The financial services industry has vigorously responded to the growing number of consumers using mobile devices to conduct financial transactions and activities, according to new research released by Boston-based Aite Group, which also predicts a tripling in the usage of mobile banking within four years.
Nearly 7,000 U.S. financial institutions offer mobile banking to their retail banking customers. In an Aite Group survey of 1,115 consumers, 36% of smartphone owners use the device to check their bank account balances, nearly three in 10 get account alerts sent to the device, and roughly one in six uses it to transfer funds, pay bills, and view their monthly bill statements. Meanwhile, one in four tablet owners uses the device to check account balances, and about one in seven gets alerts, transfers funds, or pays bills with the device.
‘Aite Group anticipates that mobile banking users in the United States will triple between 2012 and 2016,’ says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst with Aite Group. ‘Tablets will become financial management devices, and smartphones will become financial transaction devices. Financial institutions should invest accordingly.’