The future of mobile banking is strong, according to a new report from analysts at Aite Group. The Boston-based research firm said that approximately 7,000 financial institutions in the U.S. now offer mobile banking services and that more will deploy them in the years ahead, judging by growing consumer demand.

Of smartphone-owning consumers more than one-third, 36 percent, use their mobile device to check account balances, with nearly three in 10 receiving account alerts to their phones, the Aite report said. Additionally, one in six smartphone owners use mobile banking to transfer funds, pay bills, and view monthly statements, the report said.

Tablets are also growing as a mobile banking device. One in four tablet owners use them to check balances, with one in seven using them to receive alerts, transfer funds, or pay bills, the report said.

And mobile banking is only going to get bigger.

"Aite Group anticipates that mobile banking users in the United States will triple between 2012 and 2016," said report author Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst with Aite Group. "Tablets will become financial management devices, and smartphones will become financial transaction devices. Financial institutions should invest accordingly."

The report was based on an Aite Group survey that polled 1,115 U.S. consumers in the second quarter of 2012.

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