Mobile banking is struggling to attract new customers, but those already using it are doing so more often, according to a survey from RateWatch, a banking data service owned by TheStreet Inc.

The "Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments Survey" looks at how financial institutions are offering mobile banking services, how customers are using them, and the results so far, a press release said.

Among the survey findings:

• the number of people using mobile banking rose only 2 percent over the past two years, but the number using the service at least once a week rose from 37 percent to 45 percent during the period;
• though 81 percent* of FIs offer mobile banking services, 36 percent of consumers still are not using it;
• those with a graduate degree are most likely to use online banking to some degree. Only about 4 percent never use online banking compared with up to nearly 26 percent for other education levels;
• consumers age 18–29 are more likely than any other age demographic to use online banking multiple times per day, while those 45 and older are most likely never to have used online banking;
• compared with consumers at all other education levels, those with a graduate degree are most likely to use bill pay;
• mobile banking features that consumers are most interested in are account balance lookup, transfers between accounts, bill payment, account alerts, and ATM locator; and
• Only about one-third are interested in making in-store purchases with their mobile devices.

RateWatch predicted that consumer demand for mobile banking will keep growing. "As this demand increases, it will become even more crucial for banks to offer mobile services, or risk losing customers to competitors," said Kimberly Myszkewicz, marketing manager at RateWatch. "The more a person is engaged in the service, the more likely they are to stick with that institution for other services."

The independent survey was conducted Jan. 29–30, and included 651 U.S. adults.