Who’s Addicted To Mobile Banking?

Are consumers addicted to mobile banking?

Well, if pulling out a mobile phone to check a bank account balance during dinner — and even on a date – qualifies as addictive, then the answer is yes. 

A Chase-commissioned survey released yesterday (June 23) shows that when it comes to digital banking trends, consumers are more addicted to online banking sites than mobile apps, but that the trend is slowly shifting.

The survey results for 1,502 U.S. consumers over 18 (not specifically Chase customers), showed that 33 percent more consumers are using their mobile device to access a mobile banking app, compared with a year ago. But online banking is seeing stronger growth too, as that figure is up 35 percent on the year. And, interestingly, 16 percent more consumers have visited a bank.

Omnibanking?

But it turns out that consumers don’t love mobile banking as much as they love their bank’s online option. The survey figures reveal that 70 percent of consumers still prefer using a bank’s website or online portal, compared to the 47 percent who prefer using the bank’s app on a mobile phone or tablet. What might be a bit surprising is that  78 percent of millennials turn to that digital banking option, as do 75 percent of Generation X consumers and 67 percent of baby boomers.

ATMs are also being used a lot more as digital banking centers. Millennial consumers reported using ATMs 33 percent more than a year ago, while only 16 percent of Generation X consumers are using them more. Baby boomers are using ATMs about 10 percent more than a year ago, the survey showed. When using those ATMS, consumers use them most to view account balances and transactions (70 percent), second to deposit checks (64 percent) and third to transfer money from one account to another (46 percent).

“This survey tells us what our customers have shown us over the last two years,” said Barry Sommers, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking. “They love the ease of handling their routine banking online, on their phone and at an ATM.”

Not only did the survey point toward who is using digital banking options, but it also picked out one population that has been saturating the smartphone market, and has been playing a larger role in how banks are adapting their digital strategies in particular U.S. regions: Hispanics. 

The Chase survey specifically highlighted that Hispanic consumers are transitioning to digital banking at higher rates than others. Of that population, 45 percent more are using banking apps and 48 percent more are using a bank’s website, when compared with the year prior. A majority of that population is using it at work (64 percent), while nearly half (49 percent) use it in a check-out line at a store and 47 percent use it at a restaurant.  

But when it comes to mobile banking, how and where are consumers using the mobile apps? The chart below demonstrates the trends of digital banking and how it’s shifted over a year period.

Elaborating on the survey results, Mike Fusco, head of external communications for Chase’s consumer bank, said what the figures revealed for Chase is that consumers — regardless of where they are banking — want the same out of their digital banking experience as Chase customers.

“This survey really validates what we have seen in our own customers,” Fusco told PYMNTS in a recent interview. “We continued to invest in technology to make it more convenient for our customers to bank with us.” Fusco also noted that the survey results have further been backed up by Chase’s online and mobile consumer banking increase.

According to Fusco, Chase’s most recent figures show that mobile deposits are up 30 percent, year over year; Chase QuickPay is up 80 percent during the same period and ATM deposits are up 10 percent on the year. Recent investments include Chase’s implementation of mobile TouchID to make mobile banking faster, simpler and more secure. Another request was for the “swipe for balance” option that Chase also recently added to its mobile app.

Overall for Chase, online customer usage is up 8 percent to 37.7 million, and 20 million customers are using its mobile app — a 22 percent increase from 2014’s figures.

Fusco said that TouchID, which Chase recently implemented, was the No. 1 digital banking request from customers. With this new upgrade, Chase customers will be asked upon login if that customer would like to add TouchID. A password is still needed for some further aspects of the app, but for many, the ease of TouchID will be a quicker mode to login to the most basic banking essentials.

While the survey shows that more consumers choose to do their online banking via a bank’s website, perhaps adding more features like TouchID and easier mobile access will help the figures shift more in mobile’s favor.