Banking customers now handle more of their banking interactions, on average, via smartphones and tablets than through any other channel, says Bain and Company, which surveyed roughly 83,000 consumers in 22 countries to reach its conclusions.
The research shows that customers conducted more than 50% of their banking interactions through digital channels in 18 of the 22 countries surveyed. Mobile was found to be the most used banking channel in 13 countries and accounts for around 30% of all interactions worldwide.
The share of customers using a using a bank’s mobile app rose a striking 19 percentage points during 2014, with strong increases across all age groups in most markets.
Until recently, consumers layered digital onto other ways of interacting with their bank — for instance, using mobile devices to check their balance more often while keeping their use of other channels the same. This year, the data shows a meaningful decline in usage of not only branches and ATMs but even online via computers; the latter dropped an average of three percentage points.
"Banks that pull ahead in loyalty by investing heavily in mobile to deliver a better experience will reap financial benefits," states the company. "Those banks that lag in effectively investing in the mobile advantage will miss reaping the financial benefits and also fall further behind in their ability to invest."