Will your bank stand still when tablets kill PC banking?

Its been only four years since the first iPad was put on sale in April 2010, but it has fundamentally changed the way we consume content and interact in the digital space. And growth is unquestionable as IDC’s latest forecasts state that the total tablet market will see 20% growth and shipments will reach 260 million units in 2014.

But tablets are not just oversized smart phones, as they are more and more becoming the primary household device, replacing PCs.  In 2013, tablets already outsold laptop PCs and a result of continued growth, they are expected to outsell PCs overall by 2015 – according to IDC. 

While mobile is the ultimate on-the-go device, tablets are rather the ‘on-the-sofa’ gadgets. Their usage peaks during evening hours and thus this pattern is  closer to home PC’s.  According to estimates, the amount of time spent daily by adults in mature markets with smartphones and tablets equalled and even slightly exceeded that spent with PCs for the first time in 2013.

As tablets are used for interactions in a more private and relaxed context, they are better suited for richer and more interactive content.  The extra space on the screen enables activities which are not even possible on smaller phone screens.  It seems that tablets are a nearly perfect channel for more complex financial activities: advisory, calculations and on-line applications or even managing wealth.

As Forrester stated in its latest ‘European digital banking forecast’,more European consumers will bank on their tablets than on their mobile phones within 2 years. While mobile banking use in Europe will double and reach 99 million users, tablet banking users will quadruple to 115 million from 2013 to 2018.  The number of Western European online banking users on PCs and tablets will reach 163 million by 2018, showing an underlying shift from PCs to tablets to access banks' services.  Forrester expects the proportion of European tablet owners who bank on tablets to almost double from 35% in 2013 to 68% by 2018.

But despite growing tablet ownership and the perfect match between devices and functions, there are still only a few dozen dedicated tablet banking apps in the stores compared to the hundreds of mobile banking ones. 

As Forrester reported, some leading European banks – eg. BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Sparkassen or Swedbank – have already launched their tablet-optimised offerings.

But when your bank will follow?