phones continues to climb. All that adds up to a need for change in the banking industry, said Deborah Sumner, vice president and financial services practice lead for The Nielsen Co.”

Are you offering a mobile application to your customers and members? Let us know in the comments section below.

Filed Under For Financial Institutions Tagged With banks, credit unions, mobile, smartphone