While mobile banking seems to be the "buzz" word du jour in the banking industry, SWACHA today announced the results of a study among Texans that reveals an overwhelming hesitancy to use cell phones to conduct banking transactions.
The SWACHA Consumer Insights Survey looked at the attitudes and behaviors of Texans on a wide range of electronic money transactions. Only those who identified themselves as responsible for paying the bills in their households were permitted to complete the survey. SWACHA is a Dallas-based, not-for-profit regional payments association.
SWACHA's survey found that only 7 percent are currently using a mobile banking feature on their cell phone. Of those who use mobile banking or are open to the use of mobile banking an overwhelming majority see it as an extension of their bank's online services for account monitoring. In fact, 93 percent of those surveyed are interested in checking bank balances and 50 percent are interested in transferring money between accounts. Only 44 percent indicate they would pay bills using their cell phone.
"Because mobile banking is still fairly new to the market place, I don't think consumers understand all they can do using their cell phones," said Dennis Simmons, AAP, president and CEO of SWACHA. Simmons said. "Many consumers aren't aware that they can actually authorize transactions using their cell phones. This is a big opportunity for financial institutions to step in and educate their customers."
The survey also indicates that the main concern among consumers regarding mobile banking is security. Of those surveyed, 35 percent claim they do not use mobile banking because of security concerns while 42 percent claim they simply have no need for the feature.
About the Survey
SWACHA's online survey of 400 Texans statewide was conducted in April 2009 by Infosurvwith a confidence interval of 95 percent and a corresponding margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent. Only those respondents who identified themselves as the person responsible for paying household bills were permitted to complete the survey.
About SWACHA
SWACHA-The Electronic Payments Resource® is a not-for-profit Regional Payments Association of approximately 1,100 members across the Southwest. SWACHA is the resource of choice for financial institutions and corporations in the areas of education, training, payments system risks and knowledge about electronic payments. SWACHA membership provides advantages such as superior quality training and unique industry resource materials, access to the toll-free Payments AnswerlineTM, Risk Management programs, and representation at the national level in the development of ACH policies and rules. For more information, visit
