Growth in mobile banking and payments is being driven by younger consumers, but most adults are more reluctant to adopt mobile banking, said a survey cited at cuna.org.

In an online survey of 504 U.S. debit cardholders conducted in January, Auriemma Consulting found that younger consumers are more likely to download a mobile-banking app — 43 percent of respondents under 45 had downloaded a mobile app from their financial institution within the previous year, while only about 22 percent of those over 45 had done so.
 
Of 40 percent of respondents with mobile-banking capabilities, about 75 percent used their smartphone to check their account balance, 36 percent paid a bill, 32 percent received a bank notification, 31 percent paid by phone and also made a deposit, and 3 percent transferred funds. Some 17 percent of respondents said they made no mobile payments.

Many respondents expressed discomfort in making purchases with their mobile phones. About 47 percent said they were very or somewhat uncomfortable, 34 percent were very or somewhat comfortable, and 19 percent were unsure. Among respondents under 45, about 48 percent said they were comfortable making purchases with their mobile phone, while only 21 percent of those over 45 said the same.
 
The top reason for unease about making purchases with a mobile phone was uncertainty about the technology's security (58 percent). This was followed by concerns about identity theft (55 percent), fear of losing the phone and sensitive data (52 percent), "not needing a new way to make payments" (43 percent), distrust of the mobile-payment systems (34 percent), concern that it "may cost money" (27 percent), the belief that it "would not save any time" (21 percent), and they "do not understand it" (15 percent).d
 
Until mobile banking and payments offer tangible consumer benefits such as saving time and money and provide a more-secure method for conducting transactions, mainstream consumer adoption is unlikely to materialize, Auriemma concluded.

For more on this topic, visit our mobile banking research center.