Survey Finds 17% of All U.S. Adults Use Mobile Banking

Mobile Web and SMS are the most common mobile banking technologies, but app-based banking will grow rapidly over the next 12 months

New York, London, UK, Singapore & Sao Paulo: Feb. 2, 2010 - The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) and its official research partner, Luth Research (www.luthresearch.com), today released highlights from the latest US Consumer Briefing, a monthly survey of U.S. adult consumers about their mobile marketing behaviors and opinions.

Available exclusively to MMA members, the new survey shows that 17 percent of all adults currently use mobile banking, with interest levels suggesting that usage will grow to 22 percent within the next year.

Based on Luth Research’s online panel, SurveySavvy™, each US Consumer Briefing features input from more than 1,000 U.S. adult consumers, a sampling large enough to provide a statistically accurate snapshot of the entire U.S. adult population. In the latest survey, 92 percent of respondents said they own a cell phone, and 19 percent of that subset currently do banking with their phone, an amount equivalent to 17 percent of all U.S. adult consumers.

The survey further revealed that consumers’ most common form of mobile banking uses a mobile Web browser (11 percent of respondents), followed by SMS (8 percent) and applications (5.5 percent). Over the next 12 months, mobile-Web-based banking will grow to 14 percent, while applications will grow to 8.5 percent. SMS mobile banking usage will likely remain flat.

Based on the survey, about half of U.S. consumers express interest in accessing one or more banking services via their mobile phones. Among these, respondents said they generally prefer informational services – such as viewing account balances and locating branches or ATMs – ahead of transactional services, especially when the latter involve a third party.

Conducted in mid-January, the survey asked a variety of questions regarding cell phone and media usage:

* Brand of current cell phone
* Current cellular service provider
* Mobile banking usage
* Technology employed for mobile banking
* Mobile banking services
* Importance of security in mobile banking
* Interest in downloading secure apps for mobile banking

“The Consumer Briefing series reflects the MMA’s commitment to providing the mobile marketing ecosystem with the deep, actionable insights necessary to identify and seize emerging opportunities,” said Peter A. Johnson, vice president of market intelligence, MMA. “This study shows that mobile banking is a major opportunity both today and over the long term, with applications rapidly emerging as one of the most popular ways that U.S. adults bank on the go.”

“The data provides clear evidence that mobile is becoming a viable platform for banking,” said Jacqueline Rosales, evp of business development and client service, Luth Research. “The task at hand for marketers in mobile banking is to migrate consumers from engaging in primarily informational services such as checking account balances to using transaction oriented services.”

Each MMA Consumer Briefing includes a 2- to 3-page executive summary, all survey questions and up to 50 tables of detailed results. Survey responses are provided both in aggregate and in cross-tabulation by standard audience demographics, such as age, gender and income, as well as wireless carrier and handset manufacturer.

Source: Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)