Consumers Praise the Convenience, Pan the Reliability of Mobile Banking

A majority of U.S. consumers think that mobile banking is easy and convenient while less than half say it is reliable, according to a new survey from Infosys (INFY).

In the study, 42% of consumers said that banking on a mobile device was reliable, Infosys, a consulting, outsourcing and technology firm, said Thursday. This compares with 94% of respondents who said that it was easy and 77% who thought that it was convenient.

Almost 80% of consumers liked the 24-hour access to their account through mobile banking but only 48% were happy with the speed of service and 46% with the ease of logging in.

Consumers cited a lack of confidence in the protection of their data and the slow speed of mobile banking as the top reasons for not using the service. This was followed by 26% who cited inconvenient viewing features, like a small font and other interface issues, as a barrier to doing banking on a mobile device.

Almost half of consumers who do not use online banking thought that it was "experimental" or "dangerous" and 38% said it was "scary." While 60% of respondents who did not use mobile banking cited a lack of confidence in the protection of their personal data as a top concern, 55% shared private information when updating their Facebook status on a smartphone.

Still 61% of nonusers of mobile banking said they would like to try mobile banking in the future.

An independent research firm conducted the poll from Feb. 22 to Feb. 27 via an online survey of 1,000 respondents. To qualify for the survey, participants had to be active smartphone users, which meant they downloaded an application within the past six months, and used online banking services.

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