A&L lures younger customers to m-banking with £10 sweetener

A&L is introducing the offer to customers who have signed up to its Premier 21 current account. But the bank says only the first 20,000 customers who register for the m-banking service and use it before the end of June will receive the £10.

The bank says its research shows that more than half (54%) of of 16-21 year olds are willing to use their mobile phones to check balances of current accounts.

But despite the positive spin, only a minority of customers are willing to engage actively with technology.

Just 38% of the 2247 people surveyed were willing to check mini statements using their mobile phones and only four in ten (44%) said they were willing to use their handset to check they have enough money to make a purchase. Just over a quarter (27%) said they would use their mobiles to keep an eye on current accounts whilst abroad.

But Helen Palmer, current accounts manager at Alliance & Leicester, argues that mobile phones have fast become a central tool in everyone's day-to-day lives and being able to use them for services like managing finances will be extremely convenient for very many people.

Research published by Celent last month predicted that younger people would drive the growth in mobile banking over the next three years. Around 40% of younger consumers surveyed for a study into the growth of m-banking stated that mobile services would be a factor in their choice of bank in the future.