More people want to know about their finances more often, and that spells gold for the mobile channel.
TowerGroup recently said mobile banking will pass the 10 million user mark in the U.S. in 2009. The trends suggest that number will explode to more than 53 million users by 2013, or a compound annual growth rate of almost 52 percent.
The research firm suggests the recession is a key factor in this growth, since people will be managing their finances more closely. Additionally, the growth of mobile devices and smart phones will engender a “networked consumer market,” and adoption of financial services will be included in overall growth of mobile channels.
Charul Vyas, analyst, in the emerging technologies practice at TowerGroup said the ubiquity of mobile devices, coupled with customers' craving for information on the go, is creating the perfect opportunity for banks to extend the reach of their banking services using the most personal possession for consumers—the mobile phone.
The growth in the mobile channel is global, as Gartner recently reported the number of people around the world using mobile phones to make payments is expected to rise from 43.1 million in 2008 to more than 73 million this year, with that number approaching 200 million by 2012.