Mobile-banking applications are plentiful and easily available, but new research suggests consumer awareness of them is low despite the buzz surrounding the service.
For its research, Synergistics Research Corp. in August surveyed 1,000 consumers online inquiring about their online and mobile banking. The company declined to release the full report.
In a report summary, Synergistics noted that 40% of online-banking users did not know whether their financial institution offered a mobile-banking service. Some 18% said their bank did not offer one.
The survey results indicate “the failure of banks to really market the mobile-banking product,” says Bill McCracken, Synergistics chief executive. Mobile banking penetration is mixed at best for a product still in its infancy, but early adopters such as tech-savvy and young consumers are seeking to use the product, he notes.
“That is a sliver of the population,” McCracken says. It appears banks have yet to invest in the need to explain mobile banking’s advantages to a larger consumer base, he adds.
Consumers who are aware of mobile banking are very likely to at least register to use the service, the survey data indicate. Of the 42% of respondents who know their banks offer the product, 40% have signed up to use the service.
“This [figure] bodes well for other [financial] products in their infancy,” McCracken notes.
Among the 40% of respondents who registered to use the service, 25% use it as their primary method for conducting financial activities. “It’s very unusual” to see an alternative banking channel become a consumer’s preferred banking method, McCracken says.
Synergistics asked consumers about possible future mobile-banking scenarios and found respondents would not want to receive text messages or alerts when they walked into a branch. Some 50% of respondents found such methods to be either a minor annoyance to an invasion of privacy.
“Banks [and retailers] have to tread carefully with the concept of using e-mails or texts to alert customers about products and services,” McCracken says. He suggests such a service is better served as an opt-in option for consumers.
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