According to a recent study, Juniper Research (a market intelligence, analysis & research consultancy), predicted the number of mobile users using mobile banking was expected to exceed 400 million globally by the year 2013. Compared to 2009 estimates for 2013 mobile users that estimated 53 million users, it’s clear that users accessing their bank accounts via a mobile phone is growing more rapidly than expected.
Juniper’s detailed Mobile Banking Technology Strategies Survey showed that banks were building their services using SMS and online applications to offer additional choices for consumers.
Report author Howard Wilcox explained: “Our survey concluded that banks in all regions are becoming increasingly innovative in their service offerings and provide impetus for user growth. Mobile is becoming a ‘must have’ channel for banks.” The report also indicated that some banks were limiting consumer options while others had not initiated mobile efforts.
Juniper cites that more than 80% of banks currently offer some type of mobile banking option and consumer demand will likely lead to SMS banking service growth. An informal report shows that 27% of banks surveyed believe that they will offer expanded mobile banking capabilities by 2011. Current estimates for Bank of America show that they have at least 4 million mobile banking customers.
Industry sources claim that of the 36 million current mobile banking consumers, the following mobile capabilities are most important:
- Viewing account balances (24%)
- Internal fund transfers (22%)
- Paying bills (21%)
- Debit/Credit transaction approval (22%)
- Payment expedition (22%)
- External banking transfers (18%)
- Wire transfer approvals (17%).
For banks, it’s important to know the customer; just 20% currently use smart phones, but this is expected to reach 50% by 2013. With this growth, it’s certain that criminals will move to capitalize on new smart phone users who don’t have a good grasp on their phone’s susceptibility to bugs or malware. New smart phone consumers need to stay up-to-date not only on smart phone technology, but on security applications they can employ to keep the private information from third parties.
