Consumers who use their smartphones for mobile banking log into their account almost daily, and no less than once a week, according to Bank of America's inaugural Trends in Consumer Mobility Report.

The Charlotte-based bank surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers and found 31 percent of respondents log into their account at least once a day and 82 percent access their accounts at least once a week or more, according to a press release about the report. Almost one in two (47 percent) of consumers admit they would not last a day without their smartphone, and many consider their devices more important than daily staples such as coffee and television.

The Consumer Mobility Report is a study that explores broad mobile trends and banking behaviors among adult consumers across the country who own a smartphone and have an existing banking relationship, according to the press release. The survey found that mobile connectivity is so critical, the smartphone falls below only the Internet and personal hygiene when ranked by importance to people's daily lives. Ninety-one percent say their mobile phone is very important, just as important as their car (91 percent) and deodorant (91 percent); and significantly more important than television (76 percent) and coffee (60 percent).

The report also found that the youngest millennials ages 18-24 are most likely to view their mobile phones as very important (96 percent) — more so than deodorant (90 percent) and even their toothbrush (93 percent), according to the press release.

"Mobile phones have changed the way we live our daily lives, and that extends to our finances," Marc Warshawsky, senior vice president and mobile solutions executive at Bank of America, said in a statement. "Bank of America now has more than 15 million active mobile banking users who access their accounts on a mobile device over 165 million times per month. We’ve seen this number continue to grow and recently the number of monthly mobile banking logins surpassed online banking logins for the first time.

The report revealed that almost two-thirds (62 percent) of consumers have at least tried mobile banking, according to the press release. When accessing a mobile banking app, the most common activities included monitoring account balances and statements, transferring funds and paying bills, as well as depositing checks via mobile check deposit.

But while mobile and online banking services are becoming more widely used, and in many cases are consumers’ primary method of banking, visits to bank branches also remain high: 84 percent of respondents have visited a bank branch within the past six months, according to the press release. This is true among all the age groups polled, with nearly the same percentage of millennials ages 18-34 (83 percent) saying they have visited a bank branch in the past six months as those ages 35 and older (85 percent).

However, just 23 percent of respondents say they complete the majority of their banking transactions at a branch. Nearly half (47 percent) turn to mobile or online as their preferred method.

Mobile check deposit on the rise

Increasingly, consumers are using their mobile banking apps to perform more sophisticated transactions, such as mobile check deposit. According to the report, nearly six in 10 (58 percent) of those surveyed have used mobile check deposit, and nearly four in 10 (38 percent) use it frequently.

Consumers who say they do not use mobile check deposit cite lack of awareness as the chief reason: more than one-third (35 percent) are either not as familiar as they would like to be or unsure how to use the feature. More than one in five surveyed (21 percent) prefer physically handing checks to a teller, and 27 percent report they just do not have any checks to deposit.

"Mobile check deposit has been one of the fastest growing digital services we offer," said Warshawsky. "Customers appreciate the convenience of being able to complete their deposit anytime, anywhere and are depositing an average of 170 thousand checks via mobile device every day."

Other findings include:

• Minding mobile manners: When asked about other people’s mobile habits, checking a phone while driving ranked as the most annoying offense (38 percent).
• Sharing too much personal information, either by talking too loudly in public (15 percent) or posting too many details on social media (15 percent) tied for second-most annoying mobile phone habits.
• Only 7 percent of respondents find checking a mobile phone during meal times to be most annoying.
• Giving up guilty pleasures: When asked what they would give up to regain access to their mobile phone, nearly four in five (79 percent) of respondents would be willing to give up alcohol or chocolate.
• Don’t lose my number: If a phone is lost or stolen, consumers are just as concerned about losing their personal contacts (79 percent) as they are about identity/security information (79 percent).
• Fingerprints on the future: In the next two years, 60 percent of consumers would be comfortable with a fingerprint scan/swipe security feature to gain access to their mobile banking app. Nearly one-third expressed comfort with retina scans (32 percent) and voice recognition (33 percent).